The Compass B540 in my 3 across

I promised I'd post pics once the booster came in and I tried it.

It might wook for some other 3 across situations, but it doesn't work that well in mine. Which I pretty much expected but I had to try it anyway, I couldn't cross it off the list until I tried it.

First off, I LOVE this booster! I love the way it feels, the sturdiness, the way the cover looks (gorgeous!), the way the cover feels, everything.

I did get it to fit in the car next to the radian (and on the other side of the car was a RF radian) and it barely fits. It's just slighty too close to the side of the radian, it pulls the radian cover off of the side of the seat when you push up the arm rest.

Here are several pictures I took. Abby was my tester since Hannah is at school right now.



I think she has a good fit, the belt looks like it's on her tummy a bit but it's not. I don't want her in a booster full time yet though.



Flipped up, it pulls the radian cover off.



The space inbetween in which to buckle





The seat belt buckle is further down in "the pit" than I thought it would be, so you'd still have to reach down in there to buckle and it's a little bit hard to do (not as hard as buckling the Turbo booster though).
I was actually able to reach my hand down the back, behind the arm rest and hold onto the buckle while I buckled it with the other hand. It wasn't too bad, but I don't know if my kids could do that.
Abby did reach right down and unbuckled herself easily though, I didn't have her try to buckle.



I think it would work much better if it was just slightly narrower (and I mean slight, it's not tons too wide), and if the seat of the booster was a little lower, so there wouldn't be as much of a "pit" between the seats (or if my belt stalk was longer).
It could work well in a 3 across that has a tiny bit more space than my back seat (2007 Toyota Camry), or with longer belt stalks.
I really don't think it would fit at all if both of my radians were forward facing, which they both will be in about 5 months.

I am unfortunetly crossing this off my list. If we had our van already, I'd definitely keep this, I love it a lot. I did pretty much expect it to not work for one reason or another, so it's not much of a surprise.
Moving on. The Air Protect booster is reportedly the same width of this booster (19 inches), but maybe it would fit differently and work better?
Or there is the Evenflo Big Kid Deluxe (I'd pick the deluxe because it has foam in the head rest and the regular does not), it's reportedly 16 inches, the same width as the turbo.

Should I bother trying the Air Protect or would you go straight for the Evenflo Big Kid? There is a local store that has the air protect so I could get one right away to try and not have to have it shipped.

I'd try the Air Protect...though I suppose the BK might work, I never measured the back side of one, the AP is pretty narrow at the seatbelt anchors.

I'd go Air first, then the BK. From an SIP standpoint I prefer the Air wings over whats offered on the BK.

Are you sure there's eps foam in the big kid deluxe? We gave some of them away (Apparently they were on sale, so the cpst in charge of buying bought those instead. It was the model with the reading lights.), had to assemble them, and there was no eps foam. The seat did have thicker padding than the regular, but no foam.

BTW, when using the booster, the shoulder belt guide should be above the child's shoulder. I know you were just trying it out, but the headrest should be higher.

So, how much did you pay for the seat? How long are you going to have it? One of my parkways expires in February and my bodyguard expires in March. I may need a good seat for my second row. It's hard to buckle anything with stationary arm rests.

christineka said:

Are you sure there's eps foam in the big kid deluxe? We gave some of them away (Apparently they were on sale, so the cpst in charge of buying bought those instead. It was the model with the reading lights.), had to assemble them, and there was no eps foam. The seat did have thicker padding than the regular, but no foam.

So, how much did you pay for the seat? How long are you going to have it? One of my parkways expires in February and my bodyguard expires in March. I may need a good seat for my second row. It's hard to buckle anything with stationary arm rests.

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Yeah, the Big Kids have foam in the head rest, or at least they are supposed to. I've stuck my hand under the cover of many of them at the store to feel it.
This is the pattern I would get because it's the most girly they have, and it talks about the foam in the description.

Here they are on the Evenflo website too and it mentions the foam.

I paid $66 for this booster because there was free shipping and a 10% employee discount. I want to return it tonight or tomorrow so I can try something else asap, so I need the money back from this before I can get something else.

I just got one from Amazon that I haven't opened up yet so I'm glad to see this review. Mine is Retro Rails and looks like tan corduroy. I don't need a three across so I'm sure it will work out fine. It's for my 6 1/2 yr old grandson who is still harnessed most of the time and it will be a spare.

I'm not entirely sure it's going to get better than that. I have an old Parkway and it fits fabulously, but it's a squeeze to buckle, and there's no way she's going to buckle herself. She can unbuckle, but I have B's CCO in the middle, so I'm paranoid she's going to unbuckle his seat on accident. I have a BabyLegs over the seatbelt and buckle so she can't push the seatbelt button.

An Aurora said:

I have a BabyLegs over the seatbelt and buckle so she can't push the seatbelt button.

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This is brilliant!

Did you try the rear-facing Radian center instead? And you can put a toilet paper tube around the buckle stalk to make it stiffer, and tape the tube to the vehicle seat/booster/whatever, to make it easier to access.

I have a tp tube taped around my buckle stalk. Over time it becomes just as floppy as the tape. I need something more stiff.

ketchupqueen said:

Did you try the rear-facing Radian center instead? And you can put a toilet paper tube around the buckle stalk to make it stiffer, and tape the tube to the vehicle seat/booster/whatever, to make it easier to access.

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No, I don't want the RF radian in the center, it's too annoying to lean that far in to buckle him, we both prefer him to be on the side.
He'll be FFing in about 5 months anyway and I'm sure there is no way the compass booster would fit then.

My plan was to get sticky back velcro to put on the buckle and the side of the booster so that the buckle doesn't fall down into the pit more or move around. I think the buckle stalk is too short, it's always going to be a lot lower than the side of the booster.

We returned the compass booster and went and picked up the Evenflo Big kid deluxe. I just took it out to the car and it is a little easier to access the buckle than it was with the TB, but it's still not perfect (I don't think anything will be perfect). The issue is the short belt stalk, and the sides of the booster and the seat next to it being so close that it makes a tiny space to reach down and buckle.
I wasn't out there very long, it's dark and raining, so I'll play with it more tomorrow. If I could get it to where the buckle doesn't move at all, it might be ok. I'll decide if we're keeping the booster and then if so, I'll get some super strength sticky back velcro. It might be the easiest for Hannah and her small hands to do it.

Dh and I were talking about the van situation on our long drive to the store to get the evenflo booster. It might be better for us to keep just the car for another 3-4 years because dh is going to be going back to school soon and he doesn't want a car payment at the same time as paying student loans.
We were talking about how it could work if we keep the car that long, because even though the girls still can fit in the radians right now, they definitely won't for that long and we'd have to eventually do a 3 across with 2 boosters! I'm not sure how that is going to work.

We talked about maybe trading in our car for a van right now, and work it out so that we'd owe the same as we still owe on the car right now otherwise it's like totally starting over. We'll probably talk about that more later. I'm not sure how possible that is right now, finding the kind of van we want for the right price.
So basically I'm trying to figure out what we want, long term wise. How the car could work that much longer if we don't get a van for a few more years.

Ok, so now we're talking more about trading in the car for a van now.
The booster thing is difficult enough now, let alone when there will be 2 boosters in there, and the kids are only going to get bigger and feel more cramped. I think a van makes the most sense.
We were just looking up some vans online, we'll probably go look at some within the next week or so.
I'll use the Big Kid booster tomorrow and see how it goes, but I may put the radian back in if we decide to get a van now, and return the Big Kid and get something else with the van, something I like better.

Holly said:

Ok, so now we're talking more about trading in the car for a van now.
The booster thing is difficult enough now, let alone when there will be 2 boosters in there, and the kids are only going to get bigger and feel more cramped. I think a van makes the most sense.
We were just looking up some vans online, we'll probably go look at some within the next week or so.
I'll use the Big Kid booster tomorrow and see how it goes, but I may put the radian back in if we decide to get a van now, and return the Big Kid and get something else with the van, something I like better.

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Shoulda kept the Compass

I know the lap belt looks like it's high on my DD too, but it touches her thighs and I can feel her hip bones well above the belt. It is definitely not up on her abdomen at all. I guess some are super strict and want it flat on the thighs, but I have tried the Graco TB with her and it also sits about the same place. I feel comfortable with her in it.

Holly said:

I'll use the Big Kid booster tomorrow and see how it goes, but I may put the radian back in if we decide to get a van now, and return the Big Kid and get something else with the van, something I like better.

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Please don't buy a seat, use it, and return it because you want something different. Use what you have for now, or buy and keep the Big Kid. That's not fair.

And a three-across will work if you keep the girls harnessed. You CAN do it; you just don't want to.

carseatcoach said:

Please don't buy a seat, use it, and return it because you want something different. Use what you have for now, or buy and keep the Big Kid. That's not fair.

And a three-across will work if you keep the girls harnessed. You CAN do it; you just don't want to.

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I said I'll try the big kid today to see how it goes and if it's not too bad to use, we'll keep it, unless we decide to get a van now. We'd only return it if it doesnt work well or if we decide to get a van. I'm going to use it today to see if we can use it fairly easily, we can't know how well it will work unless we try it. The way it works or not will have some influence on whether or not we get a van now. If it does work pretty well but we haven't decided about the van yet, I'll take it out and use the turbo or radian until we decide what to do so it won't be used more than one day. For now, Hannah could be harnessed, but if we don't get a van for another 3-4 years then both girls will have to be in boosters, so that is what we are thinking about now, what can work long term if we decide to wait longer on a van. If we do decide to get a van, I don't want to use the big kid, I prefer something with more head support. Abby is definitely staying harnessed until she maxes out her radian. She's not mature enough for a booster full time.

If you do decide to start looking at vans, the place where we bought ours had a bunch to choose from, though they were all Dodge, Chrysler and Kia. Their pricing was really MUCH better than we were finding elsewhere. They only have 2 sales guys and don't work on commission, so they were super easy to work with.

www.henryclaymotors.com

We want a Toyota or Honda if we get a van.
I'm thinking we should get a van now. If it's get one now or not get one for 3-4 years, I think we should do it now. The booster thing is pretty annoying, and while Hannah doesn't HAVE to use a booster now, she and Abby won't be fitting in the radians 3-4 years from now, so they will both need boosters before we get a van and that will be much worse.

We got our van from smith family motors in Draper. They had a bunch of siennas. The vans are former rentals and seemed to be less expensive than others. Our van has some interior issues, but we haven't had any others.

Holly said:

We want a Toyota or Honda if we get a van.
I'm thinking we should get a van now. If it's get one now or not get one for 3-4 years, I think we should do it now. The booster thing is pretty annoying, and while Hannah doesn't HAVE to use a booster now, she and Abby won't be fitting in the radians 3-4 years from now, so they will both need boosters before we get a van and that will be much worse.

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Is Hannah the one still using the 2nd from top slots on her radian, or am I thinking about Abby?

If it's Hannah who still uses the 2nd from top slots she could easily make it another 2-3 yrs in her rn.

In my dh's Lancer Sophie will be harnessed in her rn until the very last second she fits (she's 5.5 yo now, will last another 2+ yrs I'm guessing) because it's the only way humanly possible (and legally since I'm in Canada) that I can squeeze 3 across the back. I'm sure in the suv she will booster shortly after she reaches a full 40lbs (I'm guessing a year from now) but not in the car. Nope, thank goodness for her rn! Her rn is saving us from having to trade dh's car.

They are both using the top slots now. Hannah has about an inch left and Abby has about 2 inches.