Booster Seats: Reviews

Updated February 2011
Once your child outgrows the car seat, it's time for he or she to graduate to a booster seat. In fact, your child should be in riding via booster seat until he is 4'10." After consulting safety reports from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, car safety experts and parent commentary, ConsumerSearch has chosen the below picks earn the Best Reviewed distinctions—meaning your child will ride safely no matter what your budget.
 

Best booster seat

Graco Highback TurboBooster *Est. $50 Compare Prices

CarSeatBlog.com: The Graco TurboBooster is a favorite high-back booster of the professional child-passenger safety technicians/instructors who run this website.

Baby Bargains: "Baby Bargains" has an excellent section on booster seats with good coverage of the Graco TurboBooster.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety fit-tests 72 booster seats, including both versions of the Graco TurboBooster.

Amazon.com: With more than 250 parents posting reviews, the Graco Highback TurboBooster maintains a near-perfect average score.

Buzzillions.com: User reviews on Buzzillions.com, which are gathered from various external sites, give the TurboBooster high marks for comfort, adjustability and ease of use.

Best five-point harness booster seat

Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 *Est. $160 Compare Prices

ConsumerReports.org: ConsumerReports.org conducts frontal crash tests on five booster seats with five-point harnesses, including the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1.

Baby Bargains: This parenting book covers the complete range of car and booster seats from Graco.

CarSeatBlog.com: Child-passenger safety technician Heather Watson includes the Nautilus in her list of recommended booster seats.

Buzzillions.com: Buzzillions.com has more than 800 owner reviews for the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1, and a nicer interface than Amazon.com.

Amazon.com: The Graco Nautilus gets excellent coverage at Amazon.com, where more than 700 parents share their thoughts on this booster seat.

Babes and Kids Review: This mother of two boys discusses her decision process of why she chose the Graco Nautilus 3-n-1 and her experiences with the car seat over the last two years.

Backless car booster seat

Graco Backless TurboBooster *Est. $25 Compare Prices

ConsumerReports.org: Editors at ConsumerReports.org rate the Graco Backless TurboBooster along with several other booster seats.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: The Graco Backless TurboBooster is one of 72 booster seats tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Which? magazine: Backless booster seats should be phased out because they don't provide much side-crash protection compared with high-back boosters, says Britain's Which?

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Children in high-back booster seats are less likely to be injured in a side crash than those in backless boosters, according to a study by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia that examined real-world crash data.

Baby Bargains: The high-back and backless versions of the Graco TurboBooster are reviewed together in this comprehensive report by consumer advocates and baby-gear experts Denise and Alan Fields.

Amazon.com: The majority of owners say they like the simplicity and light weight of the Backless TurboBooster, and the hide-away cup holders also get compliments.

ExpoTV.com: This site has 16 user-produced video reviews of the Graco Backless TurboBooster, which earns very high ratings from all reviewers.

Portable high-back booster seat

The First Years Compass B570 Pathway *Est. $95 Compare Prices

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: The First Years Compass B570 Pathway earns a spot on IIHS's Best Bets list of booster seats.

CarSeatBlog.com: Child-passenger safety technicians Darren Qunell and Kecia Healy do a short video review of The First Years Compass B570 Pathway features.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awards its highest 5-star ease-of-use rating to both The First Years Compass Pathway B530 and B540.

Amazon.com: The First Years Compass B570 Pathway gets overwhelmingly positive reviews from the more than two dozen owners who have posted here.

Booster Seats Runners Up:

Evenflo Big Kid Amp *Est. $25

5 picks including: Amazon.com, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety…

Britax Frontier 85 *Est. $280

4 picks including: Amazon.com, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety…

Sunshine Kids Monterey *Est. $135

3 picks including: Amazon.com, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety…

Clek Oobr *Est. $275

3 picks including: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Baby Bargains…

Britax Parkway SG *Est. $120

3 picks including: Amazon.com, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety…

Cybex Solution X-Fix *Est. $210

3 picks including: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration…

Clek Olli *Est. $105

2 picks including: Amazon.com, Baby Bargains…

Evenflo Maestro *Est. $80

2 picks including: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration…

Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR *Est. $150

2 picks including: Amazon.com, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety…

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Evenflo Big Kid AMP No Back Booster Car Seat, Red
Buy from Amazon.com
from Amazon.com
New: $29.99 $24.99   
In Stock.
Average Customer Review:  
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Britax Frontier 85 Combination Booster Car Seat, Rushmore
Buy from Amazon.com
from Amazon.com
New: $299.99 $192.30   
In Stock.
Average Customer Review:  
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Sunshine Kids Monterey Booster Car Seat - Monterey Red
Buy from Amazon.com
from Amazon.com
New: $139.99   
Average Customer Review:  
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Clek Oobr Booster Car Seat, Dragonfly
Buy from Amazon.com
from Amazon.com
New: $299.99   
In Stock.
Average Customer Review:  
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Britax Parkway SG Booster Car Seat, Onyx
Buy from Amazon.com
from Amazon.com
New: $119.99 $84.95   
In Stock.
Average Customer Review:  
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Cybex Solution X Fix Booster Car Seat - Stone
Buy from Amazon.com
from Amazon.com
New: $249.99   
Average Customer Review:  
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Clek Olli Booster Seat, Jet
Buy from Amazon.com
from Amazon.com
New: $94.99   
In Stock.
Average Customer Review:  
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Evenflo Maestro Booster Seat, Akane
Buy from Amazon.com
from Amazon.com
New: $84.99   
Average Customer Review:  
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Maxi Cosi Rodi XR Booster Car Seat, Roasted Brown
Buy from Amazon.com
from Amazon.com
New: $159.99   
Average Customer Review:  

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