I need a narrow, thin, slender, skinny booster car seat?

Question

I have a small sedan. I need to fit three (3) boosters across the back seat. The narrowest one I can find is 16.5" across. Do you know of one that is skinnier?! I can't find anything helpful online. A new car is out of the question...unless you are offering... :) Thanks!

Answer 1

Try this site, it may help....................

http://www.carseatdata.org/

Answer 2

I can help with some suggestions, but it would be much easier if I knew the children's age/height/weight. The Fisher Price Safe Voyage booster is about the narrowest out there, and you can at this point only find them online most of the time. Try albeebaby.com . But having 3 boosters across any vehicle makes for a very difficult setup. If at all possible, I would keep as many of them as possible in a 5 point harness. Three seats across is a tight squeeze - when you have boosters in there, it makes it incredibly difficult to buckle the belt of each booster. If, instead, you install 3 five point harness seats, once you have them in, you never have scrape up your hand or your child's looking for the buckle in between seats, you just buckle the harness over the child. Or in older children, most can buckle themselves and you just double check its tight enough. Having had 3 across in vehicles myself, it is SOOOOOO much easier when they are harnessed seats. And even buying 3 harnessed seats is a lot cheaper than buying a new car. :) The narrowest seat out there with a harness is the Sunshine Kids Radian65/Radian80. These 2 are the exact same seat, just one is tested to 80lbs and one is tested to 65lbs. Not worth paying for the Radian80 when a child will outgrow it at the same time as the Radian65. Harnesses to 65lbs with 19" top slots, harnesses the average kid to about 8 years old.

You could Also check out the Graco Nautilus, though its not likely you can fit 3 of them across, you could get 1 or 2 Radians and then a Nautilus. $150, harnesses to 65lbs then becomes a booster.

Those are about it - most other higher weight harness seats are way to wide to use in a 3 across.

Its worth mentioning, too, that your kids are a lot safer in a harness than just a booster. Compare the following crash tests for your self and see the major difference a harness makes.

Forward facing harness vs. booster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seite...

A lateral test (the third view in) of a harnessed seat: http://www.oeamtc.at/videobox/index.php?...

A deep winged high back booster like a Parkway: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seite...

A shallow winged high back booster like the Turbobooster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seite...

And a no back booster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seite...

Crash test video showing a 5-point harnessed seat next to a belt positioning booster

http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=NxfIuhL3cX...

VIEDOES OF KIDS WHOSE PARENTS DESPERATELY WISH THEY'D KEPT THEM HARNESSED:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcq...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2kO8AxKb...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPBSEQ4xb...

We also now know the spine is not solid until age 6.

So to sit in a booster and use just the seatbelt like an adult (basically a booster just fits the belt to the child,so it's essentially the same), they need to be able to not have the lapbelt cause those injuries, have the head proportionate like an adult, and have a solid spine like an adult. kids under age 5 have higher rates of head injury if they are riding in boosters than kids over age 5 (presumably because younger kids have heavier/larger heads in proportion to their bodies, so they fly forward farther or with greater force, thus incurring greater injury if/when they come in contact with vehicle interior or intrusion?).

"Another type of misuse is a child not using the restraint designed for its size and age. The

study of Isaksson-Hellman et al. (1997) showed

that the maximum effect of a restraint system is

not attained if the child is not using the optimal

CRS for its age. Also, a tendency of higher

injury risk was identified when the growing

child switches from one restraint to another, i.e.

when the child is at the youngest age

recommended for the restraint. " -SAFETY FOR THE GROWING CHILD – EXPERIENCES FROM SWEDISH ACCIDENT DATA

Lotta Jakobsson

Irene Isaksson-Hellman

Björn Lundell

Volvo Car Corporation

Sweden

Answer 3

cant help you there because im in the same boat. What you do need to be sure of is that the seats have the 5 point harness system, a regular seatbelt is a JOKE!