Lap belt with booster seat in back or booster seat in front with air bag

[HenD19]

I know none of these options are great but which is best? Can I change a lap belt to a normal seatbelt in the back?

[MrsMcEnroe]

I have has my DCs in the front seat, with and without airbags, on booster seats and with normal seatbelts, for years and I'm perfectly happy with this.

I would never, ever use a lap belt myself, let alone allow any passenger, of any age, to use one in my car. Imagine the whiplash you'd sustain if you had an accident while wearing a lap belt .

[MrsMcEnroe]

You'd need to speak to the manufacturer to ask about converting the seatbelt I think

[HenD19]

Thank you MrsMcEnroe.

[BikeRunSki]

Can you bit turn the airbag off, or get a garage to?

[HenD19]

Can't turn air bag off but our lovely mechanic may be able to. Hadn't thought of that x

[singarainbow]

I had a lapbelt in my older car, and paid a company I found on the internet approx £100 to have a 3 point seat belt fitted in its place. All legal, and safe, and they came to my house. This was about 6 years ago though.
You need to turn the air bag off, if you can. Airbags can kill children sat in the front seat of a car, even if they are in car seats and in a low speed collision.

[IrisWildthyme]

I thought air bags were only an issue with rear-facing baby seats, and understand they can be fatal then. Are you absolutely certain that airbags are also a problem with a forward-facing booster seat for an older child?

[Bunbaker]

"Are you absolutely certain that airbags are also a problem with a forward-facing booster seat for an older child?"

Yes they are. They aren't as tall as an adult and the airbag can cause a lot of damage because the point of contact is the face not the chest. A workmate's four year old sustained quite a lot of facial damage this way and was never allowed to sit in the front seat again until she was tall enough.

[ilovepowerhoop]

a lap belt is not safe with a booster seat. You can use the booster in the front with the seat moved as far back from the dashboard as possible

[Longdistance]

Some cars have an airbag off on the drivers side of the car.
It may be when you open the door on the drivers side, could be a panel. Sometimes a circle sign that looks like a lock. You put your key in it to turn the airbag off.
What car is it?

[IrisWildthyme]

followup - I've checked the user manual of my own forward-facing car seat, which says it is fine to use in the front passenger seat so long as the seat is slided as far back as is practically possible and that any instructions in the car owner manual are followed (and my car manual only has an issue with rear-facing) so it may vary car-by-car and carseat-by-carseat.

[HenD19]

Firstly I can't believe I put a x on my last post. Not v Mumsnetty at all so apologies all. Will blame my lack of sleep since having DC3 (now 18wks=18 long wks of not much sleep).

Thanks so much for all your responses. Our car is a Yreg vw bora, a loved and battered old car. Will look into converting the middle seat belt singarainbow. Checked with the mechanic today and we definitely can't turn the airbag off.