BubbleBum Booster Seat

[devon]

We have a 2004 Toyota Corolla as our 'second' car - our primary kid vehicle is a Honda Odyssey.  We currently have a FF Sunshine Radian 65 behind the driver, a RF Radian in the middle, and a backless Turbo Booster behind the driver.  It fits - barely - but is a PITB to get the booster buckled.

Our kids are almost 5 DS (44 lbs, 44 inches) in the FF Radian, 7yo DS (64 lbs, 53in) in the backless turbo booster, and a 2.75 yo DS (30 lb DS, 37 inches) in the RF Radian.

When at the doctors in his clothing/shoes, our youngest RF DS was 32 lbs. Our Radian only goes to 33 lbs RF, so I decided to try to flip it to see how it would configure to have 2 FF Radians and the booster.

Well, it didn't fit.  No way could we get these three seats in here together.

So, I'm trying to figure my options.  I'm fine with moving my almost 3 year old to FF in this car (not primary car, still RF in minivan). 

I saw a review for the Bubble Bum booster and it intrigued me - http://www.bubblebum.us  Does anyone know anything about this?

Or, other suggestions for our situation.  I'd prefer to keep the 5 year old still harnessed for a while - we just moved the 7 year old a few months back when he grew too tall for his Radian. 

TIA!

Devon

[Safetymomof3]

We, too, had trouble getting three seats in the backseat of our car.   Although we only have 2 children in boosters, we often have other children that ride with us to activities after school.  We searched on the web for a solution and looked for narrowest booster seat  we could find which was BubbleBum.  So, we gave it a try.  It's a lifesaver!  It's only 13" wide solving the problem of sore knuckles when buckling in.

I saw recently that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave BubbleBum top marks too.  A "Best Bet".  I was shocked to see some of the other seats that didn't make the cut and I am sad to say that we owned one of them...oh well, it's been replaced.

We did a lot of research before we bought it.  There's lots of information on the web from safety professionals that endorse it.  The Car Seat Lady for one, and Car Seat.org for two.

I hope this helps!

[Mom2M]

This looks great! We could really use this as a portable car seat for DD to take along with her in a friend's car or for us to have in our car for another child riding with us. We have 2 car seats in the back and no room for anything else so we have never been able to give another kid a ride when they need one.
Thanks for posting this link.

[Maedze]

Keep in mind that a booster MUST be used by a lap shoulder belt and that a backless booster MUST have either a head rest or a high vehicle seatback to at least the tops of the child's ears.  

Many middle seats in older model cars still have lap belts only, and many middle seats, even on brandy new cars, don't have headrests or have inadequate head rests. 

[chickabiddy]

Originally Posted by Safetymomof3 

We, too, had trouble getting three seats in the backseat of our car.   Although we only have 2 children in boosters, we often have other children that ride with us to activities after school.  We searched on the web for a solution and looked for narrowest booster seat  we could find which was BubbleBum.  So, we gave it a try.  It's a lifesaver!  It's only 13" wide solving the problem of sore knuckles when buckling in.

I saw recently that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave BubbleBum top marks too.  A "Best Bet".  I was shocked to see some of the other seats that didn't make the cut and I am sad to say that we owned one of them...oh well, it's been replaced.

We did a lot of research before we bought it.  There's lots of information on the web from safety professionals that endorse it.  The Car Seat Lady for one, and Car Seat.org for two.

I hope this helps!

An IIHS "Best Bet" rating only measures how the booster fits the 6yo crash test dummy.  It is *not* a safety rating and may not be applicable if your child is a different size and shape than the crash test dummy is.  There is absolutely no reason to replace a booster that fits your child properly.

[Maedze]

However, I'm willing to bet that any one of the seats on the worst-bet lists probably didn't fit the PP's kid well.   Those seats are consistently pretty awful, LOL.

[chickabiddy]

Yeah, I agree that the "worst bets" are generally awful, and the "best bets" are often good.  My point was more that the IIHS ratings are not based on safety but on fit (and yes, I realize fit is an integral part of safety, but I would not get rid of a seat that fit MY kid well just because the IIHS says it won't fit the 6yo test dummy well).