Super narrow boosters

Maedze · Dec 17, 2008

Now that the FPSVB and Parkway are pretty much gone

The Graco is pretty narrow but still pretty wide at the base. I know the Monterey/Frontier/Nauti/Compass B530etc are all pretty wide.

What about the Recaro YS, or the the Vivo/Vivo Lite? How about the Combi Kobuk? Are there any other dedicated boosters (or decent combo boosters) out there that do a good job and are narrow?

Maedze · Dec 17, 2008

darn wrong forum!

scatterbunny · Dec 17, 2008

Maedze said:
darn wrong forum!

Got it. :thumbsup:

I tried a Kobuk in three-across in my Focus a few months ago with various other seats, and it didn't work well. The Turbo has been my "best bet" other than the Parkway and FPSV, and it's not the greatest. The problem, as you know, isn't always overall width, but how the base/armrests are shaped, and how that area of the booster meshes with the adjacent carseat, and also how long the buckle stalks in the vehicle are (ironically, we hate long/rigid buckle stalks when dealing with harnessed seats, but with boosters and adults, it's usually easier to deal with longer stalks).

Maedze · Dec 17, 2008

thanks for moving it

what about the monarch? is it the same size more or less as the parkway? a parkway with rinkydink amrerests?

scatterbunny · Dec 17, 2008

Here's a side-by-side of my dd in the Parkway and Monarch. I really don't think the Monarch is a good three-across/narrow booster choice.

Maedze · Dec 17, 2008

Oh yeah, those wings are huge and not shy and retiring like on the parkway :twocents:

I'm sorry about your DD's unusual facial condition

scatterbunny · Dec 17, 2008

LMAO.

I try not to post photos of her that actually look like her in the public areas. I don't think my sig pics really look like her, which is why I'm using them.

The wings on the Sunshine Kids Monterey are big/wide like on the Monarch (they look very similar, actually), too, and normally I'd love that, but it's not great when you want to be able to fit three-across.

Kat_Momof3 · Dec 18, 2008

I think the next best pick would be the Recaro Vivo/Vivo Light

Victorious4 · Dec 18, 2008

I haven't been able to try the Vivo

but, I have had easier success with the Graco Cargo (in comparison to the Turbo) because, like the Parkway, it lacks traditional armrests & is relatively narrow -- lacks the deep head wings, but any highback booster is still about 70% safer than backless boosters in side impacts (not really an issue anyway IMO if the vehicle has rear side curtain airbags) & kids tend to stay properly positioned without the headwings when squeezed into 3 across configurations.

Maedze · Dec 18, 2008

I just don't want to spend 100 dollars on a combo seat that my son can't use as a harness but pretty much makes an awful booster :twocents:

Victorious4 · Dec 18, 2008

I can understand the issue of not wanting to pay for a harness that you cannot use, especially if you have a long torso'd child who needs the extended height adjustment of a Turbo, but the Cargo is not an "awful booster" :twocents::twocents:

I already explained the head wings issue.... The only other issue with it is that the shoulder belt guides sometimes result in slack: this is usually due to misuse & they're optional anyway . . . most kids don't need to use them for correct placement across the sternum & when used correctly they can be an effective reminder for kids to sit still in vehicles without Switchable/Automatic Locking Retractors (again, IME usually not a concern in tight 3 across configuations)

christineka · Dec 18, 2008

I have the vivo and love it. It is in a 3 across, but we've got a 50 inch bench. It sits on the side next to a scenera and used to be an avenue (now tribute and there's 2 inches of plain space!)

The vivo is 17 inches wide, 1 inch wider than the turbo and dd has an easier time buckling because of the slant of the vivo belt guide. For some reason the turbo's bulky, straight up armrests posed a problem. I have not even attempted to try the vivo in the car since I don't think it would fit. Or at least now that the avenue is in there. I bump the turbo when shutting the door, but didn't when the tribute was in the car. (Had to switch for 5 more pounds to rf.)

It is a nice seat, but depending on your space and configuration, it may not fit.

scatterbunny · Dec 18, 2008

TBH, I hate the CarGo as a booster. :twocents: I've had to put more than a couple kids in these as boosters lately, and the fit has been awful every single time, with or without belt guides being used. The wings are just too deep to allow the belt to fit properly.

christineka · Dec 18, 2008

We had the cargo until this month, when it got trashed

I never liked it as a booster, even when I knew nothing about boosters. My kids would use it until I could fund a turbo. Then it would go to storage or till another kid needed to be harnessed ffing, until they reached 40 pounds... I hate the belt clips and how impossible it is to deal with them.

Victorious4 · Dec 18, 2008

scatterbunny said:
the fit has been awful every single time, with or without belt guides being used

Interesting. I never had a problem with any of the kids in my family fitting it correctly (my cousin & I shared the CarGo for travel/carpool) & I haven't had any problems fitting the families that receive it through the organization I volunteer with. I also prefer the lap belt actually be on the thighs rather than the hip bones.

Reminds me of the fact that your DD had more growing room in a harness while sitting up straighter while mine had more room in a harness with the seat slightly reclined.

The reason I stress the fact that it's not a "horrible" booster is that no one should feel slighted for using a Cargo as long as it does fit correctly

scatterbunny · Dec 18, 2008

I don't mind the fit of the lapbelt on the CarGo, just the shoulderbelt. How old were the kids you've seen who fit well in the CarGo as a booster? All the ones we've had to put in booster mode lately were 40+ pounds, and 3-5yo. None were above average height, though, just stocky. The shoulderbelt fit was terrible on all of them, far away from the body.

Victorious4 · Dec 18, 2008

scatterbunny said:
I don't mind the fit of the lapbelt on the CarGo, just the shoulderbelt. How old were the kids you've seen who fit well in the CarGo as a booster? All the ones we've had to put in booster mode lately were 40+ pounds, and 3-5yo. None were above average height, though, just stocky. The shoulderbelt fit was terrible on all of them, far away from the body.

Same age/size ranges. The Safety 1st Vantage has given me more problems with space between the child's body & the shoulder belt, but the shoulder belt has always rested flat on the sternum with the Cargo. I don't worry if there's a bit of space at the collar bone, as long as the belt is touching the sternum & the family is aware of the child's responsibiliy to sit still.

scatterbunny · Dec 18, 2008

I should have asked to take pics; it was more than a little bit of space; no part of the shoulderbelt touched the childrens' bodies until below the sternum; there was several inches of space between the shoulderbelt and the children.

I haven't worked with a Vantage Point yet, surprisingly. All the Wal-Marts I've been to carry it, but everyone seems to have AOEs, CarGos, and Cosco HBBs.

Maedze · Dec 18, 2008

Papooses, I have used the Cargo as a booster once on a friend of my ds's who was riding with us and the fit was horrible :twocents:

The lap belt rode up on his belly, and the shoulder belt didn't even really seem to touch his shoulder, it was just sort of suspended in front of him

So it's not the lack of wings that I don't like, I just don't think it fits well :twocents:

Victorious4 · Dec 18, 2008

scatterbunny said:
it was more than a little bit of space; no part of the shoulderbelt touched the childrens' bodies until below the sternum; there was several inches of space between the shoulderbelt and the children.

Well, that is certainly worth concern & I wouldn't give the seat to a family if that were to happen with their child :thumbsup:

Maedze said:
So it's not the lack of wings that I don't like, I just don't think it fits well :twocents:

I simply prefer to be aware that how a seat fits some kids is not always indicative of how it fits all kids -- it was a poor fit for the child you mention, but it is often enough the best or only seat to meet other family's needs: expressing your own distaste for a seat is welcome, of course, but I personally prefer it be done in such a way that provides detailed clues as to what specifically other parents should look out for rather than blanket statements

(I don't really mean to pick on you or hijack the thread, but this is the public area of the forum where others may benefit from any suggestions given & get the wrong idea about the Cargo without the details which you've now explained

)

Reminds me of the recent news that too many boosters don't perform as well as we assumed when we already knew before that what counts is how correctly the particular child fits any given booster.

Super narrow boosters

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