How To Install A High Back Booster Seat?

In this article, we’ll show you how to put in a high-back booster seat.

We’ll be focusing on how to install a high-back booster seat today, but there are many other types of booster seats out there. All of us want our children to be safe while driving, and a booster seat is the best way to do this.

How To Install A High Back Booster Seat?

Installing a high-back booster seat requires the following steps.

The first step in installing a high back booster seat is to secure your child’s lap belt in the car.

Your child’s neck and arm should be between the shoulder belt’s top and the seat’s backrest when sat upright with both feet on the ground. If your child is under 40 pounds (18 kilograms) or eight years old, you must only use a forward-facing car seat.

Use a child restraint system until the child is at least 12 years old. This is when more than half of all crashes resulting in serious injury occur. When the seatbelt is placed over a child’s shoulder, the risk of ejection is higher, which is why some people advise against using it after the age of twelve.

A high-back booster such as Evenflo Maestro Boosters can greatly lessen this risk.

You may need to utilize LATCH instead of the car’s belt system if your vehicle does not have lower anchors and top tether points. Using two types of connections at the same time saves time.

Sit up straight in your seat, feet flat on the floor, and choose another seating position so that the top of your child’s shoulder belt rests between his or her neck and elbow when your child sits up straight in their high back booster seat.

How Do You Secure A High-Back Booster Seat?

You must use both the lap and shoulder belts to fasten a high-back booster seat. Lap-belt and shoulder-belt buckles must be properly fastened to your child’s harness, as stated in our earlier piece (just like an adult). Keep an eye on it to make sure it’s not twisted or pinching when they sit down.

Do You Anchor A High-Back Booster?

Check that your high-backed booster is correctly anchored. As long as the fit is correct for your child, the most secure method is to use your car’s seat belt and latch system.

Try securing it directly into lower sitting positions that allow them behind front seats instead, if utilizing this method of anchoring doesn’t work due to the lack of space between the booster’s back and where you connect it.

By doing this, rear-facing infant restraint lower LATCH anchors are connected to forward-facing child restraint lower LATCH anchors.

How Do You Install A High-Back Booster Without A Latch?

For high-back boosters not equipped with a Latch, the following procedures must be followed.

Remove the head restraint by opening the back door of your vehicle. You can skip this step if there isn’t a single one.

You can use either a lower or higher belt to fasten the Highback booster seat to the car seat. Uppermost and lowermost slots are placed behind and hips of the child, respectively.

When utilized as shoulder/lap belts instead of Latch attachments, snap buckle tongues into place to prevent them from slipping between seat padding and shell.

Before shutting the car door on any webbing left dangling outside the car seat opening, make certain that all slack has been pushed out from under your child (or tuck it up neatly toward the rear of the seat).

How to Install Infant and Toddler Car Seats?

As a general rule, a kid should ride in a rear-facing seat from birth until he or she reaches the maximum weight or height for that particular seat type, whichever comes first.

Advice on How to Do It Yourself

• Use either the lower anchors or the seat belt–not both. Some parents assume that if they use both ways, their child will be doubly protected. There are certain guides that indicate this should not be done since it hasn’t been tested, but Dr. Hoffman argues that’s not the case.
• Use one of the lower anchors or the seat belt, but not both. It’s not uncommon for parents to use both strategies in an attempt to ensure their child’s safety. There are some guides that indicate this should not be done since it hasn’t been tested, but Dr. Hoffman believes that’s incorrect.
• Place your child in the appropriate position. The straps that secure your child in the harness should be snug, and the chest clip should be positioned at the child’s elbow level, according to Dr. Hoffman. For rear-facing children, “the clip is very critical,” he adds. The harness straps also need to be threaded through the correct slots — for rear-facers, this means the slots that are at or below the shoulders.

How to Install Car Seats for Preschoolers

When your kid hits the weight or height limit of her rear-facing seat, convert her to a forward-facing seat with a harness until she meets that seat’s weight or height restriction.

Advice on How to Do It Yourself

• The top tether should be used at all times. According to an IIHS survey conducted in 2013, just 56 percent of qualified CPS technicians observed parents using the top tether anchor, and those seats placed with a seat belt were especially likely to be untethered. Prom stresses the need of using a forward-facing seat’s top tether, regardless of how you secure the bottom anchors. It prevents the seat from going forward by 6 to 8 inches, which lowers the chance of a concussion, according to Prom.
• Make sure you’re using the correct tether cable. The position of the tether is an additional consideration while using it. Tether anchors are more likely to be used if they are easily accessible, according to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. In most sedans, tether anchors are located on the backseat shelf behind the backseat. Depending on the vehicle, the top tether anchor can be on the floor, on the middle or lower seat back, in the cargo area, or on the ceiling, as we explain in “Making Sense of LATCH.” According to Jermakian, parents aren’t often tethered incorrectly, such as by attaching it to a cargo hook.
• Place your child in the appropriate position. Belts must be slid through openings at or above the shoulders in forward-facing seats.

How to Install Booster Seats

A belt-position booster should be used until your child is at least 4 feet, 9 inches tall and between the ages of 8 and 12 years old, according to the guideline.

Advice on How to Do It Yourself

• Make sure you get the correct booster for your child. Small children are more protected against side impacts when riding in high-back boosters, which also let them sit more comfortably in the car, especially if they fall asleep. In cars with no head restraints, like a pickup truck with bench seats, they’re a better option, adds Ryan. Backless boosters are preferred by older children since they are less noticeable. For as long as possible, sit on a high-back chair.
• Ensure that the booster seat is properly installed in your vehicle. If there is no child in the booster, Dr. Hoffman warns, “the booster can become a projectile in a collision.” LATCH connectors have been added to many booster seats in recent years to prevent this from happening. Even if your child isn’t using the booster, you should still fasten the seat belt without the connectors.
• Place your child in the appropriate position. The shoulder and lap belts must be in the correct position at the time of a collision in order to provide efficient protection. For both the shoulder and lap straps, they need to be fastened across the collarbones and breastbones (never tucked under or behind one’s back).
• Keep your child in a booster seat for as long as possible. Dr. Hoffman clarifies that the advise to use a seat belt at the height of 4’9″ is not a rule that must be followed religiously. Most kids don’t reach 4’9″ until they’re at least 11 years old, and the average height of an 8-year-old is just 4’2.” Others have long legs while others are taller than average, thus the seat belt won’t fit them all the same. “

Making Sense of LATCH

Confused yet? Using the LATCH system? Here’s a handy cheat sheet to help:

Lower anchors: These are the little bars that are used to place forward and rear-facing seats in the gap between the backs of the seat cushions.

Car seat lower anchor strap: The lower anchor strap has two hooks or buckles on each side of the car seat attached to the seat.

Top tether anchors: These metal loops can be on the shelf area near the rear window. In minivans and SUVs, they may be on the floor, under the seat, on the ceiling, or, in this photo, on the back of the seat.

On the shelf area towards the back window, there are metal loops that can be used as top tethers. On the floor, under or on the seat, on the ceiling or on the backseat of minivans and SUVs they can be found.

Installation information: seat belts & LATCH

Car safety seats may be installed with either the vehicle’s seat belt or its LATCH (lower anchors and tethers for children) system. LATCH is an attachment system for car safety seats. Lower anchors can be used instead of the seat belt to install the seat, and many parents find them easier to use in some cars. The top tether should always be used with a forward-facing seat, whether you use the seat belt or lower anchors to secure it.

Both the vehicle’s seatbelts and the LATCH (lower anchors and tethers for children) system can be used to install kid safety seats in your vehicle. LATCH is a system for attaching child safety seats to automobiles. When installing a car seat, many parents find lower anchors easier to use than the car’s seat belt. Always utilize the top tether with a forward-facing seat, whether you use the seat belt or lower anchors to secure it.

Vehicles with the LATCH system have lower anchors located in the back seat, where the seat cushions meet. Tether anchors are located behind the seat, either on the panel behind the seat (in sedans) or on the back of the seat, ceiling, or floor (in most minivans, SUVs, hatchbacks, and pickup trucks). All forward-facing car safety seats have tethers or tether connectors that fasten to these anchors. Nearly all passenger vehicles and all car safety seats made on or after September 1, 2002, are equipped to use LATCH. See vehicle owner’s manual for highest weight of child allowed to use top tether.

There are lower anchors in the rear seat of vehicles with the LATCH system, where the seat cushions connect. Sedans have tether anchors on the panel behind the seat, but they can also be found on the back of seats, the ceiling, or even the floor (in most minivans, SUVs, hatchbacks, and pickup trucks). To these anchors, all forward-facing automobile safety seats are outfitted with tethers or tether connectors. On or after September 1, 2002, nearly all passenger cars and car safety seats were equipped with LATCH as standard equipment. There is a limit to the weight of a youngster that can be tethered in a car seat.

If you use your vehicle’s seat belt to install a car safety seat, ensure sure the seat belt locks to keep the seat in place. To keep the seat belt tight around the car safety seat, you can lock it in most recent automobiles by pulling it all the way out and allowing it to retract. It’s also worth noting that many automotive safety seats are equipped with built-in lock-offs, making it unnecessary to lock the seat belt independently. For information on how your seat belt locks, consult your vehicle’s owner’s manual.

In the middle of the back seat—for all children under the age of 13—the back seat is the safest location to ride. Child should ride in the middle of back seat if possible. However, if the vehicle seat is narrow or uneven, it can be difficult to place a car safety seat tightly in the middle. Another issue is that many cars lack lower anchors for the middle seat’s safety belt buckle. On either side of the backseat, rather than in the middle, is a safest place to put a child’s car safety seat because you may secure it with either the lower anchor system or a seatbelt. A child passenger safety technician (CPST or CPS technician) can help you decide which place is best to install your child’s car safety seat in your vehicle.