Moving up to a booster for travel (big 6 year old)

[Smillow]

My 6 (and a half) year on DS (51.5" tall, weight ~62#) rides in a harnessed Britax Pinnacle in our 2000 Honda Odyssey. Seated shoulder height is 19.5" with a large head (wears an adult bike helmet.)

We will be flying and renting a car next month and I was going to use this opportunity to buy a dedicated high back booster, but as he doesn't have to sit in it for the plane ride and it seems the fit for a high back booster is vehicle specific (with regard to headrest), I am thinking a no back booster would be the most practical. We won't be driving too much - mostly the hour and a half to and from the airport.

Is is it a mistake to have him ride in a backless booster never having ridden in a high back booster? Any recommendations for a comfortable seat - he isn't wide in the hips at all.

I kept him RF in a Diono XT until he outgrew it by height just after he turned 4, so I'm a little hesitant to make this seemingly giant leap forward.

Help!

[mikala]

I'd get him a Bubblebum booster for travel. We got one when DS1 was 5.5 and it has come in really handy for travel and carpooling.

He is still harnessed in a Frontier most of the time but is totally fine in the Bubblebum for short trips. I'd be fine with the 1.5 hour trip you describe as long as he isn't likely to sleep in the car.

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, it's ok (to be backless) for the reasons above. BB is tiny and easy to travel with, for sure. He's also big enough for an Incognito, which is feather light and has good leg support, but is a tad bulkier than the BB (Ok, maybe not, I just got Leah's out of the car and it's 19" by 17" at the deepest/widest, and didn't quite fit in a very small reusable shopping bag that I thought it would work in for easy carrying). It's slightly less tippy feeling than the BB, but the bulk might not work.
Cosco Top Side and Harmony Youth (at target/walmart/amazon) are about $13 and really light and might work, too (both are blow molded plastic with a fabric cover, in contrast to the Evenflo Amp and Graco Turbo which are heavier plastic and cost quite a bit more, though the Amp is a fantastic everyday backless for when he's ready for that full time, it's wider and deeper than the Turbo, better for bigger guys)

[Smillow]

Mikala and Joolsplus2 - Thank you! I have time to look around at the backless boosters. I feel better now

[Smillow]

I bought DS an Evenflo Amp (although the box just said Evenflo Big Kid Booster?) and he rode in it on the way to church in my sister's Odyssey yesterday. It was a great fit - we didn't even need the shoulder belt clip as the shoulder belt hit him exactly right. Thank you all very much

[Joolsplus2]

They have such a word salad of useless names for their boosters, I don't know what they are going for (well, all brands have that to some extent, they aren't alone...), who knows what's up with that (AMP used to stand for American Made Product, wonder if it still is...? Probably just different names for different stores so you can't price match)...clearly I could go on...

Glad he likes it! It's one of our faves, too!