Narrow booster seat for Prius middle seat?

[punkinann]

My almost 7 year-old has requested a high back booster so he can have something to lean on when he's sleepy. He is 48" tall, 53 lbs, and just grew out of his Radian 65 this year.

Ideally, I'd like a high back booster that will fit in the middle seat of a 2006 Prius, with our newborn's Snugride 35 on one side, and a backless booster on the other side for carpool. In about 15 months, the Snugride will be replaced by a RF convertible car seat, probably a Diono, so the booster will need to puzzle well with that as well.

Any advice? I have been looking at the Graco Turbobooster, only about $45 on Amazon, and the Britax Parkway, $125 on Amazon.

Thanks!

 

[ketchupqueen]

There aren't a lot of narrow boosters right now, unfortunately. The Turbo is pretty narrow, though it doesn't always puzzle well. Some people find the Evenflo Big Kid does better since the armrests lift for easy buckling. In any case, seatbelt installs outboard will get you a bit extra room if you're not already doing that.

 

[punkinann]

Just wanted to post an update. I went with the Parkway. It did not fit in the middle seat of the Prius next to the Snugride base installed with latch, not even close. The Turbo would not have fit either. I think a booster without arms might work.

With both the Snugride base and the Parkway installed outboard with latch, there's no way that anything but a Bubble Bum would fit in the middle. Even with the Bubble Bum, the infant car seat has to be removed from the base so the middle child can thread the seatbelt through the Bubble Bum clip and fasten the belt.

We could definitely get more room with a seatbelt install, but because the older child gets dropped off at school in the "drive-by" lane, the infant seat needs to be on the left, behind the driver. But the seat belt buckles for the driver's side and middle seats are next to each other in the Prius. Putting the older child in the middle seat booster, next to an infant car seat with a seat belt install, was a recipe for an unrestrained infant seat.

On the plus side, the 7 year old loves sitting in the Parkway.

 

[1mommy]

Just a note about how you worry your booster rider will undo the buckle for the infant seat- you can put either a sock or a Dixie cup with a slit in it and the bottom cut off to clearly differentiate the buckles. Ill try and find a picture to show you what I mean