Spare booster for 5 y.o?

[Unregistered]

Hello- I'm looking for recommendations for a spare belt-positioning booster for a 5 y.o, for school field trips when they use a van instead of a bus, for riding in a neighbor's car, etc. My son is 49 lbs and 46" tall (though growing taller all the time!)

TIA
Kristi

[scatterbunny]

Graco TurboBooster, Evenflo Big Kid. Really any highback booster that provides head support (there are a few low-end highback boosters that do not provide structural head support, meaning they must be used with vehicle seatback or headrest at least up to the tips of the child's ears). A highback booster with head support is important for a seat used for field trips and carpooling because you have no way to know if every vehicle will, indeed, have high seatbacks or headrests available.

[skaterbabscpst]

The Turbo Booster is a good choice, although I have to say that after buying a TB last year and deciding not to spend the extrs $30 for a Parway, I'm now wishing I'd done so. My boys are within 2" of outrgowing the TBs (shoulders are basically at the belt guides) and they have about 5" more room in the PW.

So rather than spending $100 last year, I spent $70 and am having to spend teh $100 this year. :rolleyes:

[scatterbunny]

Yes, good point. The Parkway does adjust the tallest of all the highback boosters, as far as I know.

Also (and I think this is a point I should have covered earlier), the TurboBooster's armrests can sometimes be confusing for people not familiar with it. The lapbelt must be routed under the armrests and the shoulderbelt must go under the armrest on the buckle side and over the armrest/child's shoulder on the other side. It's really not that confusing to me (and most people "in the know" when it comes to carseats/boosters), but for others it can be. It can also give kids trouble when buckling themselves.

The Parkway has no armrests to get in the way of buckling.

[skaterbabscpst]

Not to mention that when trying to get multiple seats in the same vehicle the armrests can get in the way.

[jen_nah]

The Turbo Booster is a good choice, although I have to say that after buying a TB last year and deciding not to spend the extrs $30 for a Parway, I'm now wishing I'd done so. My boys are within 2" of outrgowing the TBs (shoulders are basically at the belt guides) and they have about 5" more room in the PW.

So rather than spending $100 last year, I spent $70 and am having to spend teh $100 this year. :rolleyes:

OMG!!! That is so me. Last year I decided to buy Kaylee another Graco CarGo when I should have just spent the money on the Regent as she was already 36lbs. So, Less then a year later I had to replace it with a Regent now.

[skaterbabscpst]

exactly. The worst part is that the insurance would have paid all but the $30 extra for each seat because the TB's were being replaced after a minor crash. So we'd have effectively gotten PWs for $30 each. :rolleyes:

[Simplysomething]

I'm confused. Are parkways only 80 dollars?

OR was the TB we just got cheap? (at 49.99)

[skaterbabscpst]

We bought the nicer TBs. IMO, they really are worth the price difference.

I have recently seen PWs on sale in a few places though for around $80.

[Unregistered]

I'm confused as to what you mean by nicer TB's? I only saw the one kind (with the two covers, boy v/ girl)

[Dillipop]

The "nicer" TB's have more padding than the less expensive ones. The cover options are also nicer. The 49.99 ones have a black/red for boys and pink/grey for girls, I think but the pricier ones have pictures from movies and such.

[scatterbunny]

Some models are "base" models, less padding and certain covers. Some models are mid-priced models with more padding and different covers. The high-end models have the most padding and the nicest (sometimes reversible) covers.

http://www.gracobaby.com/products/search.asp?Ntt=TurboBooster&N=120&act=A35&Ntk=Product

Hopefully that link works, it shows 27 different TurboBoosters.

[Unregistered]

For the record, the two places that I went to had...flowery covers for girls...lol (the one at kmart was 39.99, originally 49.99 and the one at target was 59.99)

The reversable cover ones are nice! Would be nifty if more carseats had that option.

From that link though, it only seems that the differences on some are the covers-- http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/product.aspx?modelNumber=8498SRT&subCatId=17

So, of the one I got..(Sport), there are seven that are the same with different covers... (boy/girl/etc)...but there are three that are the more padded version... I get it now! Yay me! lol

(and all the rest were backless....)




The one I got my son was black and grey. I wish they had had more options though...because...really BLACK? WHY are so many carseats BLACK? Cars are HOT!

Oh well.

Grey is a nice color. lol