What Kind of Booster Seat Do You Have?

[robinb]

I thought I would ask my friends in the DIS: What booster seat do you have and would you buy it again?

My 3 year 2 month old daughter has outgrown her Century car seat. She's a little over 30 pounds, but the the straps are not long enough to fit over her winter parka . I have a small car (a Celia convertible, bought pre-child ) so I need one that isn't too big and will fit in the "bucket" type back seat.

I just bought the Safety First Vantage, but I'm not sure that I'm 100% happy with it. It wiggles a bit when buckled in behind so I can use the 5 point harness and sticks out over the seat more than I would really like. I'm also thinking about a Britax Starriser Comfy Booster (I have a Britax Roundabout in our Saab and LOVE it!), but it's a straight booster without a 5 point harness.

BTW, it seems that traditional booster seats are not attached to the car *at all*, but are held in place by the child's weight. Am I missing something?

 

[KimRaye]

Originally posted by robinb
it seems that traditional booster seats are not attached to the car *at all*, but are held in place by the child's weight. Am I missing something?

Not sure what you mean exactly but, I DO know that 'booster seats' have changed dramatically in the 10 years between my kids. But, even DS's seat was buckled around him and the seat back then.

DD has a Century booster seat. It pretty much fits a bucket-type seat. W/O going into the garage right now, I know it says Comfort Fit on the box. (They probably all say that though) I can get back to you on it. It also has a tether, which didn't matter to me until we got a 2002 vehicle but, it's nice for additional safety. And, just this past week, I had to adjust the straps for a winter coat and, it was fine.

In all honesty, any store selling these should allow us all to take the thing outside to try and fit these things in our vehicles BEFORE we buy them! They can be sooo difficult to move between cars!

 

[Kermit]

I don't have a booster seat yet, since I'm still expecting my first, but I did just take a carseat class at the hospital last Thursday.

I obviously paid the most attention to the stuff about the infant carseats, but the boosters are made for kids from 40 to 80 pounds. Apparently, it's safest for all people (adults and children) to not wear their coats in the car. It's best if the seatbelt or harness is as close to your skin as possible. I know that would be a huge hassle with a 3 year old in cold weather when you're out running errands or driving a short distance, but that is the official recommendation. They do make blankets that will fit over the carseat, so you can keep the child warm in the car. Of course, you could still be taking the coat off and putting it on a million times each day.

There are seats that convert from forward facing carseats to boosters. You may be able to find one of these that will accomodate her with the harness right now. Our Babies R Us has a back seat from a car in the store so that you can practice putting the child in the seat to see if it's a good fit.

You're right that when they go to using the booster, they don't use the carseat harness at all. (You'll take it off if you have a seat that converts from a carseat to a booster.) You just buckle the child and the booster in the seatbelt. The only thing the booster does is make the child be tall enough to use the seatbelt safely. It looks scary to me too, but I guess it works.

FYI on tethers. The tether strap anchors have been in cars since about 2000. You can actually get one installed on older cars, too. I think she said that American cars have had the bar to install them on since 1996. If you take your car to a dealership, each of the big three American manufacturers will install the anchor for free. They may tell you they don't do that, but it's on their websites, and they can call their corporate office to find out. I don't know about foreign manufacturers. The thing that's on the new cars made in 2002 is the LATCH system. With that, if you buy a LATCH carseat, you use the LATCH hooks to install the carseat <i>instead</i> of the seatbelt. The tethers you use as an additional measure of safety, and you use them with either a seatbelt or the LATCH system.

I think that just about covers everything I know about carseat safety. Any questions?

 

[nuke]

We have an Eddie Bauer one. It think it is made by Cosco.
It has a 5 point harness for kids under 40 lbs and then it has the seatbelt positioners for bigger kids.

It fits tightly into our backseat.

Just a tip for carseats that you can't get tight. My husband would kneel in the carseat while I tightened the seatbelt. When he released his weight it would pull the carseat into the seat. It wouldn't move at all after that.

 

[cinlee3]

Hi Robin,

I have an Evenflo which has the five point harness. As the child grows it becomes a seat belt positioner where you use the car safety belt. It also has a tether strap.

I really liked this seat . . . until I had to wash the cover. It did not hold up to washing well at all. I have thought about writing to complain.

Stay away from any booster that is just a seat with a shield that the seatbelt goes across. I saw a report on these and although some meet federal standard - the child can be thrown out of the seat in a crash.

Kristen says hi to your DD.

 

[peg2001]

I don't have a specific carseat recommendation. . .I have 2 kids and have probably bought 6 to 7 different seats looking for better ones.

We take the winter coats OFF to strap in. It is a bit of a pain to dress/undress a child at every stop but the carseat straps fit better and you do not have to keep adjusting their length.

Peggy

 

[Bunchkin]

We have a Eddie Bauer 5 point harness car seat as well.
My DH would also lean into the seat while strapping the car seat belt through it, to make it a tighter fit. Now our DD is big enough to use the car seat belt through the positioner. The car seat cover has held up really well through several washings.
Good luck! It is one of the harder child purchases to make.

 

[robinb]

I now have 4, yes 4, booster seats sitting in my house. I am going to install each one for one day in my car and see which one works the best. And no, I won't let my DD eat or drink it it .

I'm down to:
(1) Safety First Vantage High Back Booster
(2) Century NextStep
(3) Graco Ultra
(4) Graco Turbo Booster

The first 3 have 5 pt harnesses and convert into a standard booster and the last is just a booster. I'll keep you posted on which one stays home with me.

 

[shortbun]

Gotta have the 5 pt harness for the little ones!!!
We got the Eddie Bauer Cosco 3 years ago and
it's still in good shape. DS is 7 and 60 lbs now. He's
making noise about not using it-his friends say,
"do you have to sit in that?" I tell them it's because
he needs to be safe and that in our van, he can't
see out without it. He'll be using it until his legs make
the turn over the edge of the seat without it. Our state
just passed a law that kids under 70 lbs must be in
boosters-not in effect yet. When he gets out of the
booster, we'll have a positioner for the belt. Our
booster does'nt fasten into the car, it just places the
child in the optimum place for the seat belt. Otherwise,
they go flying out on impact.