Need a new booster!

S

Sebastians Dad

Guest
Need a new booster!

Well, the airline lost our Century NextStep child seat so now it looks like we need a new one. My son just turned 3 years old and is about 39 - 40 pounds. The NextStep seemed to work well, but I was wondering if there were any better options out there. We just purchased a 2002 VW Jetta Wagon w/ the LATCH system so that is an option for us now. I would like to keep him in a 5 point harness as well. Any ideas? I saw the Recaro booster seat and that looked interesting but $349 is a lot of money. Is it worth it though?

THANKS!
 
ADS
K

Kristin

Guest
New Booster Seat

I'm sorry the airlines lost your Century NextStep. That is a very good carseat(unfortunately too wide for my Jeep).
I just purchased a Graco Grand Cargo Booster Seat. I don't know if it is LATCH ready though. I believe that the Century Seats can be converted with a kit.
Check out Centuries website for that info. I know how frustrating it can be to find the right seat. I'm on #4 for finding the right fit and safety features.
 
C

Caviller

Guest
Century Nextstep

I use a Century NextStep DX. I use it with the Century EZ LATCH retrofit kit. While there are other good combination booster seat options, the NextStep is a good choice, too. Unfortunately, unless you live in Canada, most of these options will have a 40 lb. limit on the harness. Above 40 pounds, they are used as a belt-positioning booster.

The Britax Super Elite and Fisher Price Futura are the only options right now for harnessed seats above 40 pounds in the USA. They are both very hard to find right now, as the Futura was discontinued and the Super Elite is in short supply. Neither is LATCH compatible at this time.

Also, I have some photos on my NextStep here:

photos.yahoo.com/tcaviller

You can also search the archives of this forum for a review I posted.
 
J

jamcgill

Guest
Re: Century Nextstep

The LATCH/ISOFIX system looks to be a huge step up in safety but for a couple problems. First, since it is not mandated for the US market until 9/2002, very few manufacturers are selling them, even though they have known this has been coming for years. I guess they are trying to sell thier old inventory while they still can, but this seems terribly negligent to me when it has been well documented that 80% of non-latch seats are installed incorrectly or can not be made to install correctly in many vehicles.

The other problem is that of booster seats. Very few of them are attached to the vehicle, whether through the Latch & tether or through the old-fashined belt system. The official reason to this is that five point harnesses is not better than a loose booster with the belt over it and child. I find this to be ludicrous, and I suspect others do as well as people are willing to pay top $ for the Recaro seat and the Britax Super Elite, the only five point harness boosters for children over 40 pounds. The other thing I have heard from salesmen is that children will not be willing to use the five point harness after the age of five. That is a pretty pathetic reason for not using an obviously better type of seat.

The only boosters that will attach properly to a car seat are the ones that are so heavy that they would be an additional hazard if not belted down. I don't care so much about weight, I just want to make sure that everything is in the right alignment in case of an accident. Typical booster seats give me little confidence this will be the case.

To that end I intend to install a Britax Super Elite using the LATCH system (which may need retrofitting, using a LATCH kit). This seams to be the only reliable way to get a safe booster seat system.
 
K

Kristin

Guest
Tether use with belt positioning booster seat

The Century Seats can be tethered while be used as a belt positioning booster seat, if that puts anyone's mind at ease. I don't see how the child's weight will hold the seat down completely while using the car seat belt system. I believe that the new Evenflo booster's can be tethered as well. I agree that these car manufactures have know of the LATCH system for quite sometime and those safety features are a must. I own a Jeep and had the tether's installed(outboard only though) and am interested in having the LATCH system put in too. It seems that the carseat manufactures should be working with the car manufactures in terms of making their child restraint systems more user friendly in all vehicles in terms of width, heighth and where the seatbelts are located etc.......
 
C

Caviller

Guest
Good points.

There IS a definite lack of forward-facing carseats that have a 5-point harness rated above 40 pounds, especially now that the Fisher Price Futura is discontinued. Part of the problem is that manufacturers did not realize that consumers were becoming more educated and buying these [previously] niche models. The other part is the government. It is interesting to note that some combination models with harnesses rated to 40 pounds in the USA are certified to 48 pounds or more in Canada when used with a tether.

Large retailers are mostly to blame for the few LATCH models now available. One retailer did make a push to order and stock many models that included tethers well before the tether legislation went into effect a few years ago. They assumed sales would improve with parents concerned about safety. Unfortunately, parents chose to save $10 and opted to go to other retailers to buy the same models that did not yet include tethers. Retailers are not making that mistake again with LATCH, and therefore there was no incentive for the manufacturers to release them :-(

Also, as you may know, there is not yet a LATCH retrofit kit compatible with any Britax model. Also, as a side note, the Super Elite is not technically a booster. Seats like this are considered forward-facing carseats because they do not boost or position a child to use the vehicle's 3-point belt as the primary restraint.

Finally, I'd like to mention that boosters seats are very safe when used properly. Belt-positioning boosters are designed to be safe when fitted correctly, though the child must be old enough to sit in them properly. Even so, best practice is to use a 5-point harness at least through 40 pounds.
 

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