Monterey

How will you be using your monterey now?

I'm torn, ds doesn't fit (too tall) or isn't comfortable (lack of leg support) in other boosters, but I have no vehicle head rests.

steph_s said:

How will you be using your monterey now?

I'm torn, ds doesn't fit (too tall) or isn't comfortable (lack of leg support) in other boosters, but I have no vehicle head rests.

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Mine will be living in the basement, I think. Not much use for them.
I am on the quest for a decent booster now, since I am uncomfortable removing my headrests and uncomfortable with a huge gap btw vehicle seat and backrest and UGH!

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We took the back off. I'm not happy about it, but I'm also not comfortable using the TB without the headrest now, and I don't like the way any of our other NBBs fit her. The Frontier doesn't work in our car as a booster

So in addition to the belt guide issue, there's a headrest issue. Fabulous.

Kac said:

So in addition to the belt guide issue, there's a headrest issue. Fabulous.

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auto correct hates me

Why do most boosters need to be flat against the seat back? I understand that we want to use them the way they were tested but just curious what the reason is behind it? Nothing really jumps out at me as obvious.

If I have to move J to the middle when E gets here I don't know what I'll do. I mean he could sit in the third row but with both girls OB it would be pain for him to get back there plus I would lose half of my cargo room. I could switch DH and use the Turbo but I think I would fell more comfy using the Monterey w/o head support over the Turbo. Ugh I have no idea!!

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Our car has no head rests in the back seat. He is already too tall for most boosters. I have no choice.
Our van I could use a nbb in the captains chair with the headrest, but I think he is safer in the Monterey. The manual says no gaps so I am going with the manual on this and using it the best I can with what I have. So the headrests are off and we are still using the Monterey with the back.

Don't throw things at me but when I went to put on the headrests there was not much gap to speak of and what I see looks safe in my van. The booster is not relying on the headrest as a pressure point. Both head rests however are at their max heights.
I did find that my frontier is slipping and slouching though. I installed it and it is "acceptable" I suppose but I really need dh to push it "back and down" a hair before we drive it next.

I can only speak hypothetically because all the seating positions I have where I could use the Monterey have head rests which don't interfere with the seat fit.

I got to compare my Monterey side-by-side with the Parkway SG today. Honestly, in spite of the fact that Diono doesn't allow no-head-rest but Britax does, I would feel a LOT more comfortable with the Monterey in a support-less position compared to the Parkway.

I am not terribly concerned with the risk of whiplash. Yeah, it would be painful for a child if the booster didn't provide adequate protection, but we don't have any standards to show which boosters do a better or worse job. Generally, I like the Monterey better than the Parkway SG and I think it's a more solid seat all around.

As it happens, however, in my Suburban the seat belts won't retract in the Monterey, and in my Civic I have discovered today the Parkway actually fits (ironically, only if I remove the head rest, but I think the seat back is high enough that won't matter for a while) next to my center-positioned RF Radian. So I'll be selling my Monterey if I can because it (sadly) just is incompatible with my situation. If it weren't for the retractor problems I might even keep both and use the Monterey in the Suburban (because I like it better) and the Parkway in the Civic just because it's the only thing that will fit.