I am looking for booster seat reviews like from consumer reports. We are needing to make our purchase next month. I thought we had a longer time but my son went through a major growth spurt. Thanks!
Isn't there a booster with a back and a 5 pt harness that can be removed and then use the cars seat belt when old enough? The carseat we have now is one of the convertible ones and the highest wt is 40# So does that mean I have to buy another carseat and then a booster down the road? My son is 3
Boosters aren't as safe as the 5 point harness. While in a booster, children can move the belt so it isn't positioned properly, and in some cases this has caused a death in an accident. I would stick with a 5 point harness if you can--he is still young enough that he won't argue about it. My daughter is almost 4 and weighs 33 lbs. She has a Britax Marathon, which is good up to 65 lbs. I plan on leaving her in it until she won't fit anymore! She is used to that type of seat, so she likes it. They sell them at Target...they aren't cheap, but they are the safest. Britax also makes a nice booster that has a head support, so if you are set on getting a booster, I would go that route--at least your son will get a little added protection.
The Consumer Reports online rated the Cosco Eddie Bauer High Backed booster the highest. It said that it costs $100.
Good luck with your decision.
I also have done extensive research from all the consumer reports agencies and the parents magazines and they rate the Cosco Summit high back (and the Elite) as the most preferred one. I am having to buy 4 of those for my girls. let me know what you decide on
I agree with Jenny that if possible, keep your child in a 5-point harness toddler seat. And Britax makes the best car seats, but they are pricey and some are large and don't fit well in smaller cars, especially if you need to fit an infant car seat on the same seat bench. The Regent is an excellent choice for a forward facing seat that still uses the 5-point harness. http://www.britaxusa.com/products/Default.aspx And they also make traditional booster seats.
We have two Apex 65 booster car seats (made by Safety 1st), one for our 5 year old and one for our 3 year old. We absolutely love this seat. My favorite thing about it is that the 5-pt harness goes to 65 pounds, rather than just 40. It is proven that children are much safer in a 5-pt harness than in a traditional booster seat. When you do decide to take them from 5-pt harness to a normal booster, this one converts into that and works as a booster until 100 lbs. There are several other seats that go past the 40 lb mark for 5-pt harness as well, Britax makes one and so does Sunshine Kids.
You can look at the one I have by going to www.safety1st.com, then click on travel, then car seats, then booster seats.
I have recently been looking into the following: SafeGuard Go Hybrid Booster ( http://www.safeguardseat.com/go/index.htm ) I think I am in love with it! Other than the ticket price! Good luck!
I have a Recaro Young Sport, it is in my opinion the BEST carseat ever! It is rated from 18 to 80 pounds. It has the five point harness and then converts to a booster when you are ready. My son is so comfortable he hardly ever gets upset about having to be in his seat (he just turned two and is really little about 22.5 pounds.) However, I know that this seat will get us all the way through, it is very well made. It is a little spendy, check around. I got the best deal at Baby Universe. Good luck in finding what you are looking for!
I highly recommend the Graco Nautilus. It is very affordable and SO easy to get the harness tight. Our 3 year old loves his!!
You can get a Britax Regent. It's a 5 point harness and goes up to 80 lbs! We just bought one for our 2 year old.
I'm not sure how to steer you to the article but I can recommend a seat. We purchased a Safeguard Go booster seat. It has a back and a 5 point harness. The booster seat is latch compatible so it secures to the seat and has a top tether strap. It also folds up into a bag for travel. It was recommended as one of two seats with a 5 point harness able to hold a child over 40 pounds in an accident. (The only other seat was the Britax Marathon.) It's not cheap but we LOVE it! Check out their website. We purchased it from Amazon.
We have the Evenflo toddler to youth booster. It has a slim profile in our truck, a five point harness and can be used later with a regular shoulder belt. It is the seat provided by the child seat checks. The only disadvantage I can see is that our children are very tall and thin so my daughter will outgrow the height limit before she weighs enough to use it with a seatbelt. My son uses the Graco booster with the back and he will be able to use it until it expires and we'll have to get another one just like our 12 year old who just stopped using the base of his. You must be 40 pounds first though.
I recently purchased a Graco Nautilus for my 4 y.o. who is 40 inches tall and weighs 35 pounds. We LOVE it! It can be used with a 5 point harness up to 65 pounds, as a high back booster and as a no-back booster. This carseat is easy to install, easy to use and will last your child until he is ready to be in a seatbelt alone. I purchased it at Walmart.com but a couple of other retailers are now carrying it as well. It is around $150. You can look at car-seat.org for customer reviews and advice from Child Safety Advocates. They speak very highly of this seat as well.
Hi, Samantha!
As a child safety seat technician, I'd recommend first and foremost that you locate a technician in your area. There is a list of technicians in the Ogden area at listed on the website www.utahsafekids.org/CPSTechnicians.html. You should be able to find someone who can personally answer your questions and help you find a booster seat that best suits your child. You can then take into consideration all of the truly helpful advice from other moms regarding which seats they prefer, safety ratings, etc.
Congratulations as well on the coming baby!! When you go to visit with the technician, I would HIGHLY recommend that you also take along your infant seat for an inspection. There are always changes and recalls in the child safety seat industry, and I can tell that you want your children to be as safe as they possibly can!
Good luck and safe traveling!
Target has a great selection of booster seats for all sizes/weights, some very convertible with 5 point harnesses. I can't remember if they have removable backs or not, but at least the plain booster seats (without backs at all) are very inexpensive ($25) if you want to get a higher-end booster with harness (which converts to one for regular seatbelt use) for now. It will still last for years. We moved our older daughter, who is four, to a seatbelt-restrained booster for kids 30 lbs and up when our youngest got too big for her infant seat and needed to go to a standard car seat (which our older one had been using). The back comes off of her booster when she gets bigger, and we were very pleased with the price (about $40-50). Check out Target!
Good luck....We have to buy a booster seat in june and we are lost as well.
Samantha,
Graco has a car seat/booster. It isn't the 5 point system but the back puts the seatbelt in the correct position over the shoulder and not the neck and it has an adjustment to raise the back and therefore the seatbelt as he grows. The back is easily removed once it is not needed and you have just the booster seat which also has drink holders built in. For the 5 point system I used britax (not sure about the spelling). I had one seat that went from 20-40 pounds and then another very large seat that was for 40-80 pounds. The seat itself is strapped in with 2 different systems so it really doesn't budge and then the child has the 5 point system over them. I loved this seat because we did a lot of cross country travel, several days at a time on the road and my son was able to sleep without his head falling forward and it was well cushioned, I could also put him in the center of the back seat so he could see out the front better and we were able to hand each other things more easily. He liked the seat even when his friends tried to tease him about it looking like a baby seat he said it really looked like a race car drivers seat. It is bulky but considered the safest on the market.
Sarah
There is a book called Toddler Bargains that is amazing. It tells you about all sorts of products and rates them for you.They also have one called baby bargains which really helped me when I had my first. It rates car seats, cribs, bottles, diapers, formula, etc.
I thought we were past booster seats, but just found out we needed one too with new laws coming in our area. My son is nearly nine so it won't be for long but he is not yet the 57 inches or 80 pounds that will be required to have boosters. I just bought one on Friday that my son just loves! And we all know that if they don't love it, it is a fight at best to get them to use it. He is delighted to get in it each time and I am confident that he is comfortable, happy and safer than he had been. It is a bit high end, but comfort was the issue, we had a road trip this weekend and the old style was just miserable for my slightly skinny 8 year old. This seat is mesh, much more comfortable for him, not hard plastic with a thin cover but has some bounce to it, also has great air flow so he doesn't get overheated. He sits so tall now he can see everything and is much happier on extended drives. The back seems so safe, holds his head if there were a side impact, but can be removed or reclined to better fit more seat types. I highly recommend it. Name is Graco Air Booster Safe Seat. I have seen on-line for $99.95 or Wal-Mart for $89.95.
I love the Compass brand, it folds in half and grows with your child, my kids love it as well (5 and 3). The only place I've found it is online, however, just search for Compass Booster Seat. Good luck, there's a bunch out there. Do your research and you'll find one that fits your groove.
There is a car seat with the Eddie Bauer label on it that is up to either 80 or 100 lbs. It starts out as a 5 point harness and converts by pulling all the straps out and removing the base. We bought our first one at Toys r Us and then we found a second one at Big Lots for almost half the price. I hope this helps.