Ilana has a long torso for her age and doesn’t have much room left in her other boosters. She needed something taller (the third row of the Town and Country doesn’t work for backless boosters and with five kids in seats, moving her isn’t an option). The van has had problems with Safety 1st boosters in the past, but it was a good price and super cool, so decided to give it a shot.
Maxi-Cosi offers two booster models that received a Best Bet rating in the 2014 IIHS Booster Ratings: the mid-priced, RodiAP and the higher end RodiFix. Both boosters offer a fairly high top belt guide so they’re both long-lasting as the child grows. The RodiFix does not convert to a backless booster, includes ISO-FIX connectors to secure it to the vehicle seat when not in use, and has closed shoulder belt guides that keep the seat belt in place. In this review, we’ll take a close look at the RodiFix.
Let’s be honest, all day at a dealership trying car seats in all the vehicles would be a dream come true. Ain’t nobody got time and well, the dealership wants to sell those cars without us in them. So, we are just going to make do with a 2007 Chrysler Town and Country and a 2012 Dodge Journey. My CSFTL colleague, Jess, and I both have three kids, in seats, in one row. This is our reality and we know it’s many other’s reality as well for many reasons.
Evenflo is a long-standing manufacturer of a variety of children’s products. Among those products is our favorite: car seats! When Evenflo offered CSFTL the chance to review multiple incarnations of their popular SecureKid combination seat, naturally we said yes!
Once your Little has outgrown a harnessed seat and is ready for a booster seat, the choices can be a bit overwhelming. There are a wide variety of booster seats on the market, high back, backless; with large belt guides, lots of padding; small belt guides, minimal padding, the options seem endless. At CSFTL, we know how challenging it can be to choose the right booster for your Little. Peg Perego, an Italian children’s product company, makes the luxurious Viaggio HBB 120 booster, the star of this post.
RECARO was founded in 1906 in Germany. They have been making car seats for over 100 years?! Not quite, but they have been making seats for cars for that long. It wasn’t until 1998 that RECARO entered the child passenger safety scene. It’s now 25 years later and they have just introduced a new high back booster. RECARO was generous enough to provide one of their new Performance BOOSTER seats for me to review.
It is well-known on the CSFTL website that kids need to be in boosters until 10-12 years old, but finding the booster that fits your child well, fits your vehicle well, and will last can be tough. Evenflo has finally brought their E3 technology into the booster world and their new booster might be that perfect one for you! Check out the RightFit that Evenflo so generously provided for this review!
The Graco TurboBooster is likely the most popular booster seat on the market today. It has so much going for it — it’s light weight, easy to use, and fits most children well. The same basic design has been available for well over a decade. Child Passenger Safety Technicians and caregivers alike are fans of the TurboBooster because of its simplicity and excellent belt positioning. At the very reasonable $50-$60 price for the highback version, and $30 or less for the backless version, it’s an excellent option for many families.
Looking for an inexpensive or lightweight booster, or something narrow for your three across? The Evenflo Big Kid (LX or Sport)/Amp may be for you! These boosters function as high back and backless boosters.
The Harmony Defender 360 is a fairly new addition to the world of combination seats (aka car seats that convert from a forward facing five point harness into a belt positioning booster), and I had the opportunity to take one for a spin this week.
