Car seat for 10 year old

[CarryOnThen]

I was ready to move my 10 year old out of his high backed booster. He's about 145cm so has been tall enough for a while and he sits well in our car.

However, I tried it today and he fell asleep and immediately went horizontal across the back seat. That does not seem in any way safe. So now I'm thinking he needs to stay in a high back just to stop the sleep slump. Problem is one of the reasons I was going to move him was because his current Joie seat is tight on the bum. It has arm rests that make for a pretty narrow seat, although he's not a particularly big kid, normal mid percentile for weight.

Is there a not too expensive but wider HBB someone can recommend we try? I don't think booster seat alone will cut it as he'd no doubt still slump. He's got additional needs so won't care about the optics of still being in a car seat. If it's got a cup holder he'd be happy to keep it!

Maybe Diono Radian XT? That's fairly cheap at the moment on amazon and they are meant to be wider in the hip area.

Sorry not Radian - Monterey

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Diono-Monterey-Expandable-Highback-Booster/dp/B07TZT3SLV/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=diono+car+seat&qid=1685984051&sr=8-4

Another option would be one of the Maxi Cosi or Britax ones that don't have the "arms" by the hips.

Does he actually need the booster? Would a head support like this be enough for him to rest his head and not flop sideways?

Yoocaa Car Headrest Pillow, Road Pal Headrest, Adjustable Car Seat Head Neck Support, U Shaped Car Sleeping Pillow for Kids & Adults (Black) amzn.eu/d/9Tr70aJ

This looks good, I like that it says you can make the shoulder area wider too. I was trying to find a Britax one without the arms as I know they used to do a good priced one but they seem to have changed everything and I was struggling. I will have another look though.

He kind of doesn't, but I worry about these sort of additions in cars as I'm never sure how they've been safety tested. I will look into it though.

You can get specialist car seats for dc and adults with additional needs. I think you may be able to apply for funding for them through charity. It’s worth looking into anyway.

The car seat regulations are in the process of changing over to a newer one, which is why some of the older models have been discontinued. You're thinking of the Britax Adventure R44 (old reg) - to be honest, it's not very comfortable, DS1 used to always get dead legs in it, and it doesn't have cup holders so might be no use anyway!

Britax Kidfix 3 might be worth a look but I think still fairly expensive. Their newer, i-size ones all have the little belt guides in the hip area, including the newer Adventure, and the Which? report that's just come out mentioned that the backrest is easily broken on the newer Adventure (and Discovery which is the isofix version).

Good point about the in car safety centre postural supports - they are expensive but they would probably last longer. Booster seats are really intended for use up to about 150cm and at 10 he might be approaching this, so may be a false economy to replace with another one. Maybe send them an email and see what they suggest? They have supports going all the way up to adulthood. It may be you can still get away with a booster seat a bit longer though.

BTW - to bolster the vote for Diono, DS1 was 10 when we went on a really long drive in a hired car. He had been out of a high back, just on a normal backless booster for a while in our car as too tall for the high back one, but the hire car came with a Diono booster (Diono Hip, older model now) and he said it was really comfortable and it wasn't on the highest adjustment point, he even slept in it.

It is only when he's asleep that the posture is an issue, I only mentioned the additional needs in case anyone made a "all his friends will laugh if he's in a car seat still" comment. My hope would be he learns the skill of sleeping upright before he is too tall. Although it did just occur to me that I could strap his old seat in the middle and then if he slumps that way he'll be propped up anyway.