Help me choose a booster

LM4M

CPST Instructor
I can't believe I'm asking this :rolleyes::(

DD1 is around 50-ish pounds and 46 inches tall. She's almost 7. She has a turbo as a backup right now (rides full time in a regent).

DD2 is nearly 5 and wants to ride FFing now, and I have finally agreed (hey nearly five years RFing, I can't complain). My only option is to have the girls swap spots in the back row, because there's one available tether spot back there and it's on DD1's side.

So in doing so, I'm using the tether for DD2 to ride FFing and then DD1 will need a FT booster because there's no tether available for me to use her regent. She will be 7 next month, and she rides well in a booster, so I'm okay with it (can't believe I just said that...) but I'd like her to have something a little more comfortable than the TB. I like the headwings on the TB but they are hard. I'd like to keep that as a spare, and get her something nicer/more comfy as a full time booster. The only requirement is that it not have a huge base (it can be wide, but not long from seat bite to edge of seat) because the seat in front of her doesn't allow for a huge amount of leg room.

Any help would be great. Thanks everyone!
 
ADS

TXDani

Senior Community Member
You drive a Suburban right?

The only advice I have is that using the Frontier as a booster in the third row (in my Yukon XL) is really hard for my 5.5 year old son to buckle himself.

Not much help but I figured I would throw it out there.:) His Compass B510 is easy for him to buckle himself though.
 

Maedze

New member
How's her shoulder breadth? If she's well framed, the Monterey is cushy. If she has narrow shoulders, I think the Probooster would be your best bet for a combination of cushy, and not too long front-to-back.
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
How's her shoulder breadth? If she's well framed, the Monterey is cushy.

Yep, I double heart my Monterey (as does my carseat-hating kid who rides in it.) I don't know what would be considered long though, I feel like it has pretty good leg support for older kids, which makes me think it's long.

Anyways, if the meetup works out down here you're welcome to try her in mine (you'll have a variety!), especially since they're impossible to find in-store.
 

bubbaray

New member
My DD#1 is a total STICK and she has fit in the Monterey since she was 5, just 40lbs. Ask Quassee, she let me borrow hers and a whole bunch of techs checked the fit at our class.

We love that Monterey. DD#1 says its the most comfy seat ever. I just got a PW and she does NOT like it.
 

LM4M

CPST Instructor
She's a pretty solid girl, wears a size 7 shirt. She's not a stick like my littles are- she's built more like her mama :rolleyes::eek:
 

Maedze

New member
That's my DD...her older brother has something like 11" shoulders, but she's inherited her mother's linebacker shoulders :rolleyes:
 

steph_s

New member
My kids like their Parkway sg's more than just about any booster seat. (I haven't tried the probooster the kids don't like the look of it). The monterey while they state it's comfy at first within 20 minutes they are complaining they want back into their pkwy's.

That said, in the van something about the way the seat's slope they prefer the turbo booster over any other seats. I secretly think it's because the turbo is slightly easier for them to buckle, they can see outside slightly better in it and the seat has a natural recline that makes them start to slide out of the monterey. (I know they don't like the pkwy because of the side wings in this car though they have voiced that much).
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I LOVE my Parkway SG. It works beautifully with little ones (I have tried it with my average-sized four-year-old niece, though she definitely does not ride in it) as well as with big kids (like my nine-year-old buddy). The only thing that would make it "better" is a cowmoo cover. :whistle:
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
The Monterey is not a shallow seat.

This is my girl when she was about the size of your girl. (The body wings are on the widest setting because the seat was adjusted for a larger carpool child.)

monterey.jpg
 

LM4M

CPST Instructor
She looks to be about the size of your DD. So, what you're saying it the sides of the seat are adjustable? Or am I reading incorrectly?
 

Mae

Well-known member
She looks to be about the size of your DD. So, what you're saying it the sides of the seat are adjustable? Or am I reading incorrectly?

Yep, the sides move outwards in inwards.

The second picture here shows how wide it goes when fully extended. I'm still trying to find a comparison of fully closed/fully extended.

Here is a picture that compares the Monterey fully down/fully up, but I don't think the sides are extended/moved in for the picture.
 

LM4M

CPST Instructor
Is the monterey equally as good a seat if you can't use latch to anchor it? It would be a free-sitting seat (if that even makes sense) and not using the lower latch.
 

LM4M

CPST Instructor
anybody?

If my ? was difficult to understand... I am trying to figure out if the monterey is a good booster if it can't be anchored using lower latch. It looks top heavy, and our third row has no lower latch, and obviously she will be using the belt, so it will just sit like a turbo would sit on the bench. We have some issues with the turbo staying put because of it's small footprint on the curved bench seat. Will we have this problem with the monterey?
 

April

Well-known member
The Monterey is much heavier than say a Turbo booster or a Parkway. You can use it without using the lower anchors, but its certainly a booster that I'd want buckled at all times when not occupied.

I like the Monterey and the Parkway SG. The Parkway definitely takes up less room.
 

emandbri

Well-known member
I'd say the Monterey as well. I do like my probooster but it can be tippy and I don't like the fabric on it.
 

MissAllyLou

New member
I would try and Parkway Slideguard AND a Monterey, and see what fits your seats better. I personally don't love the Monterey without the lower anchors attached, but that's personal preference. I love my PWYSG
 

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