Have you ever had a high back booster too tall for your car?

abacus2

Well-known member

• Apr 26, 2009

• #1

I've just gotten DH's car, a '98 2 door Chevy Cavalier, set up for 3 across. I have a Snugride passenger side, then a FFing Radian, then a Parkway. The Parkway is currently set at the maximum height I could adjust it. It's touching (really almost pushing into) the roof of the car. Rachael has maybe 1.5" of torso room before this setting is clearly completely outgrown. Has anyone else had this problem? Am I going to have to move her into a backless booster in a year or so?

 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician

• Apr 26, 2009

• #2

Yeah, I've had it happen in several cars, but it depends on the car more than the booster for the most part. I had a car come in to a check 5-6 years ago with some little 4 seater car, a Porsche I think, that actually had a warning in the manual that the back seat was not to be used for anyone over 5 feet tall. The MA was too tall to fit.

I imagine that the Frontier is too tall for quite a few vehicles too.....

Does the Parkway have a recline feature like the BG does? DD1 fit the BG in recline mode for a good year after she outgrew it upright. Can you fit a HHB with a lower profile?

 

MustangMama

Active member

• Apr 26, 2009

• #3

I drive a newer Mustang and we have a problem with boosters that hit the back window. I agree that it has a lot to do with the type of car being driven.

Sam's Nautilus won't adjust into the last booster position because it hits the back window.

 

scatterbunny

New member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #4

Yes, I've posted about it here before. We have a 2003 Ford Focus. The Parkway will not adjust to the highest setting when outboard. Neither would the Recaro Start. The roof just slopes down too much. The Recaro Vivo and Jane Indy Plus will, though. I think the Graco Turbo and Compass will, too, but those are shorter boosters overall. The Vivo and Indy just sit lower on the vehicle seat, so even though they adjust as tall (or taller, in the case of the IP) as the Parkway as far as torso height goes, they take up less space (vertically) in the car.

 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob

Staff member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #5

I've never used a booster, but in my mom's Sentra the SafeGuard Child Seat's third from top adjustment (what my kids are on) almost hits the glass, and the top two are unusable altogether.

I think it has to do with the car's seat/window geometry. That car seems about the same on the OUTSIDE as our Corolla, but inside it's much smaller!

 

N

niccig

New member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #6

ketchupqueen said:

I've never used a booster, but in my mom's Sentra the SafeGuard Child Seat's third from top adjustment (what my kids are on) almost hits the glass, and the top two are unusable altogether.

I think it has to do with the car's seat/window geometry. That car seems about the same on the OUTSIDE as our Corolla, but inside it's much smaller!

Click to expand...

Our Safeguard does this in my CRV. I can slide the seat forward and inch or two and then it doesn't touch the roof, but only by an inch or two. We're still along way from DS needing it that high.

 

TXAggieTech

Active member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #7

Not my car but DS1's house mom wouldn't use the Parkway because she couldn't see over it.

 

emandbri

Well-known member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #8

Kind of. When I first got the parkway I was thinking about getting one for Jacob as well but when I tried him in it the seat hit a bump on the side of the van, a 98 sienna. It fit Daniel fine, he was short enough that the seat didn't hit the bump. It would have worked in the captain's chairs but that would mean I would have to put Benjamin or Elizabeth in the back and I didn't want to do that.

 

musicmaj

New member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #9

The parkway hits the roof on the third from top setting in my corolla (no headrest either, so we will need to get a ride safer vest for that car.) and also hits it in the third row of my 2000 sienna. I can push it over a little bit to make it fit though.

 

skaterbabs

Well-known member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #10

The PW hit the roof on it's next-tallest setting in the Saturn DH used to drive for work.

 

abacus2

Well-known member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #11

The Parkway has a little recline that just matches the recline of the seats. Rachael actually fits at a lower setting in the Cavalier than she does in our main car. I also have a Vivo; maybe that will fit a little longer. Even though we have three across in both cars, I've put the Parkway in DH's car because he really can't buckle the Vivo next to anything else. His wedding ring is a size 17.

 

T

thepeach80

Senior Community Member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #12

I can't have AJ use his GN in the highest strap slot, where he needs it, in the outboard seats in my 3rd row. When the boys had to be outboard, Evan had to use the GN and I had to move AJ to the Apex.

 

Jennifer mom to my 7

Well-known member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #13

You know, even in my dh's 02 Caddy the parkway can't be adjusted to its highest when outboard, and that back seat is huge. I think the second to top height hits the top.

 

Kat_Momof3

New member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #14

yes.. in dh's 2 door car and in the third row of my van, the problem ends up with the slope of the side/start of roof... when the booster headrest hits it and that makes the seat tilt.

the parkway did it, the turbo even did it... the best one for fitting to the max was the FPSV booster.

 

scatterbunny

New member

• Apr 27, 2009

• #15

Kat_Momof3 said:

yes.. in dh's 2 door car and in the third row of my van, the problem ends up with the slope of the side/start of roof... when the booster headrest hits it and that makes the seat tilt.

the parkway did it, the turbo even did it... the best one for fitting to the max was the FPSV booster.

Click to expand...

Well, yeah, the FPSVB would be the best for fitting to the max height without hitting the roof, because it's the shortest highback out there, pretty much. 18-18.5 max torso height, about an inch and a half less than the Compass and Turbo. The problem is finding a booster that adjusts taller in the torso while still being low-profile overall so as not to hit the roof/to allow use on the higher settings. In my experience, the Vivo is the best choice right now for a tall highback that doesn't take up a ton of space. It's just hard to buckle next to a lot of other seats.

 

U

Unregistered1

Guest

• Apr 27, 2009

• #16

Yup. M rides in the Frontier in booster mode in my car and my mom's and it hits the roof/back windshield. She five step tests in my car but not in my mom's (lap belt is too high for my liking) so I don't know what we're going to do when she gets a little more torso height.