When should I move my child into a booster seat?

Your child is ready for a booster seat when he grows too tall for a forward-facing child restraint.

You can check the shoulder markers on your child’s forward-facing seat to ensure he has outgrown it. One of the most common mistakes parents make with car seats is moving their child to the next restraint too early.

Legally, your child can sit in a booster seat from his fourth birthday. But medical and road safety experts strongly urge that you leave your child in a forward-facing seat as long as he fits in it, as this is the safest way for children to travel.

A booster seat should be used with a lap-sash seatbelt. The lap belt should sit low across the top of your child’s thighs and the sash belt across the centre of his shoulder.

There are two types of booster seats available in Australia:

• Single-purpose booster seats with a back. These are the safest booster seats and offer head and side impact protection. There are two approved types: booster seats for children six to eight years old, and those for eight to 10 years old.
  
  
• Forward-facing restraint/booster seat combinations. These seats can be forward facing until your child outgrows it, then turned into a booster by tucking away the inbuilt harness straps and using a lap-sash seatbelt instead.

Booster cushions, which have no back support, were removed from the Australian Standard for child restraints in 2010, and are no longer manufactured. They're sometimes sold second-hand, but road safety experts don’t recommend them as they offer less protection in a crash than the other two types with back support.

Your child must sit in a booster seat with a lap-sash seatbelt until he’s at least seven years old. But experts recommend that you wait until he's taller than 145cm, which may not be until he's 10 or 11 years old. If your child is shorter than 145cm, the seatbelt will sit across his tummy and neck, increasing his risk of serious injury in a crash. It’s very important that you don’t move your child into an adult seatbelt before he’s big enough.

Find out when it’s safe for your child to sit in the front seat.