High Back Booster suggestions?

[mamatoni]

My DS is outgrowing his carseat and I am looking for a good High Back Booster that we can use.  He's my first so I haven't looked into it at all, seems rather daunting.  Any suggestions on what works well, is safe and will last us a while?  I don't mind paying a bit if it'll last us more than a year :)  DS is in Kindergarten and is turning 6 this summer.

TIA!

[mama2soren]

How tall is he?  How much does he weigh?  Knowing his size will help people make a good recommendation!  If he's not a particularly large child, the Graco Turbobooster might be a great fit.  They run about $50.

[Llyra]

We have a Turbobooster and we've been very happy with it. My DD1 is 6, and big for her age. I don't know her height and weight, but she wears size 7 clothes. She still has room to grow with the high back. And once she outgrows that, it converts to a backless booster. And it comes in different patterns, and she enjoyed picking out the one she liked best.

[DahliaRW]

If you go TODAY, you can get a TB at Target for $35.  You can always return it if you find another you like better.

[mamatoni]

thank you everyone for your suggestions, DS is 47 pounds and wears a size 5/6 (I don't know how tall he is).  He has a Britax Boulevard right now and has maxed out the straps, especially with his snow gear on.

Edited by mamatoni - 2/6/11 at 4:00pm

[MJB]

I have a 5 yr. old in kindergarten who is 46 lbs./43" and just moved from a carseat into a Turbobooster. We are very happy with it. My 8yo still fits in the TB at 53" and 60 lbs. but we just switched him to a backless booster. There are lots of higher end boosters but the TB is affordable and safe. 

[lyterae]

Originally Posted by MJB 

I have a 5 yr. old in kindergarten who is 46 lbs./43" and just moved from a carseat into a Turbobooster. We are very happy with it. My 8yo still fits in the TB at 53" and 60 lbs. but we just switched him to a backless booster. There are lots of higher end boosters but the TB is affordable and safe. 

  My dd is about the same size, also 5, and just moved into a Turbobooster. She is still getting the hang of buckling herself into it, but she is very excited to be out of a harness.

[mama2soren]

Originally Posted by mamatoni 

thank you everyone for your suggestions, DS is 47 pounds and wears a size 5/6 (I don't know how tall he is).  He has a Britaz Boulevard right now and has maxed out the straps, especially with his snow gear on.

Please be advised that it is not safe to be buckled in while wearing snow gear.  There have been several posts in the recent past about the dangers of coats and car seats.  This is true for kids in boosters (and adults in seat belts!)  Puffy clothes like big coats and snow pants require that the straps (or seat belt) be let out more than if the child was wearing regular clothes, such as a t-shirt and fleece sweater.  The puffy clothes will compress in an accident, and the looseness of the straps/belt can cause a child to be at risk of more severe injuries or even ejection from the seat/booster.  Do a quick search on this forum for "coats and carseats" to get some great links with pictures and alternatives to coats.

[mamatoni]

Originally Posted by mama2soren 

Originally Posted by mamatoni 

thank you everyone for your suggestions, DS is 47 pounds and wears a size 5/6 (I don't know how tall he is).  He has a Britaz Boulevard right now and has maxed out the straps, especially with his snow gear on.

Please be advised that it is not safe to be buckled in while wearing snow gear.  There have been several posts in the recent past about the dangers of coats and car seats.  This is true for kids in boosters (and adults in seat belts!)  Puffy clothes like big coats and snow pants require that the straps (or seat belt) be let out more than if the child was wearing regular clothes, such as a t-shirt and fleece sweater.  The puffy clothes will compress in an accident, and the looseness of the straps/belt can cause a child to be at risk of more severe injuries or even ejection from the seat/booster.  Do a quick search on this forum for "coats and carseats" to get some great links with pictures and alternatives to coats.

I do realize it's not safe with the coats, but when it's -40 degrees outside the alternatives just aren't practical.  -  gotta love Alaskan winters :)

[Mommybree]

I do realize it's not safe with the coats, but when it's -40 degrees outside the alternatives just aren't practical.  -  gotta love Alaskan winters :)

I'd suggest checking out this blog by a CPST who lives in Alaska; she gives the alternatives to puffy coats that she uses with her kids (as well as demonstrates the dangers of the puffy coats). 

[A Mom's Love]

We like dd's recaro vivo. 

[mamatoni]

Originally Posted by Mommybree 

I do realize it's not safe with the coats, but when it's -40 degrees outside the alternatives just aren't practical.  -  gotta love Alaskan winters :)

I'd suggest checking out this blog by a CPST who lives in Alaska; she gives the alternatives to puffy coats that she uses with her kids (as well as demonstrates the dangers of the puffy coats). 

Thanks for the link, I did check it out and she has great information and some interesting options for staying warm in colder temperatures.  I really feel though that in extreme conditions it is a greater risk for a child to be inappropriately dressed for the weather than it is to have straps be looser than they should be.  I feel that parenting safely is all about finding the balance and the best thing we can do is to inform ourselves and look at all the options.  I appreciate the link because while I knew that it was important to have straps appropriately adjusted, I had never really looked into why or what could happen if they weren't.  Thank you!

[an_aurora]

I'm the author of the blog about the coats & car seats.  We are a bit further south but we still can certainly have cold temps.  I'll have to have my DH dig out his training manuals from his NSTC training...they have a little chart showing the time it takes to become affected by the different temperatures.  Basically at -40*F, frostbite starts within 10 minutes of continuous exposure--and that's bare skin, outside, no attempt to warm.  Walking outside, getting in the car, getting buckled, and getting covered, all while wearing some sort of coat and skin protection (hat, mittens, boots etc) is not going to cause frostbite.  It might be uncomfortable but it's not going to create damage.  

Googling shows very, very few reports of hypothermia in children--the ones it does show are those who get lost, or left in the car for extended periods of time.  In fact it's hard to differentiate since it's all lumped together with the overwhelming numbers of hyperthermia.  

In contrast, ejection from the vehicle is a well-documented danger.  As I cite in my blog, 

A common question is "but are there cases of children actually being ejected from their car seat?"  The answer to that is yes, there certainly are.  In 2009, 76,309 people died in car crashes.  Of those, 1538 were under the age of 16, and of these, 909 were fully or partially ejected. 

And those are ONLY the deaths.  The number of injuries are much, much higher than that.