{"id":6024,"date":"2017-05-19T14:49:34","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T04:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/?p=6024"},"modified":"2017-05-19T14:49:34","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T04:49:34","slug":"how-old-should-a-child-stay-in-a-car-booster-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/how-old-should-a-child-stay-in-a-car-booster-seat\/","title":{"rendered":"How old should a child stay in a car booster seat?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

First published in The Herald Sun on May 5 2017<\/em><\/p>\n

Words by Elise Elliot<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was scary. This guy pulled out from a side street right in front of me. I slammed on my brakes and swerved to try to miss him. My first thought was my children,\u201d says Melbourne mum Isla Swanston.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A car crash is frightening for any driver. For Swanston it was truly terrifying; she was pregnant and had two children on-board.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put my left hand across my seven-year-old daughter, Bonnie, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. My four-year-old son, Noah, was in a booster seat in the middle of the back of the car,\u201d Swanston says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was OK, but my kids were hurt in the accident, complaining of sore chests. My son was having trouble breathing. My daughter ended up with my handprint across her chest because I held her in her seat. She also suffered abdominal bruising from her seatbelt.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a disturbingly common scenario.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Royal Children\u2019s Hospital director of trauma Associate Professor Warwick Teague. Picture: David Crosling\/Herald Sun\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Part of the problem lies with child safety restraints.<\/p>\n

First, most parents are confused about the current law. As a mother of a seven-year-old daughter, I\u2019m guilty of this. Isn\u2019t seven the magic number when I can move her out of child restraints? She can sit in the front seat now, can\u2019t she? Many mums and dads are puzzled about what\u2019s right and what\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

Second, even if they do know the laws, parents often give in to pester power; children complain they\u2019ve outgrown their \u201cbaby\u201d seat and beg to sit in the front of the car. Too often busy mums and dads \u2014 juggling shopping, schoolbags and other kids \u2014 acquiesce.<\/p>\n

Third, many experts now argue the current laws regarding child safety restraints are too soft and need to be strengthened.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the current law. Under Victoria\u2019s child restraint road rules, all children under age seven must legally be seated in a correctly fitted child restraint or booster seat. Children over seven can use a booster seat or an adult seatbelt in an adult seat.<\/p>\n

But are the laws tough enough?<\/p>\n

Experts, such as Teague, want them to be stricter, saying there\u2019s a big difference between legal minimum requirements and what\u2019s safest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere is a sense that \u2018if it\u2019s legal, it must be safe\u2019. Parents think if some sort of restraint is on, they\u2019ve ticked that box,\u201d Teague says.<\/p>\n

The reality is far more horrific. Teague sees first-hand the devastating cases of death and injury because children are not put into the right-fitting restraint for their age and size.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a small child sits in a car seat designed for an adult, the child can\u2019t bend their legs around the front of the seat. This means they\u2019ll slouch and the lap belt will be poorly positioned across the tummy and the sash piece across the neck,\u201d Teague says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a crash occurs, that lap belt hits the tummy, transferring the full force of the crash through the intestines and internal organs, breaking them and causing internal bleeding until the belt reaches the spine, and that\u2019s when spinal injuries occur.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe poorly positioned sash crossing the neck also causes life-threatening whiplash, with injuries to the spine, windpipe and major blood vessels to the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are preventable injuries \u2014 caused because the seatbelt was not the right size for the child.<\/p>\n

The best child restraint distributes the forces of a crash over the strongest parts of the child\u2019s body \u2014 the strong bones of the shoulders, the breast plate and hips.<\/p>\n

To do this, the size and shape of the restraint needs to match the size and shape of the child. It is not a one-size-fits-all situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have become very fixated on age as a determinant of what restraint a child should be using. But all the information we have says that age is not a good predictor. It\u2019s all about size,\u201d Teague says.<\/p>\n

Early Learning Association Australia (ELAA) road safety education project manager Zora Marko says the message for parents is that seven is no longer the magic number to take a child out of a child restraint.\u201cThe new number is 145cm in height,\u201d Marko says.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Isla Swanston with children Bonnie, 8 and Noah, 6. Picture: Sarah Matray<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She says research shows adult seatbelts only start to fit people properly when they reach 145cm.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when a seatbelt sits across the strongest bones of the body. It\u2019s taller than you think; most children don\u2019t reach this height until they are aged 10-12.<\/p>\n

\u201cParents should use the height \u2014 not the age \u2014 of their child as the guide and keep them in child restraints until they reach about 145cm,\u201d Marko says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe approached the TAC and VicRoads, saying there needs to be a resource to not only educate people about the current laws, but reveal what\u2019s actually safest for children.\u201d<\/p>\n

The TAC and VicRoads have now commissioned a safety campaign, Child Restraints and Booster Seats \u2014 What You Need To Know, detailing the best way to transport your child. VicRoads concedes the current law provides only a minimum standard with which all parents and caregivers must comply when transporting children. But it acknowledges children grow at different rates and there\u2019s often a big difference in the heights of children the same age.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this reason, we recommend parents and carers choose the type of restraint that is best for their child\u2019s size,\u201d says VicRoads director, road user and vehicle access, Robyn Seymour.<\/p>\n

Marko adds: \u201cUntil the current laws change, let\u2019s view them as a minimum requirement,
\nand if we know there\u2019s a better way to protect our children, we should do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

ELAA says another way to check if your child is ready for an adult seat is the five-step test:<\/p>\n

1. Can the child sit with their back against the vehicle seat?<\/p>\n

2. Do the child\u2019s knees bend in front of the edge of the seat?<\/p>\n

3. Does the sash belt sit across the middle of the shoulder, not on the neck or out near the arm?<\/p>\n

4. Is the lap belt sitting low across the hips, touching the thighs?<\/p>\n

5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?<\/p>\n

Even then, the safest place for a child is in the rear seat until they are at least 12. It might not be the coolest place to sit, but it is definitely the safest.<\/p>\n

ELAA recommends babies be kept rearward-facing for as long as they fit in that position in their child restraint.There are now child restraints that keep babies rearward facing until they are two and a half years old.The current law says children up to at least four must travel in a restraint with an internal harness and buckle.
\nHowever, ELAA says there are now such restraints designed to fit children up to the age of about eight.<\/p>\n

And if children upgrade to a booster seat, there are models that will fit them up to about 12.<\/p>\n

Parents can probably hear howls of protest from their young ones. There\u2019s a temptation to give in to badgering, whingeing children.<\/p>\n

Swanston admits she had a stand-off with her daughter about child restraints in the Highpoint Shopping Centre carpark right before her accident.<\/p>\n

\u201cBonnie\u2019s seven and wanted to sit in the front seat,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted her to sit in the back. She was nagging and nagging me. I gave in and said, \u2018Fine, get in the front seat\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen my four-year-old, Noah, said he wanted to sit in the middle of the back so he could look out the front window as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a risk this mother of four will never take again: \u201cI don\u2019t care if I have to sit in the Highpoint carpark for 10 hours, I\u2019m going to ensure my kids are buckled in safely and that they have the right restraints on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teague, a father of three sons, agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy boys have to suffer a very strict, sometimes grumpy father who insists upon the safest possible restraint for them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently on my son\u2019s seventh birthday, he was excited because he thought he\u2019d outgrown his booster seat. I had to have that difficult conversation with him and say, \u2018Sorry, even though you\u2019re seven, you\u2019re not tall enough\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, there were tears welling up in his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou might cop some flak from your children, or even your peers, about getting tough on car restraints. But if you do have an accident, you don\u2019t want to regret the decision you made immediately before that; the decision to let your child ride in the front seat or go without their booster that day. Especially if they are killed or injured.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the decisions that can sadly haunt parents forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHICH RESTRAINT DO I USE FOR MY CHILD?<\/strong><\/p>\n

CURRENT LAW<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHILDREN UNDER SIX MONTHS MUST:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022Use a rearward-facing restraint properly fitted to the vehicle and adjusted to fit the child\u2019s body correctly.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Not travel in the front seat of a vehicle that has a back row or rows of seats.<\/p>\n

CHILDREN SIX MONTHS TO FOUR MUST:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Use a rearward-facing restraint or a forward-facing child restraint with an in-built harness that is properly fitted to the vehicle and adjusted to fit the child\u2019s body correctly.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Not travel in the front seat of a vehicle that has a back row or rows of seats.<\/p>\n

CHILDREN FOUR TO SEVEN MUST:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Use a forward-facing child restraint with an in-built harness or a booster seat with a properly fastened and adjusted seatbelt.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Not travel in the front seat of a vehicle that has a back row or rows of seats unless all the other back seats are occupied by children also under seven. If they sit in the front seat in this situation, children must sit in a booster seat that does not have a top tether strap.<\/p>\n

CHILDREN OVER SEVEN MUST:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Use a booster seat with a properly fastened and adjusted adult seatbelt or an adult seat with an adult seatbelt.<\/p>\n

vicroads.vic.gov.au<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you know which car restraint to use for your child?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":6031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8971,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-in-the-news","post_format-post-format-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6024"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6034,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6024\/revisions\/6034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}