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View Full Version : Flying w/booster & Compass B510 :(



postmodernmommy
09-26-2006, 04:34 PM
Hi!
Ok, I'm having a HORRIBLE time figuring out boosters & travel. DD is 4 years 4 mos, 38 # 40.5 inches with a LONG torso & short legs. She rides harnessed in Britax Regents in both our cars. However, for travel with friends (their car or ours) we have two boosters. Or HAD. First we had the Recaro Young Style. LOVED this seat. Until we returned it (& didn't replace it) when it the head rest wouldn't adjust up or down and then it would adjust down on it's own if we hit a bump really hard. It's like it wouldn't lock in place. Clearly a manufacturing defect. We also had a Britax Parkway that we donated to a family we knew who was having severe financial hardship. Before a huge trip this summer we bought the new Compass B510 in Giraffe intending that to be our travel booster. What a disaster. There are two things that happened:

1. The seat cover came apart at one seam. The one right where your kids' thighs hit the seat. A horrible place for it to come apart. It started about 4 hours into our August vacation and was a major inconveneince the whole 3 weeks of our trip. After going back & forth with the online retailer I bought it from & Compass a new cover was mailed to me a few weeks ago. I put the new one on & BELIEVE IT OR NOT it started to rip again the first time we used the new cover. Actually I should say first the fabric "runs" and then it rips. I have never in all my years of buying quality children's carseats have I ever seen a cover come apart like this. I'm still dealing with whether or not I should just return the whole seat or get a new pattern. It's been such a pain. (any thoughts on this??)

2. The second issue that happened was for some reason out daughter just couldn't "do" this seat on a long trip. It's roomy- super wide, wider than the Recaro or Britax she was used to. I think being harnessed in the Regent (even though it's big the 5pt harness is comfy) and then boosted in a snug way in the Parkway or the Style was what she was used too- the Compass offered too much space. Space where she could slide down & slide to the side. It was an awful trip trying to get her to sit apropriately & to avoid the ripping seam that was giving everyone a headache. As a sidenote, the seat is WIDE. It was actually too wide to buckle into the center of our rental car- a Subaru Outback. We had to lift up one side of the carseat to get the otherside buckled. Do that eight times in a day on a long road trip. Can we say PAIN...?

So here's my dilema: I need a carseat for travel. Something I can check (that's why I really LOVED the B510- it folded in half and had it's own carrying bag!). I never wanted to check the Parkway or the Style, the head wings seemed too vulnerable. I've had horrible luck in the past checking car seats and so I now buy one just for travel so I'm not checking our good ones (heaven knows one couldn't check a Regent anyway! LOL!). So what do I do? We travel 4-5x per year so we clearly need a solution. Here is what I need:

Any thoughts on the Compass B510? Make it work with another pattern? Or?
Should I buy a different booster that I can check for travel? Have you checked your booster with good results?
Should I buy something like an Apex?

I'd do the Safeguard GO but one of the sets of Grandparents don't have top tethers in their car (Audi A4, forget year, maybe 00) so I'm guessing that won't work.

Ok, I know this is a big long rambling post. But I'm needing opinions.

Thanks!
Amy :)

mommyto4
09-27-2006, 01:15 AM
Have you checked out the Ride Safer Vest? It seems like it would be good for travel.

Joolsplus2
09-27-2006, 09:09 AM
Someone else I know bought the B510 and her 9 yo says it's terribly uncomfortable! She returned it...just as well, I guess...what a PAIN... :(.

Yeah, we do love our RideSafer, so I'd put in at least half a vote for that...

How about the Graco Turbo...it comes apart and can be packed fairly flat in a duffel bag of some sort, and then reassembled when you get to your destination (we bring the seat as carryon, just in case they lose the back at least we won't be completely seatless).

Or, the Parkway fits in a regular carseat travel bag, maybe you could put it in one of those and gate check it?

Or, get a Go and have them retrofit the Audi...it's free to put in top tethers and LATCH (yeah, I know, family members never have time for that sort of thing...oh well)

:)

Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx