Fifty-seven inches. That is the height that some pre-pre-teens strive to get to so that they can ditch the booster seat all together to avoid the embarrassment of their peers seeing them in a “baby seat” in the car. Yes, every family has their own car seat milestones that they go by but the AAP and NHTSA recommends that all kids under 57″ ride in some sort of car seat or booster seat. Why? Because height matters when it comes to riding in a vehicle and fitting into a safety belt properly.
Problem is that kids all grow at different rates. While one nine-year-old could hit 60″ another could not hit a growth spurt for a while leaving them at 55″. We all know how peer pressure affects kids. If all the ten year olds at your child’s school are riding booster less in the car, your child may feel self-conscious or embarrassed to pull up to carpool with a pink booster seat that they are sure screams that they are a baby to their friends.
Before you burn me at the stake and tell me that “my kids will do what I say – my vehicle equals MY rules”, I get it but 9, 10 and 11 year olds are a different, difficult breed. If there was a booster seat type of device that could satisfy both sides (the car seat insistent parent and the embarrassed pre-pre-teen that still needs a bum boost in the car), wouldn’t that be a great compromise?
Well, Safety 1st heard everyone’s cries and recently introduced the Incognito. It’s a kid positioned that gives the older kids a bum boost and properly keeps the lap portion of the safety belt low while keeping everything on the down low so that the chance of peer embarrassment is low.
Check out the Incognito, how it works and what my 9 1/2 year old thinks about it in today’s Baby Gizmo video below.
Cindy B
Wednesday 4th of June 2014
Smart ideas :)