Cosco High Rise as "extra" seat

KMart has the Cosco High Rise booster seats on special for $10 this week, so I picked up two, but I'm not sure if I should keep them. I'm actually sold on Britax. I have two Huskies in my minivan and two Parkways in my SUV. But, my DS is 7 years-old (45 pounds and tall - about 50 inches) and my DD is 4 1/2 years-old (40 pounds and 41 inches). There have been times when I've had the minivan and other parents have offered to take the kids somewhere (short trips like for ice cream). I can't easily or quickly take out the Huskies. And, I've had times when I've had to take other kids with me. (Right now I keep an older - but not expired - Marathon for that purpose, but the kids are starting to get a little big for it.) I thought for $10, these seats may come in handy for those rare instances. I can easily keep them in the cargo area of the minivan when they're not being used. The problem is I can't seem to find much info on them.

The Evenflo Big Kid No Back Booster was also on sale for $18. It seemed to be made of thicker plastic and had a softer seat, but because I only need these seats as emergency seats, I went with the cheaper ones. I'm still undecided if I should keep the cheap seats. I'm guessing the $10 seats are as cheap as they come.

Are these seats suitable as "emergency" seats. I'm sure using them is better than not using a seat, but I never let my kids ride without a seat.

Does anyone else use backless boosters?

Perfectly good as a back up choice! Just make sure there is a head rest or head support behind the child, the tops of their ears needs to be below the top of the vehicle seat or head rest.


$10 is a great price, I wish I had a Kmart closer

I'm not sure about how good of a seat it is, but I do have to warn you that keeping the seats laying in the back of your van isn't a good idea, they could seriously injure someone in a crash. If you are going to keep them in your van, make sure to buckle them in.

Unregistered said:

I'm not sure about how good of a seat it is, but I do have to warn you that keeping the seats laying in the back of your van isn't a good idea, they could seriously injure someone in a crash. If you are going to keep them in your van, make sure to buckle them in.

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That's a good reminder. If you have a spare duffle bag, that would be good for securing them when not in use. Just tuck it under a seat and use a bungee cord to secure the bag.

Oh, I didn't mean the extra seats would be lying around in my van. You should see my van. It's probably the neatest minivan you've ever seen. (My 4-year-old has asked other mothers why their vans are so messy. Not so funny.) I have a cargo net in the cargo area - behind the 3rd row. These seats fit in there.

Actually, I have a friend whose daughter (now 12) has lingering brain damage and seizures resulting from a car accident when she was 3. Their SUV rolled over, and, while she was safely strapped in her carseat, something from their cargo area hit her in the head and cracked her skull. She had to have brain surgery and wear a helmet for years. As a result from seeing this child's pain, I was never one of the mothers who thought such a thing would never happen to me.

By the way - luckily, I tried one of the seats out. The Cosco seat was pretty narrow. My 4-year-old fit in it, but it's really too narrow for my 7-year-old. I went back and got an Evenflo as the second seat. I cannot imagine a 100-lb child fitting into the Cosco seat.

Also, the Cosco seat did not come with the strap that can be used to pull-down the shoulder strap so the should strap does not cut into the child's neck. This is not a problem with my 7-year-old, as he is so tall, but it may be a problem with the 4-year-old in some people's vehicles.

hey I just bought one of these at kmart too! I've been having difficulty with my almost 10yo in other peoples' cars because no one else has their kids this age in boosters, but she liked the pretty pink pattern (and my inlaws offered to pay). So hopefully will cut down in arguments.
I think this is the 3rd or 4th of this seat for her and she fits it perfectly.