"Tattle Tale" booster seat by Lenox

[momtoB]

I have just started looking at booster seats and I came across this one. Did a search here and didn't come up with anything so wondering what everyone thinks about this seat? Is this just plain silly or worth the extra $$? Here's a link: http://www.babyuniverse.com/pro.asp?...76956&id=76956


I am actually looking for a seat for occasional use by my 23 mos old ds's grandma and thought a combo booster would be the best choice as it would probably last the longest. I was intrigued by this idea though because I have found sometimes Grandma just isn't that savvy about car safety (no matter how much I talk to her about it) and a little alarm going off telling her the seat belt needs to be tightened might just be the ticket (or it might just drive her over the brink of insanity, lol). Anyway, thoughts anyone? I'm open to suggestions too! DS is 23 mos, 24lbs and 35" tall right now.

TIA!

[Joolsplus2]

That might be just the one situation where this seat is any good, lol...smallish, but FF kid, Grandma who "doesn't want to hurt the baby by making the straps too tight".

It's really just a Cosco "high back booster" with some extra side impact foam and a much nicer cover, and of course all the electronics. The main problem is that the top slots are really low, and it might only fit till about 3.5 or so...in fact, their convertible is widely described as having slightly taller top slots than the booster (It IS a Touriva, basically).

It's easy to install, fits most cars well, has a nice harness...and if you are worried Grandma just won't "get it" then it's probably a very good choice.

For the same money, you could get a Marathon...and for half the price, the Graco Platinum Cargo (with top slots several inches higher than the tattle tale, about as high as the Marathon, but only harnesses to 40 pounds) is a nice choice.

As long as YOU install the seat, you should be fine...you can either leave the harness very snug in hopes she won't loosen it, or give her a lesson in proper use every time....

Tell us what you decide!

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

[momtoB]

Julie,
Thanks for the response. I know exactly what you're talking about because we do have the Touriva as a secondary seat for the occasional trip in dh's car and air travel. Ds seems comfortable in it and he looks like he will last quite a while longer in that size seat. He's tall and slender, not a big eater, so I don't think he's going to be gaining weight real fast at this rate. I guess what I'm trying to say is I think he's more likely to grow up than out, LOL. When it comes to car seat shopping I really wish I knew! I'm thinking unless his eating habits suddenly change he probably will last in a seat with a 40lb weight limit (for the harness) for quite a while. It's the top slots I'm actually more concerned about so the Graco seat will probably be quite adequate, esp for occasional use by grandma.

Just curious - everyone raves about the Britax seats but one thing I'm confused about is this: Is the price so much more because it actually is a safer seat than it's competition, or are the other seats, correctly installed of course, just as safe but maybe have a few less features? Don't all seats have to meet the same standards? I just always see this seat recommended but we are such budget consious people that we find the price tag to be such a big drawback to this seat. Don't get me wrong, I want the best for my son, but sometimes I feel like car seats are kind of like liability insurance on your car - you have to have it by law, so the mfgs. can charge whatever they want and get away with it (just like ins. companies, IMO). And when it comes to harnessing to a higher weight Britax seems to have cornered the market on that so they really don't have much competition in that department. I guess I just hate paying more for something just because they can charge more for it, not because it really costs more. But I digress... I was just wondering what your opinion of that was.

Anyway, thank you for all your help. I have gotten a lot of useful info off this board and really feel like I'm making a more educated decision because of it.

Cheryl

[Joolsplus2]

ANY seat is just as safe as any other seat, when used properly. A lot of the Britax mystique kind of is a carryover from a few years ago, when other seats were virtually impossible to use easily. Straps were thin ropy nylon on other seats, tethers were impossible to use, Britaxes had belt lockoffs at a time when any other seat would require a locking clip, other seats had virtually no padding at all... But mainly, it was the straps...Britax has these nice thick polyester straps (Fisher Price had them too, but no padding...ya win some, ya lose some, lol).

Other seats, mostly because of internet feedback, have improved dramatically lately...straps are polyester, tethers easier to use, EPS foam is becoming common...the difference are getting smaller :).

As for the higher weight seats...Britax anticipated the demand first, and has been developing them longer. Testing and design for higher weight seats that can pass the strict standards with only a lapbelt are extremely expensive (Fisher Price had a great 60 pound seat for awhile, but again, no padding...sigh...and it never sold well enough...and FP got out of the seat biz altogether)...so yeah, a little of the price is probably "because they can", but also it takes like a million dollars to design a new seat, and they don't sell cribs, bottles, exercausers, and strollers to make up some of the profit for the company (well, there is Britax all over the world...they do make some bike seats and plane seats and car parts, but it's not filling the shelves of the market).

So..all seats are safe when used properly...but those of us who have owned other seats and THEN got a Britax (god it was tough to choke up that first 239 for my first Marathon...the only seat that would accomodate my tall 29 pound 3 yo rearfacing), are just more vocal in wanting to share our revelation with the world :D. I hate to read inflated safety claims, though...it's really not true. And misused, unsafe Britaxes are all over the place, too :/.

Oh, and good news is on the horizon: Cosco's coming out with a 65 pound harness seat, and Evenflo and Graco have leaked little rumors they will be releasing higher weight seats soon, too. They are changing a lot of the testing requirements soon, making it easier to pass the testing (For instance, Graco and Evenflo combo seats in Canada are tested with top tethers and are good to 48 and 47 pounds, respectively)

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

[momtoB]

Julie,
Thanks for the explanation. That really does make a lot of sense. It is good news that some other manufacturers are coming out with some seats that have higher weight limits, especially since laws are starting to change (for the better). I had heard about Cosco's but not about the others. Since ds still fits in both his current Cosco seats just fine and we can let grandma use the extra Tourivo for now, I think I'm going to just take a wait and see approach and hopefully one or two of those other seats will come out in the near future. Then I will at least be able to do some comparison shopping. Less convenient for us but we can live with it a while longer. Thanks for you input!

Cheryl