Baby Trend PROtect Yumi Booster Review

Folded Baby Trend PROtect Yumi straight out of the box.

The most unique feature of this seat is the foldability. When folded it is the size of a piece of carry on luggage. When unfolded, it’s a full sized high back booster, complete with dual cupholders. It also has armrests that raise for the child to get in and out a little more easily. The armrests must be down when in use.

The lap belt through the lap belt guide, the shoulder belt under the armrest.

This seat does not have lower anchors, so it is used by placing it on the vehicle’s seat and buckling in both the child and booster together. When a child is not using the seat, it is recommended to buckle it so it’s not a projectile.

The lap belt through the lap belt guide, the shoulder belt also through the lap belt guide.

When a child is buckled in, the lap belt must be routed through the lap belt guides. The shoulder belt on the buckle side can be in the lap belt guide or simply under the armrest, depending on fit and comfort to child.

The adjustable shoulder belt guide in position one of three.

The adjustable shoulder belt guide in position three of three.

The shoulder belt guide is adjustable side to side, not just up and down like most boosters. It helps with the fit to the child’s body, and is easy to adjust between the three positions.

The buckle was too far under the booster for her to buckle it herself in this vehicle.

Due to the shape of the booster, some seat belts will not be able to be buckled by the child. The buckle stalk is not accessible to the child. However, leaning back from the driver’s seat, or having someone in the backseat, it was easy for an adult to buckle. With time, she may have learned to do it herself in all vehicles. She could not buckle it at all in our rental (a 2016 Toyota Camry), but in our main car (2011 Mercedes E350) she could buckle it. The length and position of the seat belt stalk will determine whether or not a child can buckle. While this is not unique to this booster, the shape of this booster makes it more pronounced, and more likely a child will have an issue than other boosters.

The date of manufacturer sticker on the bottom of the folded booster.

Expiration:The expiration date is stated in the manual only, it is not stamped on the seat. It’s nine years from the date on the sticker that’s on the bottom of the booster as it’s folded.

This seat is NOT approved for aircraft, with the sticker stating that on the back of the booster.

FAA Approval: This seat is NOT approved for use on aircraft, since planes do not have a shoulder belt. However, because it folds it fits beautifully in overhead bins. So it can easily be carried on board and stowed, so there aren’t concerns about losing or damaging the seat en route to your destination.

The Baby Trend Yumi booster straight in on a Boeing 777 overhead bin.

Since I bought this seat for traveling, it was very important to me that I should not be separated from it during air travel.  The seat folds, and fits well in overhead bins, both on larger intercontinental planes as well as smaller domestic planes.

The seat offers very comfortable sleep support, as well as a good belt fit while asleep. The raisable armrests also help with transferring a sleeping child into the booster.

I was very happy with the head support on the Yumi, as I knew my jet lagged child would be sleeping in the car on our trip.  At six I might have been ok with a backless for travel, except for this fact.  I needed something that would keep her upright while she slept.  The belt fit when she was awake as well as when she was relaxed in sleep was fantastic.

When folded, the booster is roughly the same size as a piece of carry on luggage.

It’s roughly the same size as my carry on bag, which is great for fit, as well as transporting the seat through the airport.  There are no lower anchors with which to use a Traveling Toddler, my normal mean of getting a seat through the airport.  So I grabbed a bungee cord and felt it through the lap belt guides and around my luggage.  It worked beautifully.

Ready for vacation. I used a bungee cord to strap the Yumi to my rolling luggage.

By strapping the booster to my luggage it was easy to transport through the airport, and I find airline officials mention my seats less when they’re hidden in plain sight this way.  Since it’s a folded booster my daughter couldn’t ride in it through the airport, but at 6.5 years old she’s more than capable of walking herself.  The fold in the booster became a nice storage area for our jackets and other things we needed to wear while in the airport at home, but did not need at our destination.