New Booster Seat Guidelines Released-Is Your Seat Safe?
Posted: Tuesday, December 22, 2009
by Stephany Springer
The National Institute for Highway Safety released some disturbing new ratings for booster seats.
According to the agency's press release, "the Institute rates 9 belt-positioning boosters BEST BETS, and 6 are GOOD BETS out of 60 models examined in a new round of evaluations. Eleven boosters aren't recommended at all because they do such a poor job of fitting the belt."
For parents, moving to booster seats can be overwhelming. There are tons out there for every price range making it difficult to know what is right and what is right and safe and what is not.
Parents should consult the National Institute for Highway Safety to find out the truth about these boosters. The Institute takes the guesswork out by testing a child dummy in each and every booster seat on the market today.
The purpose of a booster is to make the seat belt positioned at the right spot coming across the shoulder and sitting on the thighs instead of stomach area. Parents should look for this when buying.
So what chairs should a parent buy? These are the top rated seats.
The best ones are Combi Dakota backless with clip, Recaro Young Sport highback (combination seat), Recaro Vivo highback, Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR dual-use highback, Evenflo Big Kid Amp backless with clip, Eddie Bauer Auto Booster dual-use highback, Cosco Juvenile Pronto dual-use highback, Britax Frontier highback (combination seat), and Clek Oobr dual-use highback. To see pictures, visit here http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/boosters/best_bets.html
The worse ones are the Harmony Secure Comfort Deluxe backless with clip, Combi Kobuk dual-use highback, Evenflo Express highback (combination), Eddie Bauer Deluxe highback (combination), and Evenflo Sightseer highback. Also on the list are 3-in-1s including the Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite, Alpha Omega Elite, Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1, Safety 1st All-in-One, Alpha Omega Luxe Echelon, and Alpha Omega.
For pictures visit here http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/boosters/not_recommended.html
As a parent, we all worry about our child's safety. Another great resource if you are worried about your carseat is the local police department.
When we had a baby, we had the local police check out seat and was shocked when they told us that it was dangerous. We were able to get it switched out. Our shock came in the knowledge that we had just bought it new from the store.
They can also demonstrate how is should be buckled as well as show you the proper way the belt should fall on a child. I hope your seat was not on the bad list. If it was, take heart in knowing that any seat is better then no seat.
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