Difference between Laptop and shield booster

one is made of energy absorbing foam that crushes in an accident (the Laptop) and the other is just made of plastic that doesn't do anything and often as a child flying out of it (the shield booster).

CRS said:

one is made of energy absorbing foam that crushes in an accident (the Laptop) and the other is just made of plastic that doesn't do anything and often as a child flying out of it (the shield booster).

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:yeahthat:

It's a question of materials--foam versus plastic.

I thought it wasn't just the materials? From what I've read here, the laptop acts similar to a 5 point restraint, because of the way it is designed.

I hope that skater and the rest chime in

The Laptop fits snugly on virtually every child, right up against the belly, all the way up the chest. It restrains very much like a five point harness. I used one for quite awhile and was very pleased with it. Hayley has some sensory issues and just complained too much about the snug fit (it really does hold the child very firmly in place, usually right up to the underarms).

It's a GREAT niche seat for lapbelt-only spots, but unfortunately the last produced only have about a year left before they expire.

Becky's kids were riding in Laptops when they were in a rollover in a van. They worked perfectly.

I posted this a while back

With a shield booster, a child is sitting in a booster, thus, boosted up. The shield is in front of them, but by no means snugly against them as the sole restraint. The belt goes over the shield. The problems with this include being up higher - different center of gravity, and not having anything snugly against the bony parts of the body like you would with a regular seat belt, booster or harnessed seat. If there are no head rests, you've boosted a child up with nothing behind their head. Also, the chances of ejection, either out the top or down out the bottom, depending on the size of the child and the type of crash, are high.

With the LapTop, the child is sitting right on the vehicle seat and the LapTop sits over their legs and against their chest. It is snug against the bony chest and the child is lower down in the vehicle. With a shield booster, the shield is the restraint - the shield is there to be impacted by a body. The same applies to an overhead-shield convertible seat - made to be impacted by a child's face or chest . Since the LapTop is already snug, like a harness, there's not the same kind of impact.

Here's my Laptop pics: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/0603/scatterbunny/Britax Laptop/