It seems like just yesterday that you brought home your new bundle of joy in your carefully chosen, backward facing car seat. After miles of spills, tantrums, and on-the road snoozing, you've cycled through the forward facing car seat and are ready to shop for a booster seat. The booster seat is your child's last stop before he or she graduates to simply buckling in like the grown-ups.

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Booster seats were introduced to help reduce the occurrence of child deaths in traffic accidents. It used to be assumed that once a child grew out of her car seat, she was ready to go solo, with only the vehicle's seatbelts for protection. Extensive testing and many horrifying real-life traffic accidents have shown that this simply isn't true. In fact, children as heavy as 80 lbs. need additional restraint and support to avoid death and serious injury in the event of a car crash.

Shoulder and lap belts are not made to fit a child's body well. This discrepancy in fit can pose a huge danger in a crash. Booster seats help adjust the child's position so that the vehicle's safety belts fit properly.

Booster Seat Laws

Booster seat laws can be confusing, which makes shopping for a booster seat a challenging experience. Every state has laws governing the usage of booster seats. Generally a child is done with a booster seat once he or she reaches a certain age or a certain weight.