Booster seat for 8yr old

[hemel07]

Can anyone recommend a high back booster for my tall, 8yr old (9 in July). She is pushing for a booster cushion but I feel happier with a high back, hoping that I can placate her with a new one! She currently has a maxi cosi rodi xr, which she's had about 5yrs, and she is starting to look a little big in it.

Why? She doesn't need a back on it and it will be uncomfortable for her growing body? Booster seats are from 6 years +. The purpose of the booster is to ensure the seatbelt sits correctly across her chest and waist (and definitely not across the neck). Many also come with a red seatbelt guide to keep it in position which work well. Halfords are always great for advising and fitting.

I have only just (in the past couple of months) put my 8 year old on a backless booster (he's 132cm tall). I'm actually using a Trunki Boostapac, for a couple of reasons, both related to the seatbelt he uses (he's in the middle seat of a Peugeot 5008):

1. The Trunki is 'thicker' than all the other booster cushions I've seen so it raises him up higher
2. The Trunki has a red clip that you feed the seatbelt through and this positions the seatbelt really well across his chest and shoulder.

The middle seatbelt in the 5008 comes down from the roof too far forward and at too steep an angle for my liking. When DS sat on a booster cushion that didn't have a shoulder guide the seatbelt wasn't even touching his body. I could have slid the seat he was sitting on forward, but then DD2's Multi Tech ERF seat was getting in the way of him fastening the seatbelt (I have 3 children, DD1 is on a Britax KidFix on the other side of DS). The joys of trying to fit 3 children in the back of a car!

The only other booster cushion I could find with a seatbelt guide was the Graco one, but it's too wide for my car. It was covering the seatbelt buckles (they are recessed into the seat).

Also, I came across this on the Rear Facing facebook page www.researchgate.net/profile/Katarina_Bohman/ I think it basically says that after a certain age there is a question about how effective a HBB is - due to the way children sit or slouch or lean out of the seat. A booster cushion is just as effective for a child who is nearing the height limit for needing a car seat.

I don't think I'm 100% happy with him on a backless booster (when we were travelling over Xmas and New Year I put him back in a HBB due to it being a lot of motorway travel), but he's in the middle of the car so won't get any direct impact from a side-on accident should the worst occur.

To answer your question though, I have 2 Britax Adventure HBBs (that I use if I need to put 2 HBBs in the car) and the aforementioned KidFix that I bought for DD1 when I got the Trunki for DS. Not sure why I moved her to the KidFix, I think I just liked the fact you don't have to bother fastening the seatbelt over the empty seat. I like both different HBBs equally, maybe you should go for the Adventure since it's usually on offer for about £30 and you won't need another 5 years use out of it (unless you will be passing down to a younger child)

Thanks Alicemum, that's all really useful. I have the same car and the 3 dc! Its hard trying to accommodate them all. I was all up for a booster cushion but then saw a video on the Which website basically showing how dangerous they are, but like yours, she sits in the middle so would essentially be protected by her brother and sister. Its tricky. She will be tall enough to travel with nothing at some point I realise, just finding hard to make that transition. Would ideally like all 3 of them back in their baby seats, harnessed down!

Is it the trunki booster pack thing you have? Also had a look at the Britax kidfix as I'm not happy with dd2 seat really. It looks nice, do you think I'd be able to fit 2 of them in the 5008?

Hi,
That's funny that you have the same car! Anyway, yes it's the Trunki Boostapac www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplay0_10751_-1_101908_10001 like this one.

Yes, you'd fit 2 of the KidFix in the car, but not next to each other. If you look at it from the boot once it's installed you can see that it overlaps the cars seat slightly (at the widest point near the headrest), so two next to each other would not work. Unless you slid one seat forward maybe? I had it in the middle seat at one point, then when I tried to flip the outer seat to get into the back seats (we don't generally use them, we must have had some of the kids friends in the car too at that point) the KidFix got in the way!

But the KidFix is a nice seat (I gave in, for the first time ever, and made my car seat purchase decision on colour - DD1 has a nice purple one with an owl on it!) and I make DS (the 8 year old) sit in it if DD1 is not in the car (on the way to Cubs for example). He fits nicely, he's an average build and 132cm tall.

Feel free to ask anything else I might have forgotten!

Thankyou, its almost impossible to find a car that will fit 3 seats next to each other isn't it? How old is your dc that uses the kidfix? DD2 is 4. I think I am going to order one and see how we go with it. DS1 is 6.5 and has the maxi cosi rodi xr which I am happy enough with at the moment. The back actually comes off them and you are left with just a cushion so may ignore DD1 for the time being and then try that if she persists. I can always replace it if we are going a distance (Cornwall from Leeds in the summer!!).

Hi,

DD1, who uses the KidFix was 5 last November.

Yes, a lot of people claim that you can fit 3 car seats in the back of their car but actually they have to shift all the seats around to get the seatbelt fastened and then give the door a good slam to get it shut! If you get the right seats in our car at least you can easily reach the seatbelt buckles.

When we were buying it (I was pregnant with DD2) I went along for a test drive armed with 3 child seats and a pushchair. I wasn't going to buy the car if the seats didn't all fit together, and I wanted to make sure that I could fit a pushchair in the boot when the rear seats were up! I've no idea what the sales guy thought, but obviously we bought the car so it was worth the hassle!

I like your style!!!!
And thankyou for the advice.