When your HBB won't fit correctly

[Unregistered]

Hi. I've been reading this board for quite some time but have never posted a question. I finally have one I can't really find an answer to.

My son (6.5) rides in a Compass booster, which works very well for us. We have 2 of them and they fit well in my van's bucket seats as well as almost every other car I've ever put it in. However, as he has gotten taller and we've had to raise the headrest a few notches, the seat is fitting worse and worse in my husband's car (03 Infiniti G35). The problem is that the back seats are extremely reclined and have a headrest that tilts really far forward. This effectively makes a "C" shape, which creates a great gap between the headrest and the back of the seat (we're talking 6+ inches here). I've discovered that I can actually control the recline to the seat and when I bring it to it's most upright, the gap is less (maybe 5 inches), but it's still a really poor fit. Sometimes he starts screaming because his seat actually starts to tip over while driving! My gut instinct says that no other booster would fit any better because they all have a pretty straight back. So, even though I am REALLY opposed to it, would you recommend a low back booster in this case? I just asked dh and he assures me that the car has "as many airbags as can possibly be installed in a car", to include side impact.

So, WWYD in this case? I'm scared enough about it that I rarely let him even ride in dh's car, but sometimes he has to.

[wendytthomas]

I'd remove the headrest, or buy a Ride Safer Travel Vest. But removing the headrest seems the easiest and cheapest thing to do, if it comes out. If not, check out the vest.

Wendy

[Unregistered]

The Compass boosters don't convert to backless, which I would like to be able to at least try out to see... I may just trade cars with dh if he needs to drive ds around, but then in those "pinch" moments, like when I need him to pick ds up from school, we're still in a bind. I was just wondering what the thoughts would be on a LBB.

[wendytthomas]

I wouldn't put a 6.5 in a backless if I could avoid it. But I meant remove the car's headrest. That would solve the problem. If it comes out then you get no gap between the booster and the car.

Wendy

[Unregistered]

Oh, LOL. I thought you meant the back of the seat. I'm 99% positive the headrest won't come out, but I'm going to try when dh gets home. That's such an obvious answer, I guess since the ones in my van don't come out, I forget that other cars have that option!

[wendytthomas]

Some do, some don't.

The Ride Safer Travel Vest is a wearable five point harness, so I'd probably look into that before a backless booster. But since you don't use a booster with it the kid sits lower, and therefore the projecting headrest wouldn't cause your son concerns. Or shouldn't, anyway.

And if that fails, you can try a backless. Not ideal, but at 6.5 years old there are worse things. But it would definitely be the last option on my list.

Wendy