Swedish booster seat recommendations

Hi

We are travelling to Sweden in a few weeks to visit my parents, and I need to have my mom purchase a booster seat for my son to use there. He is smaller than I prefer to booster (40 inches, 35 pounds, 4 years old), but due to variety of reasons a booster seat is the most practical choice and we'll just need to make the best of it (parents' cars are very small, old, and I will have to install the seat in the airport parking lot after a 30 hour trip with little to no sleep - I do not trust my installation skills with a strange seat at that point. No latch in their cars. I don't love it, but a harnessed seat just isn't practical in this scenario. We could bring a seat, but we will already have a lot of luggage and I am the only adult going). My daughter is 8 and already has a booster seat there (a Britax, but I don't remember which model, fairly basic but worked well for her last time we were there).

The seat will be used for 2-3 weeks every 1-2 years, it will be kept at my mom's house, and she will be buying it online. Since it will not be used a lot and she is paying for it, I would prefer to stay under or at least right at 1k SKR.

So far I have looked at these:

Akta Graco Logico LX Comfort - this seems similar to a Graco Turbo booster. We have a Turbo booster here and I tried him in it, and it does seem to fit him pretty well.

Brio Boso - I cannot find any real reviews of this seat online, but it seems to have better side protection compared to the Graco, which I like the idea of since he is small.

Britax Adventure - this seems like the hip belt path may sit further forward from the back of the seat? This concerns me since he is small.

I am not sure how big the differences between these seats really is, but figured I would ask the experts before telling my mom which one to order.

Thank you!!

If he doesn't see this, you should PM Adventuredad. He owns carseat.se and sells seats.

Pretty sure AD uses a britax adventure for his kids.

The TB in Europe is called the junior maxi. I have both a TB in NY and a Jr maxi here in Italy. It's not cheap though... Like €80?

What about the non isofix version of the cybex x-fix? I can't remember what it's called. But the x-fix can be found for around €120 and I remember someone on here posting a pic of how well it fit her 2 yo (just for size comparison).

Our favorite seat is Britax Adventure. I think this would be a good choice for your since it's cheap, light weight, comfortable, has adjustable recline in two positions and also smart threading of the seat belt. Usually cost 795 SEK but can sometimes be found cheaper.

I use mainly Adventure for my kids, 7.5 and 10, and it has always worked very well. Sides of the seat does not have "armrests" which is a good feature. That means it's impossible to thread the belt incorrectly. It's a great travel seat since it's so light weight.

Adventure will work fine from around 40 inches of height. Using a harnessed seat for kids 4+ years is not any safer compared to a high back booster. If you prefer a harnessed FF seat Britax Two-Way is an option. Since your parents have a small car keep in mind that you can also use front passenger seat with deactivated airbag. Most cars here have a switch to turn it off. Front passenger seat is an excellent place for a child, both RF and FF, and is as safe or safer than the rear. You will see a large percentage of families using front passenger seat here.

No sure where you will be traveling but we do have three stores in the Stockholm area. If you prefer we rent seats quite cheaply. Might be an option if you prefer to rent a harnessed TwoWay. Britax Adventure is so cheap so it's better to purchase a seat if you will be using it for a couple of weeks each year.

There is no difference in side impact protection between the forward facing seats. Doesn't matter if head support is large or small or if sides are large or small. Reality is that a forward facing child is basically completely unprotected in collisions from the side due to forward momentum and pre-impact breaking.

Everything looks nice, safe and pretty in the videos from manufacturers since the car is standing still in the lab. Reality is completely different. Kids are basically screwed in collisions from the side as soon as they are turned forward facing regarding.

Have a nice trip and please let me know if you need some more advice.

If you are travelling on an airline that allows you to install a seat on board I would strongly consider taking a seat and using it on the plane. I've traveled a lot (often alone) with 2 kids and at age 4 my kids they were MUCH more comfortable and better behaved on a plane when they were strapped into their car seats. They slept better there than they would have sprawled across me and I was actually able to sleep more as well (especially when they were younger and I knew they couldn't move without me waking up to unbuckle them). Of course YMMV.

If you do go that route I'd buy a folding luggage cart and strap the seat to it to get through the airport. It takes an extra second to get through security because you usually have to take it off to get everything through the scanner but I found it doable (and that was with 2 seats on one cart for many years). One of my seats (older Marathon) needs a belt extender to install it on a plane (it is possible to install without but then it is almost impossible to uninstall which isn't fun) but most have been super easy IME.

If not then whatever Adventure Dad said.

Thank you all very much for your responses, especially Adventuredad! I think we're going with a Britax Adventure, it sounds like that will work fine and will have lasting power and the price is definitely right.

chay said:

If you are travelling on an airline that allows you to install a seat on board I would strongly consider taking a seat and using it on the plane. I've traveled a lot (often alone) with 2 kids and at age 4 my kids they were MUCH more comfortable and better behaved on a plane when they were strapped into their car seats. They slept better there than they would have sprawled across me and I was actually able to sleep more as well (especially when they were younger and I knew they couldn't move without me waking up to unbuckle them). Of course YMMV.

If you do go that route I'd buy a folding luggage cart and strap the seat to it to get through the airport. It takes an extra second to get through security because you usually have to take it off to get everything through the scanner but I found it doable (and that was with 2 seats on one cart for many years). One of my seats (older Marathon) needs a belt extender to install it on a plane (it is possible to install without but then it is almost impossible to uninstall which isn't fun) but most have been super easy IME.

If not then whatever Adventure Dad said.

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I agree, and last time that's what we did - we still had a Britax Roundabout which worked great on the plane and great in both cars because of the built in lock-offs (neither car there has latch/isofix, one doesn't have locking seat belts, and I have never been good at using locking clips (so really won't be after travelling)). Unfortunately the Roundabout expired or I'd still be bringing that (assuming he'd still fit in it). We have two booster seats and two Frontier 85s now though, and neither lend themselves to air travel, lol.

We have a CARES harness for the flight, which will keep him somewhat contained at least, it's a lot better than nothing.

Using a seat belt on board an aircraft is irrelevant for safety. We have lots of research from FAA showing this ver clearly. A cares harness offer no safety benefit, no point of using it.

If every single child in US was in a car seat, how many would then be saved each year? 5000? 1000? 500? The answer is zero. Noll. Zip. Null. If every single child in US was in a car seat we would not have saved a single life during the past 17(!) years according to FAA.

I have probably traveled more than most with young kids. I did 60+ flights , many long international flights, during the first four year with my kids. My experience was that kids in car seats were the absolute worst behaved. Crying, complaining, barfing and creating all kinds of issues. It's not fun for a child to sit completely still for 10 hours straight. I would do anything to move away from a family with a child in a car seat.

A good option with kids is to get an evening flight. Watch a movie or two and then kids will sleep rest of the flight. Traveling with a child above two years is incredibly easy. Watch some movies, play games, read, draw, sleep, etc, time passes incredibly fast. A 4-year old is of course far easier. My kids flew alone at age five with no issues whatsoever and loved it.

In terms of flying, I HATE bringing a car seat. Hate it. Like so much that I don't fly between bucket seat and cares harness. Cares does not prevent submarining. I like to think it might help prevent a poorly positioned kid from smacking the overhead bins if you have a sudden drop. But I have no idea. I do know that like AD's kids, my kids hate the car seat on board a transatlantic flight. What ends up happening us that the kid refuses to stay in the seat and wants to sit on my lap bc I've nowhere else to put their now-installed seat which is taking up a lot of room. And kid on lap is uncomfortable and risky with turbulence.
But that said, my daughter (have not flown with my son since he was 5m bc of said embargo period) is extremely well-behaved on flights. She keeps her seat belt on and watches a movie, does stuff on the iPad, does those activity sticker books, etc. She has a kid neck cushion to sleep.

My kids are great on flights, unless we try to put them in car seats. We've tried the CARES harness and it's pretty useless. So from thane of two-ish, my kids have used lap belts and been fine. We gate check their car seats.

Adventuredad said:

Using a seat belt on board an aircraft is irrelevant for safety. We have lots of research from FAA showing this ver clearly. A cares harness offer no safety benefit, no point of using it.

If every single child in US was in a car seat, how many would then be saved each year? 5000? 1000? 500? The answer is zero. Noll. Zip. Null. If every single child in US was in a car seat we would not have saved a single life during the past 17(!) years according to FAA.

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In commercial aircraft, anyway.

Carseats are not required on airplanes. As you state, unlike automobiles, there is near zero risk of fatality due only to being unrestrained on an aircraft. While very rare, turbulence and landing related deaths have happened, though.

Of course, that isn't the main concern. The concern is injury due to a baby (or adult) being thrown or dropped, mostly during landing or turbulence. Is the risk great enough to warrant a separate airplane seat and/or carseat for baby? As carseats are not required on aircraft, the choice is left for the parent to decide.

Since you mention the FAA, here is their webpage on the topic:

http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/

https://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/safetyalerts/SA_015.pdf

And the American Academy of Pediatrics statement:

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/108/5/1218.full

I have probably traveled more than most with young kids. I did 60+ flights , many long international flights, during the first four year with my kids. My experience was that kids in car seats were the absolute worst behaved. Crying, complaining, barfing and creating all kinds of issues. It's not fun for a child to sit completely still for 10 hours straight. I would do anything to move away from a family with a child in a car seat.

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My experience is that all benefit from having the extra space of a separate airline seat of their own, and babies in particular from having a carseat. Of course, having a separate seat and/or carseat doesn't mean they have to be in it for 10 hours straight. Just like adults, when the seatbelt sign is OFF, common sense dictates that it's fine to let them move around, feed the baby on your lap, etc. But when the seatbelt sign is ON, there's clearly a reason why some type of restraint should be used to prevent possible injury to passengers of all ages. Lap belts simply don't work for infants and small toddlers.

A good option with kids is to get an evening flight. Watch a movie or two and then kids will sleep rest of the flight. Traveling with a child above two years is incredibly easy. Watch some movies, play games, read, draw, sleep, etc, time passes incredibly fast. A 4-year old is of course far easier. My kids flew alone at age five with no issues whatsoever and loved it.

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Infants and lap babies would be the most at risk and benefit most from a carseat. Older preschoolers likely gain some protection from being ejected just by using the lap belt if they can remain seated properly.

http://www.today.com/travel/severely-bumpy-flights-boost-lap-baby-concerns-2D12145603

http://jetlagged.blogs.nytimes.com/...azard-on-your-lap/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

This baby might have had a chance had he been restrained.

I really think the usefulness of a car seat or cares harness on a plane is quite dependent on the child. My children, who we have flown with many many times, did much better in a car seat and don't sleep well on planes at all. I have also been in enough really bad, sudden, turbulence, especially on trans-Atlantic flights that a mere lap belt is not enough for me for a small four year old. No, it won't keep him from submarining, but it will keep him in his seat. It also tells him it's time for him to sit still. I imagine this may be the last year or two that we use it, too. I am honestly not concerned about a crash landing - it is highly unlikely and if it did happen there isn't much that would save us. Turbulence on the other hand is fairly common.

I do appreciate all the comments, especially in regards to the booster issue which is what my actual post was about. My mom has ordered a Britax Adventure and I am sure all will be well.