car seats

[walkitout]

I've been resistant to getting a booster seat for T., because the trade-off is that booster seats are more convenient but probably not as safe as a full featured car seat, at least for younger kids. And where car seats are concerned, I generally opt for safety over convenience within some constraints (like, no freaking way am I lugging a Britax convertible on an airplane; the Evenflo has to be good enough after the bucket days are gone -- and I switched to the strappy thing anyway and we checked the Evenflo last trip).

However, we've been switching the car seat that normally lives in the Fit (the Evenflo) in and out of B.'s car and J.'s car a lot, which has prompted some thought about getting a third seat just on general principles. A high-back booster seemed like a reasonable choice. We looked at what Target had (because we were there buying T. a costume and me some clothes) and had no idea what to pick, then went home (ran out of time) and did some research which led me to the Compass foldable, lightweight boosters. I ordered the B530 from Albee along with a couple other items and if it works, it'll be replacing the Evenflo for travel (checked, in other words, and yes, I bought the bag, too).

Anyone know anything about Compass as a brand/their products/boosters in general that feels like weighing in? T. is now 3 years and a couple months old and weighs about 37 pounds or so. He's three feet something (maybe 38 or 39 inches tall) tall. Do I need to feel guilty and apologetic for putting him in a booster before he's 4?

Comments

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

Boosters are *way* less complex than car seats, so I don't know of a reason to be picky about brands. If it puts him in the right position for the seatbelt, and his head isn't coming above the top of it, it's fine.

There was a brief period of built-in fold-down booster seats on cars (we rented a car that had them once), but they went away again, it seems. Boo!

wait, Volvo still has built-ins

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

per this useful-looking article from Edmunds: http://www.edmunds.com/advice/womenfamilies/articles/42977/article.html

Not that it matters to you, but I'm glad to hear someone still has the things.

All my kids were in boosters until 9 or 10, by the way -- that's when they hit four-foot-nine.