High-back booster - recs? Advice?

[spanikopita]

I need to get an extra seat for my son (5 years old, 45 lbs, 45.5 inches) to use in my neighbor's car. We are going to be sharing carpool duties for school starting in September and he'll need a seat for her car, plus it will be handy to use when we travel. Currently he is in a Britax Frontier 85 and uses the five point harness all the time. I'm super nervous to transition him out of the five point harness, so hair pats that he'll still be safe in the high-back booster are welcome! Lol. 

I am shopping and I see basic Graco models for 49ish dollars, and then it goes all the way up to 150+. What should I look for in a high backed booster? The higher end models advertise side impact protection but IIRC that is more marketing ploy than an actual safety feature.

[darnkatz]

We have a Graco Affix for our almost seven year old who has very similar stats to your son. I primarily got it because it has lower anchor connectors (so that it wouldn't become a flying projectile when she wasn't in the car), but it was also reviewed to have a great seatbelt fit, which we've found to be true. It has a fair amount of cushion compared to some boosters, which my daughter likes. I really liked that it was affordable - we paid $70 for it at TRU.

[anaps28]

Jul 2, 2015 20:16:36 GMT -5 darnkatz said:

We have a Graco Affix for our almost seven year old who has very similar stats to your son. I primarily got it because it has lower anchor connectors (so that it wouldn't become a flying projectile when she wasn't in the car), but it was also reviewed to have a great seatbelt fit, which we've found to be true. It has a fair amount of cushion compared to some boosters, which my daughter likes. I really liked that it was affordable - we paid $70 for it at TRU.

We have the same one. Got it at Target online.I like that it uses the Anchors.

[vanillacourage]

We also have the Graco Affix because I wanted the anchors, but if your purpose (carpool sharing with a neighbor) has the seat being taken in and out of the car often, then that wouldn't be a selling point. I believe the only difference between the Graco Affix and Turbobooster are the anchors, so I'd recommend paying less and getting the Turbobooster.

The Evenflo Big Kid gets recommended often too.

[elocrates]

It is surprisingly freeing to have a kid in a booster who can buckle themselves in.

Anyway, DS1 (7.5yo) is solely in boosters. He uses a backless booster in DH's vehicle (pretty much only used for school transport). He uses a high back booster in my vehicle (which is what we use for all road trips). We chose the high back booster based on which one had the most head support (since he pretty much always falls asleep on car rides over 30 minutes) and comfort for longer rides. For basic short-distance transport, any booster should be just fine. It's worth mentioning that one in which the arm rests tip up/ out of the way is WAY easier to buckle than one with fixed arm rests.

Boosters are a safe choice as long as the kid is able to sit still and stay in the seatbelt correctly. Keep in mind that as adults, we all rely solely on the seatbelt for restraint. A booster, most simply, places the child a bit higher so the seatbelt hits at the correct place on the body to be maximally effective.

[Deleted]

We had Graco turbo boosters with DD1, but they are made in China and generally in our house of there is an option not made in China we buy that instead. So DD2 has the evenflo amp because certain models of that one are made in the US. They are both basically the same and about the same price. Both are totally fine.

He will be fine. It's nice when they get into a booster. We just moved my 6 year old (not sure in height, but just barely 40 pounds). It's so nice to only have one left in a 5pt harness now.