Sheild Booster Seats

mrs_eads80 · Dec 10, 2004

Aren't these the ones that are already banned in Eroupe, and they are trying to ban in the United States. I just realized today that the van that drops off my child from Daycare uses them. From what I understand the child can actually get decapitated (sp) if in a car wreck while in one of these.

Applespark · Dec 10, 2004

Oh dear....are you sure its not just one brand or something we should look more into that...have you talked to the daycare?

mrs_eads80 · Dec 10, 2004

Well I was doing a little reserch and Cosco is the only manufacter who still makes them.

Why shouldn't I use a shield booster?

The most important thing to understand is that this seat is only tested for frontal collisions. It does not have to pass side-impact testing, rear-impact testing or rollover testing. Many of the expert statements above address this concern. Real children have been injured or killed in shield boosters
.
This seat is NOT approved for airline use. A study done by the FAA concluded "As a class of child restraint devices, shield-type booster seats, in combination with factors associated with airplane passenger seats, contributed to an abdominal pressure measurement higher than in other child restraint devices and did not prevent a head impact." (http://www.faa.gov/fsdo/ord/change.htm)

This seat is not recommended by any safety expert when used with the shield. Certified child passenger safety technicians do not recommend them when doing car seat check-ups. Generally, when a CPS tech sees children in them, they recommend that the shield part of the seat be destroyed and the base used with a lap-shoulder belt; it is recommended that a lighter child (under 40 lbs) be moved into a high back booster with an internal harness. Who does recommend the use of shield boosters? The ONE manufacturer that still makes this kind of seat.

The problem with using shield boosters now is that they were designed for a different time. These booster seats were designed back when all cars only had lap belts in back. After a child had outgrown their harnessed car seat, parents had to choose between a shield booster or only a lap belt, it was the only option. At the time, it seemed they provided more protection than just a lap belt, but that was before the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration introduced the 6 year old test dummy. It was discovered that the shields on these boosters did not pass the government standard for head excursion (how far forward the head moves in a frontal collision) over 40 lbs.

Here's what the SafetyBeltSafe USA Technical Encyclopedia says: "After September 1996, all CRs had to meet the standard performance criteria using the 6-year dummy (47 lb) to certify over 40 lb. Many earlier products that certified to 60 lb using only the 3-year dummy (33.5 lb) are still in circulation, but they would not pass the current standard if tested today."

It has never been recommended that a child under 40 lbs use a booster (with or without a shield).

Shield Boosters provide little or no upper-body protection. In many cases, the children who are injured or killed in these either:

Get flung too far forward, resulting in serious head or spinal injuries or

Submarine UNDER the shield and have spinal/neck injuries or are actually decapitated.

There are also unfortunate cases where children are thrown OUT in a side-impact or rollover collision.

Today, there are better, safer options for children both under 40 lbs and over.
Click to expand...

Here is the website that I got this info from, It has more links to other sites.

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/shieldbooster.aspx

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Sheild Booster Seats

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