Car seat types -- confusing terminology?

[Nedra]

Okay, so I was just on the Walmart website and saw the Evenflo Tribute (which I thought was a convertible rear-facing/forward-facing seat and in the title is called a "convertible baby seat") described in the product description area as an "infant booster." What the heck is an "infant booster"?

I was already confused enough about why combination seats are called "booster seats with a 5 point harness" instead of "forward-facing car seats that can convert to a booster." "Car seat" seems like the broader term in comparison to "booster seat."

Am I correct that a booster is -- specifically -- a type of seat intended to boost the child up so that they can use the lap/shoulder belt of the vehicle properly? If it has a 5-point harness, then it can't be a booster because it's job isn't to boost the kid up? Or do I have this all wrong and there are multiple types of boosters and the one I am thinking of is a "belt-positioning booster"?

I feel like there's a lot of confusion over this transition point (from FF harness to booster). I read a blog post by a woman who had gotten two "booster" seats confused and was surprised that her kid wasn't going to be in a harness in the one she had bought. Seems like it would be really helpful to folks to not use the term "booster" so broadly.

I guess this is kind of a vent, but I am also wondering if I'm totally off-base here. This is my understanding:

Combination Seat -- FF harnessed seat that converts to a belt-positioning booster (either highback, low back or backless)

All-in-one -- Harnessed seat that can be used both RF and FF and then also converts to a belt-positioning booster

3-in-one -- FF harnessed seat that converts to a high-back belt-positioning booster and a backless belt-positioning booster.

Booster -- A belt-positioning booster.

Is it my understanding that "booster" can be used to refer to just about anything, though? Including seats that don't position the vehicle belt over the child, such as the convertible mentioned in the Walmart ad?

 

[wavegal]

It sounds like the evenflo seat is mislabeled on the walmart site

 

[Keeyamah]

What your running into is the fact that there are no industry standards for what to call a seat. Around here we call them buckets, convertibles, combinations, and boosters. But that does not go across to retailers, I don't know about manufacturers either. So yeah, it's all confusing :/

 

[joolsplus3]

Infant Booster? :scratcheshead: That's a new one.

Yeah, no industry standards, and lots of people making things up, unfortunately. I still can't get over Graco stealing the term '3-in-1' from Dorel, who used to call their All in One's (Alpha Omega, that seat has had about 2 dozen names, many of which were '3-in-1') that, and now people are STILL buying Nautilus 3-in-1's and returning them after they find out they don't rearface

I vary between calling seats 'harnessed boosters' or 'combo' or 'combination' and lump them together (So for my general purposes, a Nautilus is in the same category as a SecureKid, for example... forward facing harnessed seats that become a belt positioning booster...it's too confusing to try to answer general questions, like harnessing time or 3-across fit, when the backless function is so far away and so inexpensive to buy a new one later, kwim?)

 

[ketchupqueen]

when I'm about to give a parent information about this stuff I define my terms and say "these are the terms I'm going to use, and they may not be called that by the retailers." Then I give them specific information on specific seats that fit those categories according to their needs, because yeah, confusing.

 

[Cnidaria]

I have to LOL at "infant booster." That IS a new one!!

It is too bad that the industry hasn't standardized terms.

 

[happiness-and-balance]

I don't even read the tags on the shelves of most retailers. Target is pretty good, but the shelf tags at my Walmart sometimes make my head spin.

I usually tell parents to just read the box of the car seat to see weight/height restrictions, direction of installation (RF, RF/FF, FF, etc).

 

[1mommy]

It is confusing, I had a friend who wanted to buy a new seat for her 7 month old and was about to get the Graco Argos until I told her it didn't rear face so she couldn't, and she pointed out that it said 3 in 1, and I had to explain to her what 3 in 1 was. It would be so much easier if both the manufactures and the stores could agree on the same terminology, and apply it to Canadian seats since we have so many of the same seats.