Child booster seats are better than they used to be. New models improve on design and functionality, and parents of 4 to 8-year-olds do not have to search as hard for the perfect car seat for their little ones.
The main goal of any booster seat is to protect the child from serious injury in a crash.
However, most belt-positioning boosters don’t offer the same fit in all vehicles. So, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently evaluated 72 booster seats and revealed the 21 best and safest (last year only 9 seats out of 60 were rated as Best Bet).
Basically, the IIHS assessed the safety belt fit, marking the top-rated ones with BEST BET. Other evaluation marks included GOOD BET and NOT RECOMMENDED.
Note: IIHS didn’t conduct vehicle crash tests to evaluate boosters because boosters don’t do the restraining in a crash. IIHS evaluated the the fit of the belt. A good booster routes the lap belt across a child’s upper thighs and positions the shoulder belt at midshoulder.
Here is the list of the best and worst performers.
BEST BETS:
• Britax Frontier 85 (combination highback)
• Chicco Keyfit Strada (dual highback)
• Clek Oobr (dual highback)
• Cosco Juvenile Pronto (dual highback)
• Cybex Solution X-Fix (highback)
• Eddie Bauer Auto Booster (dual highback)
• Evenflo Big Kid Amp (backless)
• Evenflo Maestro (combination highback)
• Graco TurboBooster Crawford (dual highback)
• Harmony Baby Armor (dual highback)
• Harmony Dreamtime (dual backless)
• Harmony Dreamtime (dual highback)
• Harmony Secure Comfort Deluxe (backless)
• Harmony Youth Booster Seat (backless)
• Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR (dual highback)
• Recaro ProBOOSTER (highback)
• Recaro ProSPORT (combination highback)
• Recaro Vivo (highback)
• Recaro Young Sport (combination highback)
• Safety 1st Boost Air Protect (dual highback)
• The First Years Pathway B570 (highback)
GOOD BETS:
• Britax Parkway SG (dual highback)
• Combi Kobuk Air Thru (dual backless)
• Combi Kobuk Air Thru (dual highback)
• Evenflo Symphony 65 (3-in-1 highback)
• Graco TurboBooster Sachi (dual highback)
• Graco TurboBooster Wander (dual highback)
• Maxi-Cosi Rodi (dual highback)
NOT RECOMMENDED:
• Eddie Bauer Deluxe (combination highback)
• Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1 (highback)
• Evenflo Express (combination highback)
• Evenflo Generations 65 (combination highback)
• Evenflo Sightseer (highback)
• Harmony Baby Armor (dual backless)
• Safety 1st All-in-One (3-in-1 highback)
• Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite (3-in-1 highback)
Find more information more on the Consumer Affairs website.
