School children should still be in a car seat or booster seat until they pass the 5 step test.
At the school drop off line, children under 13 should be getting out of the back seat.
After school activities and playdates require an easy to carry booster seat.
The much-loved Graco Extend2Fit convertible car seat has made its way to Canada. While we are still very big fans of this seat and its versatility, there are some major changes between the Canadian and American versions. We’ll use this review to illustrate the differences, most of which are around rear facing use.
Convertible car seats are two products in one — a rear facing car seat and a forward facing car seat. Some models also include a bonus third product — a booster mode. Like a DVD player built into a TV, or a crib that converts to a toddler bed, it’s convenient to bundle these products, but that means there are features that could be misused. All convertible and multimode seats include two belt paths — one for rear facing mode and one for forward facing mode.
Combination car seats fill an important gap in the car seat market — forward facing only seats that allow children to remain in a harnessed car seat until they’re truly ready to move to a booster seat. We’d like to introduce the Cosco Finale, which comes in at the staggeringly low suggested retail price of $49 for the base model and $59 for the more plush cover.
We’ve been fans of the Chicco NextFit since it arrived on the market in 2013. Since then, Chicco has added some additional flavors of the seat — first the NextFit Zip, which has a cover that zips off for easy installation access and cleaning, and now, the NextFit iX Zip, which has a few additional features that we’re already pretty fond of!
If you’re looking for a lightweight, relatively narrow, inexpensive booster, cast your gaze towards the Evenflo Big Kid Sport.
Disney recently announced the launch of a small fleet of vans that provide dedicated travel within the Walt Disney World Resort and theme parks areas.
We’re big fans of Peg Perego’s booster seats — the Primo Viaggio HBB 120 and the Viaggio Flex 120. Both of those boosters are high back boosters. The Viaggio Shuttle backless booster rounds out the Peg Perego line of booster seats with a backless option.
The Graco TurboBooster has been a solid, well-fitting, popular booster seat for many years for good reason! It is lightweight, very simple to assemble and use, and fits a wide variety of children well. It’s also budget friendly, making it a good choice for many families.
We’ve all been there. You’re driving down the road, everything is going fine and then all of a sudden you have to slam on your brakes. While you’re working hard not to hit the car in front of you that stopped so suddenly, your purse on the seat next to you hits the floor, your child’s backpack on the empty vehicle seat next to them hits the back of the driver’s seat, and the stack of mail on the center console goes flying.
Don’t leave a tether strap hanging! A tether strap may have a long tail to accommodate anchors that are far from the vehicle seat. Be sure to appropriately bundle and store the excess so it doesn’t get caught hanging outside of the vehicle or create a strangulation hazard for a child.
