JP_in_CA

I apologize if this is a tired topic but I couldn't find anything on it doing various searches.

My 7-year old daughter has become too tall for our Brittax Parkway booster seat and her head would be right up against the rear window/roof. I've started putting her in without the booster. Things work well now, but before too long, her head will be over the backrest and I worry about the safety of that. I can put her in the front seat, but my 997 sometimes needs to be a family car and take all 4 of us including my lovely wife and 5 year-old.

Has anyone run across this situation before and found a solution? I'm thinking about trying out some of the Recaro boosters to see if they have less of a riser on the bottom. Another option I've considered is trying to find a booster where you could remove the bottom pad altogether and replace it with my own thin pad.

Any advice or experience appreciated.

Thanks.

John
2007 C2S Coupe

vexed

Do you have the seat bottom cushion in or out? I took it out (also have the Parkway) and my daughter is not hitting her head. I asked her to try sitting in the back seat without the Booster seat but she complained she was too low and prefers remaining in it for now. My daughter is about 4' tall.

JP_in_CA

Thanks, Vexed. I did try that and it didn't make enough of a difference. My daughter is the tallest one in her 2nd grade class at 4' 5" plus. Good for growing up to be a supermodel, not so good for fitting in the back of Dad's car...

jcnesq

I was using just the bottom of a Britax booster (I think it is a discontinued model) that was only perhaps 3-4" in height. My daughter (just turned 9) is very tall as well. I did remove the rear seat bottom (it just pulls up - held only by velcro) which gave a tiny extra bit of space (it protects the seat bottom as well). Now my daughter usually sits up front, while my 5 y/o is in the back (and nobody behind me usually as I need the leg room).

Once or twice along the way, I found the biggest baby / child store in town and tried a number of car seats before buying - mainly to find a base that fit well and not because of height issues.

Or if you just want to add a cushion and a small boost, why not go to a foam store and find a foam chair pad or something that fits?

JP_in_CA

Thanks, Jim. I tried ordering a Recaro ProBooster seat from a place that has a $1 return shipping policy so we'll see how that works. I may try the large kid store route as well. I did that when I got the Britax Parkway for the same base width reason as you did.

The foam option won't work for me as I really want the head support. I'd done the front seat route already (with a 5-year old behind her as well!). That works great until my wife wants to go along. Maybe that will just be a limitation I'll have to live with. When its all 4 of us, we take the Volvo wagon.

John

yossarian

Does the seat fit well without the bottom of the normal seat under it? I originally was worries that the booster would cut into the seat so I tried it without but was worries it did not fit evenly and was concerned about safety?

Hella-Buggin'

I'm using the Recaro Vivos in my car with the seat bottoms and backs removed. They sit low down and fit pretty snugly. I did put a folded towel down to even out the area but there sin't really any play in the fit.

JP_in_CA

To Yossarian: The booster seat fits well with the car seat in or out.

To Hella-Buggin: I hadn't thought about removing the seat back. I'm not sure if that would make it better or worse, but it's worth a try. I'll look for a post on how to do that as I've never had them out.

John

racer

My guess is without the seat back, any booster back seat would loose impact support, unless of course, her booster is a "fixed shell" like a racing seat

Judging by your name, I assume you are in california?Do you know what Cali law is for kids? From this sight, http://www.iihs.org/laws/childrestraint.aspx#CA .. if she's 6+ years old or 60+ lbs, maybe its not an issue?