Recaro Vivo

The Recaro Vivo is a high-end booster seat with an excellent review record. In fact, one of our top reviewers says its biggest downside is limited distribution. (This seat can be difficult to find in retail stores.) Another potential drawback is that it weighs 11 pounds, which is on the heavy side for a booster. In comparison, the budget-priced Graco TurboBooster (*Est. $60) weighs 9 pounds. It's worth noting though that its extra weight comes not from extra bulk but from its reinforced aluminum frame, which most reviewers say is worth the few extra pounds. The Vivo also provides full side-impact protection, and both the headrest and the seat itself are lined with expanded polystyrene (EPS) crash-protection foam. Most parents are more concerned with safety then aesthetics, but reviewers do say this is a stylish well-designed seat with nice fabrics. If all you need is a simple backless booster, The Combi Dakota (Discontinued) gets consistently high reviews.

The book "Baby Bargains" provides broad and credible coverage of child seats, with individual write-ups on most current models, including the Recaro Vivo. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety is making waves with its standardized fit testing. For its latest report, 60 high-back and backless booster seats are given ratings based on how well and how consistently they position the adult seatbelt to fit a child. CarseatBlog.com has only modest coverage of the Recaro Vivo, which makes it into child passenger safety technician Heather Watson's recommended car seats list. There's also a short review on the parenting site Babble.com, where the Vivo is featured as a runner-up. Buzzillions.com draws on multiple sources to gather a large number of user reviews on this seat.