Booster or Combination Seat

[temeryintx]

My son will 3 in March but is just 30 pounds. He has almost outgrown his convertable seat due to height. I am looking for the best option with a 5 point harness. I need something comfortable for him to sleep since we take car trips frequently. Any suggestions?:-)

[Joolsplus2]

I think the most comfortable, nappable seat is the Graco Ultra or Platinum Cargo...it has nice deep side wings and a recline foot and pretty good padding. A slightly more upright but not terrible for napping seat is the Evenflo Chase. It too is well padded and comfy. Either one of those seats that fits your car and your child best would be a good choice.

I can't recommend any Cosco/Eddie Bauer/Safety First seats, because the harness slots are the same height or lower than some convertible seats, and will not allow you to keep him harnesed much longer, as he would outgrow those seats by height long before he hits 40 pounds.

Just be sure to get a seat with a front harness adjuster...so that rules out the Treasured Cargo...it's the super basic model of the Ultra or Platinum.

Good luck :)


Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[jfs4819]

I have been looking around at crash test ratings on some of the seats, which is my top selling point. Consumer Reports rates the Cosco Summit High Back Booster the top rated booster as of November 2003. What height should the top harness slots be so that I can actually have some information to take with me when I go and try out these seats.

Also, does the Graco Ultra recline? That is the other seat I'm looking at but I need one that reclines for a car-napping child. I also didn't see the crash test ratings on that seat..do you happen to know where I can find those? They rated the Graco CarGo 8490 which has been discontinued and it did well but I'm not sure how similar that is to the Graco Ultra.

I appreciate any input you have. Thanks!

[JulieL]

We have the Summit and are not happy with it. Maybe t is just our seat but to tighten it I have to but my foot on the base baring down my full weight and pull like heck to get the darn thing to tighten. Right now we are using it as a secondary to the wonderful Evenflo convertable that we have. Maybe he'll use it full time at 40 lbs and we won't have to mess with the pull issue. Actually I am going to complain to the company. We bought this seat because of the reviews. I tried the other seats and they seemed so cheap. And many other seats I found so many parents saying their child couldn't sleep in them. So I really did research this one a ton, but still not happy. The sellections for convertibles is so much better. This seat does incline but not a ton. I don't know anything about the Graco Ultra. I just wish we had the money for a Britxa. Well don't know if this helps but there it is. Oh and the height info can be found explained more in the Toddler Bargains book.

[John Thomas]

I typed this on another part of this message board, but wanted to be sure you all saw it. Hope it helps.

ne seat a positive vote- see their site for details. Note: there are two pages on the CReports site to view...one is descriptions and the other is ratings grid of all seats tested. Note: Almost all the seats tested are discontinued depsite a recent test by CR. Uggg. Very frustrating none the less. I am not buying the highly rated one since my son is 2 1/2 and very tall and he would be having to use the reg. seatbelt almost immediately and he is only 34lbs. I am leaning towards the Graco Cargo ultra due to it fitting his height much better. The drawback to this seat is when it is used as a booster only the seatbelts don't retract properly according to the CR website report.

Amazon.com has a great feedback section for all these car seats. Just do a search for the seat and scroll down and view dozens of buyer feedback notes. Please remember that there is always a chance someone from the company is putting a very positive spin on their own product and also remember someone from another company could be putting a negative spin on a competitor product. Also, people are stupid sometimes and don't read directions and compain on Amazon.com about a product that would have performed as stated if they had only read something in the directions. (I have noticed this several times and usually someone puts in a review to tell that person they did something wrong installing it, etc.

good luck,

[CPSDarren]

>I typed this on another part of this message board, but
>wanted to be sure you all saw it. Hope it helps.
>
>ne seat a positive vote- see their site for details. Note:
>there are two pages on the CReports site to view...one is
>descriptions and the other is ratings grid of all seats
>tested. Note: Almost all the seats tested are discontinued
>depsite a recent test by CR. Uggg. Very frustrating none the
>less. I am not buying the highly rated one since my son is 2
>1/2 and very tall and he would be having to use the reg.
>seatbelt almost immediately and he is only 34lbs. I am
>leaning towards the Graco Cargo ultra due to it fitting his
>height much better. The drawback to this seat is when it is
>used as a booster only the seatbelts don't retract properly
>according to the CR website report.

While Consumer Reports does have a point about the seatbelt guides on some boosters, they have overstated the issue as they often do. All boosters should be safe in a frontal crash when used correctly. See:

http://www.car-safety.org/faq.html#Q29 and

http://www.car-safety.org/guide.html#cr

>Amazon.com has a great feedback section for all these car
>seats. Just do a search for the seat and scroll down and view
>dozens of buyer feedback notes. Please remember that there is
>always a chance someone from the company is putting a very
>positive spin on their own product and also remember someone
>from another company could be putting a negative spin on a
>competitor product. Also, people are stupid sometimes and
>don't read directions and compain on Amazon.com about a
>product that would have performed as stated if they had only
>read something in the directions. (I have noticed this
>several times and usually someone puts in a review to tell
>that person they did something wrong installing it, etc.
>
>good luck,

Let the reader beware with review sites like Amazon or Epinions. Some other sites operated by child passenger safety technicians and advocates also offer very good advice on selection:

http://www.car-safety.org/carseats.html

http://www.carseatsite.com/recommended_car_seats.htm

http://www.carseatdata.org/buying.html


Darren
www.seatcheck.net

[Coquette87]

I have the same question as the original poster. My 3 year old DS is very small - 36 inches, 27 lbs. I don't think I have to worry about height of the harness for him. But, we have the Cosco Alpha Omega now and the straps are always twisting. I don't know if the Summit has this issue or not (have not researched it in depth). We are looking for a new seat since my 8 mos old will need to move to the Alpha Omega soon.

I might be willing to fork out for a Britax if I found one I liked. I have not seen a Britax booster with a 5-point harness also. I want the harness since my son is so small. I am not comfortable with him in a true booster yet.

I am looking at the Graco Cargo Plat. The Graco turbo booster does not appear to have a latch system.

[CPSDarren]

Britax does not make combination boosters that also use a harness. The do make models that have higher harness weight limits, like the Marathon (65 lbs.) and Husky (80lbs.)

Also, models that are only boosters (without harness) like the Turbo will not be equipped with the LATCH system. LATCH is not required for boosters, and does not add to their safety. In fact, the instructions for most combination models require you to remove or store the LATCH attachments when you convert it to booster use.


Darren
www.seatcheck.net