Question kangaroo boosters

cmcki737 · May 19, 2012

Anyone ever heard of these?

christineka · May 19, 2012

Yeah. They are unsafe, recalled, and all expired now anyway.

I found a photo album of the kangaroo booster. It has plywood in it!!! (Is this someone here's album?)

http://photobucket.com/images/kangaroo booster car seat/

cmcki737 · May 19, 2012

Thanks my friend thought they looked scarey and convinced a yard sale to sell her 2 for $5 to get them out of use. She is keeping them for the babies r us trade in event.

monica-m · May 19, 2012

I have heard they make great boosters at the table.

beebear23 · May 20, 2012

christineka said:
Yeah. They are unsafe, recalled, and all expired now anyway.

I found a photo album of the kangaroo booster. It has plywood in it!!! (Is this someone here's album?)

http://photobucket.com/images/kangaroo booster car seat/

That's my album.

I bought it at a yard sale to get it out of circulation, and of course, had to try my son in it and tear it apart to see what it was made out of. It was gross. And yes, had plywood in it. Very strange.

Brigala · May 20, 2012

So what was unsafe about them?

I've never even seen one in real life, but the belt fit looks pretty good on those pictures, actually.

And how is a plywood and foam booster any weirder than, say, an inflatable Bubble Bum?

robbertbobbert · May 20, 2012

Brigala said:
So what was unsafe about them?

I've never even seen one in real life, but the belt fit looks pretty good on those pictures, actually.

And how is a plywood and foam booster any weirder than, say, an inflatable Bubble Bum?

It looks like there is no shoulder belt guide and the belt sits/wraps strangely there.

christineka · May 20, 2012

Here's what the recall info says about it:

Safety improvement campaign: The shoulder belts may not be properly located when the child is placed in the restraint. The shoulder belt guides may not help achieve correct seat belt placement. Do not use this booster if the shoulder belt does not touch the child's chest.

It's also more than 10 years old, so expired and don't use.

Brigala · May 20, 2012

I'm not arguing in favor of its use... especially after 10 years... just curious about what made it unsafe/recalled.

So, basically it was unsafe if it didn't make the seat belt fit your kid correctly. Right? Any different from any other booster that may or may not fit a particular kid and a particular car correctly?

joolsplus3 · May 20, 2012

Yeah, pretty much (they are more or less safe, not cutely covered foam death traps). The Teddy Bear boosters were sort of similar, they had a slit for the shoulderbelt, and the velcro would shred the belt pretty bad, so that's why that one was recalled. Otherwise, Australian boosters looked like that up till pretty recently (I just found one on a really convoluted google search, too), but it's likely that the more shapely seats we have now probably are just superior on some newer crash test measurement. And fit a much wider range of kids way better (these little one piece things were a lot more common before people recognized the 5 step test, most only had 60lb weight limits and short height limits...)

finn · May 21, 2012

joolsplus3 said:
Otherwise, Australian boosters looked like that up till pretty recently (I just found one on a really convoluted google search, too), but it's likely that the more shapely seats we have now probably are just superior on some newer crash test measurement.

:yeahthat: you can still buy boosters similar to that here now, I doubt they have plywood in them however.

AustinMusic · May 23, 2012

Should anyone be interested, the Kangaroo seat is an evolution of the original Blanchard Booster Seat. Originating in Australia in 1982, the Blanchard Booster Seat was imported into the UK by a company called Gibson Automotive Ltd (who have long since disappeared). Although there were other booster seats on the market at that time, the Blanchard seat was, significantly, the first high back booster available in the UK. It went on sale in the week preceding Christmas in 1982 and cost £18; about $31 at the time.

The seat was described by Motor magazine as:

"Intended for use with a child harness or adult lap/diagonal seat belt...is made of high density foam with a removable washable cover and twin wings to support weary little heads and channels at the rear sides of the cushion to align correctly the lap part of the belt. Generously proportioned - the seat area is 400mm wide by 300mm deep and the total height of the backrest is 630mm - this Booster Seat is suitable for children aged 2 to 9 years."

Source: [Unnamed Author], "Booster Plus Backrest", Motor (18 December 1982), pp. 28

Exactly when it ceased to be available in the UK is a mystery as I am yet to find any other articles at all about the seat.

Anyway, I hope that's interesting to someone!!

easpbi · Jul 8, 2013

My son used a Kangaroo Booster Seat for ages. He LOVED it! He used it often to sit and watch TV on the floor. It raised him up enough so that the car seatbelt fit properly and it allowed him to see out the window. The high back allowed him to sleep comfortably in the car too. We had friends in France whose boy was not in a booster when they were involved in a car accident. The seat belt killed their child when it crossed his neck, breaking it during the crash.

mumof2 · Jul 10, 2013

I have seen a few of those here in NZ...and I always wondered how the seatbelt would sit correctly across the shoulder?

Athena · Jul 10, 2013

easpbi said:
The seat belt killed their child when it crossed his neck, breaking it during the crash.

Wow. That is so sad. I'd always read it was safe to have the belt on the neck a little, as sometimes happens even in a booster, but maybe this case was really extreme.

tiggercat · Jul 10, 2013

Athena said:
Wow. That is so sad. I'd always read it was safe to have the belt on the neck a little, as sometimes happens even in a booster, but maybe this case was really extreme.

Spinal damage/injury can be caused by inappropriate restraint, intrusion, ejection, contact with vehicle structures, submarining under the lap belt with the neck restrained by the shoulder belt, etc.
As tragic as the poor boy's injury is, it may not have been caused by poor shoulder belt positioning directly but rather as an overall convenience of lack of proper restraint.

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org

leighi123 · Jul 10, 2013

I have one for ds and T. But I use it at the dining table so they can reach better (never in the car!!) It works great and is easy to wash.

moiety · Feb 3, 2015

There are five of these on Austin Craigslist right now, for $15 each.

http://austin.craigslist.org/bab/4865216044.html

Cnidaria · Feb 4, 2015

Well, someone could use them at the dinner table . . .

Question kangaroo boosters

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