Britax retired the longtime favorite Parkway booster seat this spring and replaced it with the Highpoint, Midpoint and Skyline highback booster seats. Recently we reviewed the Highpoint, and we were happy to spend some time with the Skyline. Along with the Emblem and Allegiance convertible car seats, the Skyline is a member of Britax’s Essentials line of car seats.
In late 2019, they’ve made an update to this well liked booster, and made it a 2 Stage booster. The seat will now become a backless booster. This is a rolling change, based on cover, so look for it in the description online or on the box you’re buying. All boosters should be finished becoming 2 Stage by springtime 2020. There are no plans for Britax to sell the backless version separately at this time.
CSFTL Quick Stats
- Expiration: 10 years
- Vehicle head rest not required
- Height range: 38 – 63 inches tall
- Weight range: 40 – 120 pounds
Measurements
- Lowest shoulder belt guide position: 15 inches
- Highest shoulder belt guide position: 22.5 inches
- Width at armrests: 16.4 inches
- Width at cupholders: 20.75 inches
- Width at the back of the base: 14.5 inches
- Width of headwings: 16 inches
- Width at side wings: 20 inches
- Height with headrest fully extended: 34.5 inches tall
- Seat pan depth: 14 inches
- Seat weight: 12 pounds
Features
- Removable cupholders
- Premium lower anchors
Assembly
The Skyline arrives in one piece. Just remove it from the box, read the manual, register your seat using the card or the power of the internet and you’re good to go.
Highpoint vs. Midpoint vs. Skyline
This line of booster seats includes 3 models: the Highpoint, Midpoint, and Skyline. Here’s a quick list of the differences between them:
Highpoint: has the SecureGuard clip and 3 layers of Side Impact Protection
Midpoint: has the SecureGuard clip and 2 layers of Side Impact Protection. The Midpoint has been discontinued as of 2019, but there may still be some in stock at this point.
Skyline: does not include the SecureGuard Clip, has 2 layers of Side Impact Protection
Unique Features
Dishwasher Safe Cupholders
The cupholders can be removed from the Skyline and thrown in the dishwasher! Big kids are messy too, so I was perhaps unreasonably pleased to find this feature. Removing the cup holder may also be useful for creating additional room in tight spaces. There’s a tab underneath each cupholder and the cupholders themselves are labeled Left and Right, to the delight of our 6 year old model.
Removing these cupholders also helped us fit the Skyline next to a backless booster.
No Vehicle Head Restraint Required
The Skyline requires that the back of the booster seat be flush with the vehicle seat back. The Skyline’s manual suggests removing the vehicle head restraint to achieve this if needed. When a vehicle has forward-leaning head restraints and the vehicle allows for head restraint removal, this suggestion can help the Skyline fit the vehicle seat correctly.
Lower Anchors
The Skyline includes premium lower anchors that secure the booster seat when it’s unoccupied. These anchors are great if your booster rider doesn’t remember to buckle their booster back in when they exit the vehicle. They also help keep the Skyline in place while our riders were buckling themselves into the seat.
The release for the lower anchors is a red button located on the left side of the booster. While the release button and lower anchor adjuster strap are easy to use, this placement can make uninstalling the Skyline from the opposite side of the car a bit of a challenge. It may be more convenient to release the lower anchor on the side closest to you than to use this button.
Cover
The cover is connected to the seat by elastic loops and was easy to remove. The fabric is very soft and our models appreciated the vibrant color of our teal review seat.
Shoulder Belt Guide
The Skyline boasts a nicely open shoulder belt guide that was easy to use and kept the vehicle seat belt in place as we tested the Skyline with multiple kids in many different vehicles cars. We had no issues with the belt retracting back into the vehicle as our models used the seat.
Fit to Child
6 Years Old
This model is 6 years old, weighs 63 pounds and is 53 inches tall. The lap belt fit perfectly on him in the Skyline: low on the hips, contacting the thighs. Better yet, he had no trouble whatsoever buckling himself into the Skyline in multiple cars.
8 Years old
This sassy 8 year old is 51 inches tall and weighs 65 pounds. She’s got room to grow in the Skyline and she finds it reasonably comfortable. She prefers a rather very padded booster seat and while the Skyline is comfortable enough, she’d prefer to ride in something with more padding on a regular basis. The optional cupholders are always a crowd pleaser for her so she was glad to see that the Skyline has a place for her trinkets.
9 Years Old
Our 9 year old model is 59 inches tall and weighs just under 100 pounds. He has outgrown nearly all high back booster seats, but does prefer to have head support when he can.
In one of our review vehicles, he fit beautifully with the Skyline’s headrest fully extended. In terms of comfort, he found it vastly superior to his (not yet expired!) Britax Frontier 85 in booster mode.
In our other review car, however, the sloped roof of the vehicle prevented us from fully extending Sykline’s headrest. In that vehicle, it was impossible to make the Skyline tall enough to accommodate him in any of the three back seat positions. So although the Skyline has very generous height and weight limits, your car’s geometry may not allow full extension of the booster.
Three Across
Installing three car seats and booster seats in the same row of a vehicle is always a challenge. Though the Skyline is fairly wide at the top, the removable cupholders made it an option next to a safety 1st incognito. It wouldn’t be our first recommendation for tight spots but may work in some spaces.
Important Information: Where to Find
FAA label: Like all belt positioning booster seats, the Skyline is NOT approved for use on aircraft. That’s because aircraft only have lap belts and booster seats require both the lap and shoulder portions of the vehicle seat belt.
Manual storage: The manual stores in the bottom of the seat.
Date of Manufacture label: The Skyline expires 10 years after the date of manufacture. This date and the date of expiration are on a label on the bottom of the seat.
Overall Thoughts
The Skyline is a long-lasting, comfortable booster seat that is easy to use and fit well in multiple cars. Our models were particularly fond of the cover and the bum-feel. It’s also fairly lightweight so moving it between vehicles wasn’t a challenge. Since it’s one piece and doesn’t require a vehicle headrest, the Skyline would make a nice option for carpooling.
Giveaways
Our friends at Britax have graciously provided one Skyline for a giveaway! Read our Terms and Conditions, then enter for your chance to win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway