Narrow booster?

What's the most narrow booster?

I'd like to put one between 2 boosters and another between a ff convertible and a rf convertible. Or whatever combo i can work out. Either way, I want one if i buy a 7psgr van and 2 if i buy an 8 psgr van. Occasional passengers.

The harmony lite rider is probably the most narrow and is an awesome booster choice

Most narrow is the bubblebum at 13 inches. Second the nania highride at 14.5 inches, then the cosco top side at 15.5 inches, the harmony lightrider is 17 inches wide, but because of the way the belt guides are low, it puzzles well with other seats.

most narrow booster (other than bubblebum) is the cosco top side (not sure where to get the nania without having to buy several to get one)

What's the children's size and age?

The Nania High Ride has such bulky armrests I'd consider it to puzzle poorly and be extremely difficult to buckle next to another seat, regardless of the narrowness of the listed measurements. Plus as Kat mentioned, it's typically a seat only distributed by carseat programs at seat checks.
Along with ages and sizes of your children, could you list the seats you already own? It might help us figure out whether a seat will fit well (though so much depends on the car, too, you might not be able to nail it down till you actually have the car and the regular seats installed. Though the options you've been given already are probably good for kids who are ready for backless boosters (age 5ish and up).

If you opt for a Top Side, be aware that it has an unusual belt routing.

Also, depending on the year of your van, before opting for a backless booster be sure that the seating position has both a lap-shoulder belt and a headrest. Many center seating positions lack one or both, and using any booster without a shoulder belt is unsafe.

If you need help determining a safe setup, listing your seats and the childrens' ages and weights will help us help you!

Thanks everyone. I lost my post and just figured out how to go in my profile and find it again. I'll get the hang of this

I just came home with an 8 psgr 08 Honda Odyssey! YAY! Really wanted a Sienna but they are just not available around here. So it has 8 seats and 8 shoulder/lap belts and 8 head rests. It has LATCH in the second row side seats and the back middle seat.

Right now I have the following:

6 year old, 45 pounds in an evenflo backless booster
4 year old, 42 pounds (dont judge. the kids a rock.) in an evenflo highback booster
2 (almost 3) year old, 32 pounds in *Evenflo Triumph.
1 year old in an Evenflo Triumph, rear facing.

*The two year old's Evenflo is expiring in December. He's quite wiggly so we may need to harness him for a bit longer than state minimums.

The two boosters I'm looking for are for friends/neighborhood kids. Anywhere from a 5-10 year old. Various kids who would like to tag along but never could because i never had enough car space before. (no they probably do not have their own boosters. It's country around here

As you can see from my previous carseat purchases, we don't have the funds available to buy anything fancy. I know my safest move is to properly install.

(I also own another Evenflo highback booster and an Evenflo Triumph Advance but they stay in DH's car. The Advance can hold any of my kids so it's been convenient to keep in there. But we could change that if we need to)

Also, the two year old (who will be three) will need a new seat in Dec. so either one from DH's car or something new but probably a harness. I was wondering if a Radian could save me money in the long run especially if we have another baby. I think i has latch? which seems like it would be easier to puzzle with other seats but i'm not sure.

Your 2 year old needs to remain harnessed for at least 2.5 or do more years. State minimums are definitely not the guidelines you want to follow as child passenger safety laws are pretty pitiful across the board. You want to look to NHTSA and the AAP.

Children are recommended to remain rear facing up to 4 years old or when they outgrow the limits of their seat RF(with 2years old as a bare minimum. Once they outgrow their seat RF they are to remain in a 5 point harness until they are mature enough for a booster. For most kids that is 5.5-6 years old. NHTSA recommends harnessing up to 8 years old. Lastly children should remain in a booster until the seat belt fits them properly (5 Step Test). Of the children I've seen on-line and IRL the age children typically "5 Step" is 10-11 years old.

When does your 2 year old turn 3? Does your 4 year old always stay in proper position in the car? (no leaning for a toy or to touch a sibling, tantrums, etc) Even when sleeping? 42 pounds is a very average size for a 4 year old and only 2 pounds over the recommended bare minimum for a booster. We really would rather see children remain in a 5 pt harness until 5.5-6. 4 year olds generally just don't have the maturity it takes to be in a seat belt.

What are your 2 and 4 year olds torso heights? (measure bum to shoulder while your child is sitting up straight) and what seat is your 1 year old currently in?

Oh, and all seats currently sold have LATCH as well as all passenger vehicles since 2002.

ETA: And I forgot to answer your original question! The Cosco Topside ($12 at Target) has worked well for me in my tight 3 across. The Bubble Bum fits just about anywhere but is more expensive ($40) and a bit difficult to buckle because the the belt guide design.

Hey there
Good work on keeping the 6 yo in a booster even when all the other school kiddos aren't. The longer you harness, the better, when it comes to kids under 5-6. The 2 yo is definitely nowhere near booster-ready quite yet. The bubble bum is very narrow, works great as a travel seat and has a belt guide which is a great feature if it doesn't get in your way too much. The Cosco Topside is a cheap option which fits great in tight spaces, so they are a wonderful booster option. If you're planning on adding to your family, a radian may be a great choice depending on the model of vehicle it will be placed in. One thing to consider with the radian is that it does NOT have a no-rethread harness therefore you will need to uninstall, adjust, and reinstall each time you use it for a different child if they have differing torso heights (sit their bummy on the floor against the wall and measure from the floor to the top of their shoulders). The radian is great if you would like to extended rear-face (ERF) which is a very safe and highly-recommended option, because this seat will allow kids up to 45 lbs to sit in it rear facing. If you will need to use this seat for multiple different children on a regular basis the EFTA is super easy to adjust for different kiddos, but you may be better off with the Evenflo Symphony as it has the same Infinite Slide harness system, but also converts to a booster later on so you will get a little more out of the seat. It is about $229.99 reg. but you can search around on amazon and wayfair-like sites to find a better deal. Do you need the seat to fit in a 3-across? if so, it is highly likely that the radian will be the most viable option as it has a very small footprint, the Symphony is not on the small side by any means.. Let us know any pivotal details (model of vehicle, number of carseats needed to fit, number of adults needed to fit, etc..) and hopefully we can concoct a setup for you!

Kayden - 2.5 RF BLVD 65 & RF Truefit Layla- 6 FF BLVD 65 CS & HBTB

happiness-and-balance said:

Let us know any pivotal details (model of vehicle, number of carseats needed to fit, number of adults needed to fit, etc..) and hopefully we can concoct a setup for you!

Kayden - 2.5 RF BLVD 65 & RF Truefit Layla- 6 FF BLVD 65 CS & HBTB

Click to expand...

Eventually I would like to put the 6 yo, 4yo and 2 yo three across in the back. For now they dont need to be though.Maybe a harnessing seat with latch for the middle in three across? Would that be easier than 3 boosters? The goal really is to be able to take two other kids with us places.I'm certain they wont be harnessed. It's an 08 Odyssey with 8 shoulder straps and head rests. Usually just two adults. So the goal would be 4 booters and 2 carseats. Or 4 boosters, 1 carseat and something to harness a 3 year old.

Yes, the 4 year old is very well behaved in the car and doesn't sleep in the car anymore.

I'm fairly sure you cannot latch in the center of any Honda. I would put 2 boosters in the captains' chairs and a harnessed seat on both the driver side and passenger of the third row, then booster center so you avoid the center latch issue altogether and so that the child in the booster has less in front of them to hit their head off in an accident due to the lack of a harness. Buckling the booster in the center will be a pain though, which is why I would put the other two in the captains chairs.

here's one arrangement:

adult adult

booster booster

maestro|topside|RFscenera
(4yo) (6yo) (2yo)


Kayden - 2.5 RF BLVD 65 & RF Truefit Layla- 6 FF BLVD 65 CS & HBTB

To clarify LATCH further, While Honda doesn't allow borrowing of the innermost lower LATCH anchors from each side to do a center LATCH installation in its LATCH equipped models that have full sets of outboard LATCH only, there are a few Honda models with dedicated sets of center LATCH allowing for a center LATCH install. The '08 Odyssey's third row center position does have its own set of dedicated LATCH allowing a LATCH install there.

Jeanum said:

To clarify LATCH further, While Honda doesn't allow borrowing of the innermost lower LATCH anchors from each side to do a center LATCH installation in its LATCH equipped models that have full sets of outboard LATCH only, there are a few Honda models with dedicated sets of center LATCH allowing for a center LATCH install. The '08 Odyssey's third row center position does have its own set of dedicated LATCH allowing a LATCH install there.

Click to expand...

oh okay great! I've owned a lot of Hondas and they have never allowed/had center latch, but that's wonderful!

I would still recommend putting the booster child in the center to reduce things they can hit their head off in a frontal collision and so that they are safer from a side impact point of view because they are not in a seat with any kind of sides to contain their body and protect from intrusion.

Kayden - 2.5 RF BLVD 65 & RF Truefit Layla- 6 FF BLVD 65 CS & HBTB

:yeahthatlove: I checked again and it definitely has latch in the 3rd row middle.

I agree that buckling the booster in the middle will be a pain. But if it's occasional use then I could deal with it. That's also why i was thinking it could be better to upgrade the 2(almost 3 - July) year old to a Radian so I could LATCH him in the middle of two boosers in the back. Then the two older kids would have to deal with buckles but the 3 year old wouldn't. Although it only latches until 40 pounds? That doesn't seem very long. Regardless, he wont need a new seat until December so I have awhile to figure him out.

It looks like the lite rider is from Walmart? I'm sure they won't let me try it out in my car before purchasing but I suppose I could buy it, go to the parking lot and try it, and then return it if it's not fitting.