Which high back booster will fit older child longest?

Ok, not sure if I'm wording this correctly, but I'm trying to find a high back booster for my 9 year old daughter. She is currently in a Regent, that she's going to outgrow by height pretty soon, so we're in the market for a booster. Our van(98 GMC Savana) does NOT have head rests, so I really need something that will get keep her in a booster for hopefully a few years at least(until we could possibly buy a newer van w/ head rests).

She's about 52 1/2" tall, and about 65 pounds. Obviousely we don't know how fast she'll grow to know how long something will last, but I guess I'm hoping to find which high back boosters last longest, probably mostly height wise, as none of my kids have been real heavy.

A couple I saw that interested me were the Monterey Booster and the Britax Frontier. I'm very open to other ideas, as I'm just not as familiar with boosters as regular car seats. I definately would love for it to have side impact protection of some sort since we don't have side air bags of any sort.

THANKS!! Sara

The Britax Frontier definitely adjusts the tallest...it might even last long enough to get you to seatbelt only stage

The Monterey doesn't adjust quite as tall, but should be more than adequate for the next few years for a child your daughter's size

My 55" (she may be 56" now, I haven't measured her in a couple of months) daughter outgrew the Regent 6+ months ago. The Frontier is the tallest highback booster available, but it's a combination seat (harnessed+booster), so I hesitate to recommend it for folks who will only use it as a booster (just seems a bit of a waste). However, when dealing with vehicles without rear headrests, sometimes we do what we have to do. I am in the same boat, for what it's worth: I drive a 2003 Ford Focus, no rear headrests. My daughter is on the tallest setting in one of her boosters, and the second-tallest (I believe) in another, and we have some of the taller boosters out there (on par with the Monterey, or just a smidge shorter). I am sure she would have just moved up to the tallest setting on the Monterey, or would be on the second-to-top.

We will end up with either a Britax Parkway Slide Guard, or a Britax Frontier. The PWSG is the tallest dedicated booster (meaning, booster-only, no harnessed mode) that I know of, but the Frontier is a bit taller as a booster than the PWSG. I think for us, it will come down to how comfortable the PWSG seems for our dd, since it is narrower and offers less leg support than the Frontier. Also, the Frontier can be LATCHed in booster mode (the PWSG does not have LATCH straps), which is a plus if the booster will be installed in a vehicle with LATCH anchors.

I think the Monterey is a great booster, but I think for most kids outgrowing the Regent by height (shoulders over top slots), the Monterey will only offer another 1.5-2 years as a highback (then it would have to be converted to backless). I think in a situation where the main vehicle has no rear headrests, you really do need to focus on the tallest highback options, and the PWSG and Frontier are several inches taller than the Monterey.

I wouldn't hesitate to get a Frontier - it has 24-25 inch belt guides and will last a very, very long time.

for someone who is outgrowing the regent it would only be about a 1.5yrs more in a monterey. that's probably not enough if you don't have headrests. i was very much faced with figuring out the next seat after the monterey caus eof our van has no headrests. it actually solved it own problem when we get rearended & we had to replace the van. so we got one with headrests. i wouldn't have hesitated to get a frontier if that was what i needed. even tho the price was ridiculous for booster mode only...its still cheaper than a new car.

the new parkway sg is taller than the monterey too. however your older child may not appreciate the slide guard on it.

My 12 year old is 5 foot 2 and still has some growing room in the Frontier, and finds the seat wide enough and deep enough for comfort.
Are your dd's shoulders actually creeping above the top slots of the Regent? I know it has a 53" height limit stated, but the shoulders going above the top slots is a truer indication that it's outgrown. (Though I wouldn't be surprised if she really is outgrowing it, the Regent is shorter than the older Husky )

My oldest is on the verge of outgrowing the Regent's top shoulder harness slots by height, and she needs the tallest setting on the Monterey in highback mode, with the Monterey's torso width setting at its narrowest. She also needs the tallest setting in the original Parkway booster, but complains about feeling cramped in it and she also dislikes the headwings on the Parkway, having never used a harnessed seat with headwings prior to using a booster. I haven't had her try a Parkway Secure Guard (not yet, lol). I'm hoping to eke out another year or two in the Monterey as a highback booster for her, with Plan B being to swap her into DD2's Frontier in booster mode if need be. I'm not adverse to her using a backless booster because our vehicles have side curtain airbags and adequate head restraint support for her so far, but prefer to have her use a highback when possible in our primary vehicle to ease the transition to full time booster usage, and also just to have the added SIP of the highback when feasible.

joolsplus3 said:

Are your dd's shoulders actually creeping above the top slots of the Regent? I know it has a 53" height limit stated, but the shoulders going above the top slots is a truer indication that it's outgrown. (Though I wouldn't be surprised if she really is outgrowing it, the Regent is shorter than the older Husky )

Click to expand...

joolsplus3,

No, her shoulder's aren't actually over the top slots, it's just her height is almost over the stated 53" limit. I feel comfortable letting her stay in the Regent until we can afford to get a High Back Booster, being that as you stated, she't not technically outgrown the seat since the top slots are still above her shoulders.

Gypsy, thanks so much for the pic of the 13 year old in the Frontier, that is so very helpful!!

EVERYONE~thank you so much for all the info! :thumbsup: I'm thinking we'll be going with the Frontier when the time comes.

Sara