Booster Seats

Graco Highback TurboBooster: Top-rated car booster seat

Experts say the safest booster seats are those with a built-in five-point harness (see our section on Combination Car Booster Seats). However, if your child can use his convertible car seat until he weighs at least 40 pounds (some new convertible booster seats are rated up to 80 pounds), you may be able to go straight to a cheaper belt-positioning booster seat, which boosts your child to the right position to use your car's lap and shoulder belts. You must always use both the lap and shoulder belts with a belt-positioning booster seat; using only one or the other could cause severe injuries or death.

You can choose between two types of belt-positioning booster seats: high-back or backless. Backless booster seats usually cost less, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says you must use a high-back booster seat if your car's seat back is low or lacks a headrest. In fact, recent studies show that high-back child booster seats protect children better in side crashes than backless boosters (see our Introduction for more).

For just $25 more than a backless booster seat, you can get the top-rated high-back booster seat: the Graco Highback TurboBooster (*Est. $50). Parents love the high-end features on this booster seat -- it has two retractable cup holders, a padded, height-adjustable headrest with side wings for head protection (and to support napping kids), height-adjustable padded armrests, a reclining backrest and a machine-washable cover. Experts like its good crash protection and excellent fit -- it's one of the few child booster seats that fits well in almost any vehicle, according to tests by the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

You can remove the backrest to turn the Graco Highback TurboBooster into a backless booster seat, but the professional child passenger safety technicians/instructors at CarSeatBlog.com don't recommend this -- you'll sacrifice the booster's head and torso protection if you do -- and IIHS says the car seat does a better job positioning the seatbelt correctly if you leave the back on. The Graco Highback TurboBooster works for children up to 57 inches tall and 100 pounds.

Pricier belt-positioning booster seats: Some have side-crash pedigrees

Despite its great overall reviews, we found no independent side-crash tests of the Graco Highback TurboBooster (the U.S. government requires only frontal crash testing). In fact, only three U.S. booster seats have been side-crash tested by a major consumer testing organization, and two pass the test: the Cybex Solution X-Fix (*Est. $210) and Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR (*Est. $150).

The test mimics a side-on collision at 17.5 mph. Both the Cybex and Maxi-Cosi booster seats score 4 out of 5 stars for side-crash protection, but the Cybex does better in the 40 mph frontal crash test (4 stars, versus 3 for the Maxi-Cosi). Both child booster seats are well padded, with height-adjustable backrests and recline features, and both can hold children up to 100 pounds (57 inches for the Maxi-Cosi, 60 inches for the Cybex booster seat). But you can't use the Maxi-Cosi car seat if the midpoint of your child's head is above the vehicle headrest or seat back (which could be a problem, if you have low seat backs); that's not an issue with the Cybex. Note that both of these belt-positioners cost as much as (or more than) a good five-point-harness booster seat, which experts say is the safest type (see our section on Combination Booster Seats).

The third U.S. booster seat in the side-crash test, the Sunshine Kids Monterey (*Est. $135), resembles the Cybex booster seta in a lot of ways. It's a high-back, belt-positioning booster with crash-protection foam and comfortable padding, an adjustable headrest, reclining backrest, high height and weight limits (63 inches and 120 pounds) and LATCH connectors to keep the seat secure even when it's empty. You can also adjust the width of the Monterey car booster seat to fit your child, and an angled seat bottom helps prevent your child from sliding under the seatbelt in a crash. In fact, with the back rest attached, the Monterey provides acceptable front-crash protection and good side-crash protection ratings in tests. But remove the backrest (the Monterey child car seat has an optional backless mode), and side-crash protection plummets: In a crash-test video, the backless Monterey allows the child-sized crash dummy's torso to thrash from side to side, hitting the car door. And either backless or high-back booster seat, the Monterey doesn't always provide a proper belt fit in all vehicles -- an important safety consideration measured by the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

A few other pricey high-back booster seats get high marks in tests, but experts don't recommend them as often as the cheaper Graco booster. The Britax Parkway SG (*Est. $120) has the same features as the Graco -- side-impact protection wings, EPS crash protection foam and "quick-adjust" head restraint -- plus a SecureGuard (SG) attachment, which changes the way this booster seat works with the vehicle's safety belt. The SG is Britax's response to concerns from child-passenger safety experts about children sliding under the lap belt due either to slouching or to a high-impact crash. The mechanism is simply a crotch strap that clips to the vehicle's lap belt, keeping the child's posture upright and the belt directly over the hips and upper thighs (rather than their more vulnerable abdomen). The Britax Parkway booster seat is rated for children weighing between 40 and 120 pounds who are up to 63 inches tall.

Though reviewers aren't blown away by this new feature, it does get some good feedback. CarSeatBlog.com calls the SG "a very nice booster with a unique safety innovation," but also notes that its SecureGuard clip "is an extra step that requires a little more time for individuals to use correctly." A couple of owners posting to Amazon.com say the booster seat's crotch strap can be uncomfortable, especially for older kids or little ones wearing dresses or shorts. There is also a Britax Parkway SGL (*Est. $135), which adds LATCH connectors to keep the booster seat attached to the seat even when it's unoccupied, to keep it from becoming a projectile in a crash (with other booster seats, you're supposed to strap them in with the seatbelt at all times).

Another high-back booster seat to get top marks from the IIHS, the Clek Oobr (*Est. $275), is too expensive for us to recommend. According to People magazine's Celebrity Baby Blog, this car booster seat owes its buzz to some high-profile celebrity fans, including Gwen Stefani, Courtney Cox and Jessica Alba. The Oobr is made in North America, offers designer covers and has LATCH connectors (so you don't have to buckle up the empty seat to keep it from flying around the car in a crash), but otherwise there's not much to differentiate the Oobr booster seat from the $50 Graco Highback TurboBooster other than the fact that it costs more than five times as much.

Folding high-back booster seat

The First Years Compass B500 was the first foldable high-back booster seat, and it won a 2004 Innovation Award from the Juvenile Products Manufacturing Association (JPMA). The First Years now offers several Compass booster seats, but The First Years Compass B570 Pathway (*Est. $95) is the experts' favorite. Parents say all of the Compass fold-up booster seats are easy to carry and move between cars or taxis, with contoured head rests lined with crash-protection foam, flip-up armrests, reclining backs, flip-out cup holders and sizable height and weight limits (57 inches and 100 pounds).

But the B570 Pathway booster seat is the only one with an adjustable shoulder-belt guide -- a tiny touch that makes a big difference in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's booster-seat tests. While the other Compass booster seats provide a good seatbelt fit in some cars but not in others, the B570 Pathway ensures a proper belt fit in almost any car, minivan or SUV and earns a Best Bet nod. Kecia Healy, a child passenger safety technician/instructor at CarSeatBlog.com, calls the adjustable guide "an awesome innovative feature." The B570 Pathway booster seat is also the only Compass seat with LATCH connectors to keep the booster tethered to the car even when your child is not buckled in, so that it won't become a projectile in a crash.

Backless child booster seats

Backless boosters usually cost less than high-back booster seats, and reviewers say some children might prefer them as more discreet and "grown-up." However, if your car's seat back is low or lacks headrests, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says you must use a high-back booster seat. And recent studies show that high-back booster seats protect children better in side crashes than backless booster seats (see our Introduction for more).

If you decide to use a backless booster seat, the Graco Backless TurboBooster (*Est. $25) is the one reviewers recommend most often. Although studies call backless boosters' side-crash safety into question, the Graco backless booster seat does a great job in frontal crash tests. Parents like that it's inexpensive, easy to use and easy to clean, with machine-washable seat padding and two hide-away cup holders. It's rated for children from 40 to 100 pounds and 40 to 57 inches tall. However, the Graco Backless TurboBooster doesn't always provide a good seatbelt fit in every car, according to tests by the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety; IIHS recommends checking the fit carefully. It's worth noting that for $25 more, the top-rated Graco Highback TurboBooster (*Est. $50) ensures a good belt fit in almost every vehicle, offers better side-crash protection and can convert to a backless booster seat.

The Evenflo Big Kid Amp (*Est. $25) is very similar to the Graco Backless TurboBooster, and the Amp booster seat earns a Best Bet rating in IIHS's fit tests. Owners posting to Amazon.com like its comfortable cushioning and brightly colored machine-washable upholstery. Its "flexible-grip" cup holders -- basically an elastic strap over an indentation in the seat's body -- also get some promising feedback despite their unusual design. Parents say they offer a better fit than standard cup holders and can accommodate sippy cups, water bottles and juice boxes. However, unlike the Graco booster seat, the Evenflo Big Kid Amp isn't front-crash tested by any third-party sources.

The upscale Clek brand also makes backless booster seats, including the Clek Olli (*Est. $105), which earns recommendations from both the child-passenger safety techs at CarSeatBlog.com and the fashion-conscious reviewer at BabyGizmo.com. It's rated for kids from 40 to 120 pounds and 40 to 57 inches tall. The Clek Olli booster seat fills the same niche as its high-back Clek Oobr counterpart: hip, style-conscious parents with good-sized budgets. Apart from the designer prints, reviewers say this is just a standard backless booster seat with one important upgrade: ISOFIX/LATCH connectors to keep the seat securely in place even when there's no child to buckle in. The manufacturer doesn't claim that this feature adds to the booster seat's safety when it's occupied; what it does do is keep it from flying around and presenting a potential safety hazard if it's empty and unbuckled during a crash. While reviewers agree that this feature is a nice bonus, most say it's not worth the extra expense because it costs nothing to buckle in an empty seat or toss it in the trunk.