What Are The Best Baby Booster Seats? – Let’s Review!
Your child is growing up faster than you could ever expect and outgrowing their car seat quickly.
You know you want to keep them safe as they continue to grow up, but you start to realize that you’re going to need a booster seat to help keep them safe and comfortable.
Now if you’re not there yet, don’t worry. You may have a lot of questions though if you’re just starting to shop for a booster seat such as:
How do I know what the best booster seat is on the market? Is there a difference between harness systems and belt positioning system? What about the best booster seat for a toddler?
Relax. We wanted to help make this process as easy as possible and did some of the shopping for you. From that we came up with our list of the 10 Best Infant Booster seats in 2017.
Hopefully, with our list, we can help your booster seat buying decision an easier one.
Ready? Let’s get started!
Here Is the Chart for the 10 Best Booster Seats
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1G1.1 Frontier Clicktight Combination Harness-2-Booster Car Seat by Britax USA
As one of the top name in baby safety, the G1.1 Booster Car Seat from Britax USA continues their standard of high quality products.
With the G1.1, Britax USA’s ClickTight Installation System will ensure that the seat won’t budge once your little one is in the vehicle so you can have a worry-free ride. To do this, they have made it simple. Lift the front of the seat, buckle the belt across and click the seat shut. The process is just that easy to ensure safe travels.
With their innovative design and attention to the comfort for you child, the G1.1 is designed to be able to hold smaller children, starting at 25 pounds and then transition with them as they grow. This along with an easily adjustable 9-position harness, fitting your little one into the seat is as easy as a push of a button
Why we love it – Britax USA manufacturers high quality products with an innovative focus on safety and comfort. The G1.1 offers your child the best in both categories, making it one of the top rated booster seats on the market.
2Performance BOOSTER High Back Booster Car Seat by RECARO
RECARO, known mainly as a racing seat manufacturer, brings that expertise to their booster seat offering you and your little one a safe and comfortable option.
With safety in mind, RECARO has looked to their racing seat line and it has inspired some of the safety features that the Performance Booster comes with. From a racing-inspired side impact protection system, to a color coded belt guide system and even LATCH connectors to ensure a secure fit in your vehicle, all to make sure that your little one is safe and secure each time the ride with you.
With its CoolMesh Air Ventilation fabric and memory foam material, the Performance Booster provides a wealth of comfort for your child. With an 11-Position QuickLift headrest, you can be sure that this seat will be able to grow with your child.
Why we love it – With their focus on comfort and safety, RECARO’s Performance Booster Car Seat is a quality made product. Choosing this for your toddler’s booster seat will put you at ease and them in complete comfort.
3SGL G1.1 Belt-Positioning Booster by Britax USA
Another in Britax USA’s line of quality baby safety products, the SGL has a lot of the same features that our other selection, the G1.1. Those features have made Britax number one brand in safety technology.
With its patented SafeCell Impact Protection and Isoflex Latch Connection System, you can be assured that when your little one is using the seat they are as safe as can be.
With their SecureGuard Belt-Positioning Clip, the lap portion of the vehicle’s seat belt will stay in place and keep your child from sliding underneath the belt in the event of a collision.
Not one to ignore the comfort of your child, the SGL comes with an easily adjustable headrest that can grow along with your child. Making sure your child fits in their seat correctly has never been easier.
Why we love it – The SGL continues Britax USA’s commitment to child safety each and every time they travel in your vehicle. It’s their commitment to this that makes them, time and again, one of our best recommendations for your child’s booster seat.
4Big Kid AMP Booster Car Seat by Evenflo
The Big Kid AMP from Evenflo is an example of a good, economical option for those parents where cost is a concern when it comes to purchasing a booster seat.
Despite its lower price point, the Embrace does not lack in providing your little one with ample safety and comfort features each and every time they take a ride in your vehicle.
The Big Kid is really two seats in one, easily transitioning from a high back booster seat for your children when they are between 30 and 110 pounds or a no back booster seat for when they weigh between 40 and 110 pounds.
Being able to accommodate your child’s growth from 38 inches to 57 inches, a one handed adjustable backrest can help ensure they ride comfortably every time.
Why we love it– The Big Kid AMP from Evenflo is a good option is cost is an issue for you. With its lighter weight and recognition from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety as a Best Bet Booster the Big Kid is an excellent choice for your little bundle of joy.
5Pioneer Combination Harness-2-Booster Car Seat by Britax USA
While the Pioneer from Britax USA is in the middle of the pricing spectrum, the features it offers you and your baby more than make this a very affordable booster seat.
With Britax’s exclusive SafeCell Impact Protection and by adding an extra layer of side impact protection, Britax has earned their number 1 rating in safety technology by far. Boasting a steel frame, the SafeCell Impact Protection adds strength as well as featuring a base that compresses to absorb energy during a collision.
The Pioneer’s smart design offers you two different modes for which to use the booster seat with your child. In harness mode, a smaller child weighing between 25 and 70 pounds can use the seat comfortably. As they grown up, they can transition into the traditional booster seat. You will never need to unthread the harness. Switching from one to the other is easy.
Why we love it – The Pioneer from Britax USA is one of the safest option on our list. With its exclusive safety features that help keep your little one protected while wrapping them in comfort, and its dual modes, any parent who purchases this booster seat from Britax will not be disappointed.
6Affix Youth Booster Seat with Latch System by Graco
Graco, one of the biggest and most well-known names in baby safety, have created a booster seat in the Affix with the style and comfortable features that your children will love.
Easily convertible from high back booster seat to no back booster, the Affix is built to accommodate your child while they grow up, with a weight range from 30 to 100 pounds and heights between 38 inches to 57 inches.
Graco has been known to make installation of their car seats easy for you, the parents, and the Affix is no different. Easily installed with one hand thanks to their unique one-hand, front-adjust LATCH system. With the front-adjust, it is much easier to quickly tighten the booster to the car seat to ensure that it will not move once your child is sitting in it and the vehicle is moving.
While committed to your child’s safety, Graco also takes their comfort into account. With multiple layers of material in the headrest, your little one’s comfort level is all but guaranteed. And with an integrated cup holder and hide-away storage compartment, your child’s drinks, snacks and favorite toys are always within reach.
Why we love it – Graco is a household name in the baby safety industry, and with the Affix, it comes as no surprise as to why. With its convertible options and attention to safety and comfort features for your child, the Affix is one of the best booster seats for toddlers on the market today.
7Maestro Booster Car Seat by Evenflo
The Maestro from Evenflo is a quality booster seat that is designed to meet Evenflo’s strict standards for safety and meets all federal safety standards for structural integrity for energy levels that are equal to 2 times the federal crash test standard.
Built to keep your children safe and comfortable as they grow up, the Maestro can accommodate them as they grow from 22 pounds all the way to 110 pounds. In that span, the Maestro can take 2 forms for safety: a 5-point harness or a belt-positioning system. The belt-positioning system has an auto-adjust to correctly position the seat belt for the proper fit on your child.
With up to 4 shoulder harness positions and 2 crotch buckle positions, the Maestro helps ensure that when you are using the harness option that your child is comfortable and by using the upfront harness adjustment, you can make sure they’re secure, but not too tight.
Why we love it – The Maestro from Evenflo features some of the best safety features we have seen and it’s dual safety option makes it stand out. We would recommend this to any parent looking for a safe, secure and affordable option.
8Highback Turbobooster Car Seat by Graco
As a top rated booster seat by leading consumer magazines and publications, the Turbobooster has the combination of safety and comfort that will make both you and your child happy.
As Graco is a world renowned company when it comes to baby safety, the Turbobooster doesn’t come up short when it comes to your child’s safety. Built to accommodate your child as they grow in weight between 30 pounds and 100 pounds and grow in height from 38 inches to 52 inches, the Turbobooster can easily be converted from high back mode to a backless mode to help your child fit securely.
With an adjustable headrest that is reinforced with EPS foam to provide additional protection for your child. In an effort to help them become more independent, the open-loops belt guide helps to easily position the vehicle’s seat belt, which can make it much easier for them to self-buckle.
Why we love it – The Highback Turbobooster continues the tradition of quality Graco products keeping your child safe on every trip they take in your vehicle. With kid-approved features such as integrated cup holders and wide, padded armrests, your child will look forward to riding with you every time
9Chase LX Harnessed Booster by Evenflo
The Chase LX from Evenflo using their award-winning design can be an all-in-one option for parents looking to save money when purchasing a booster seat.
The Chase LX comes with two ways to secure your little one while they are using the seat. Being able to switch between using a harness system and a belt positioning system ensures that this booster seat will grow right along with your child.
One feature that stands out is the removable head pillow and machine-washable pad. On a lot of booster seats, removing the pad can be troublesome. The Chase LX makes this easy.
Why we love it – The Chase LX from Evenflo offers parents a valuable option when their little one grows up. Having the option of a booster seat grow with your child is a feature that makes choosing this booster seat an easy decision
10KidFit 2-in-1 Belt Positioning Booster by Chicco
The KidFit from Chicco offers parents a high quality product that offers the safety and comfort benefits, but without the high end price that would normally come with some higher quality booster seats.
To ensure the safety of your child each and every time they use it, the KidFit features an exclusive SuperCinch LATCH system and a tightened that can be used with one-pull to keep the KidFit and your child in place. A belt guide that is easy-to-use combines with Chicco’s DuoZone technology combining the head and shoulder side-impact protection along with up to 10 adjustable positions to grow along with your child.
With all the safety features, it would be easy to think that comfort takes a back seat, but it doesn’t at all. With their ErgoBoost feature, the use of double foam padding and a contoured seat design helps offer your child comfortable support where they need it. 2 space-saving cup holders easily fold away when not being used to hold your child’s drinks and can easily be removed for cleaning.
Why we love it – From the outset, the KidFit from Chicco is a basic booster seat at a reasonable price and you’d be right. By offering a quality product that not only protects your little one from harm but also wraps them in comfort, Baby Trend puts a very capable product on the market for you.
How We Chose the Top Baby Booster Seats in Our List
When we decided to come up with our recommendations for the Best Booster seats in 2017, we wanted to make sure that each seat we recommended met a set of criteria that we looked for in each one we looked at. At that point, we could then feel confident in suggesting the booster seats on our list, knowing that they met our strict guidelines. The criteria we looked for are as follows:
Ease of UseThe National Highway Transportation Safety Administration maintains a five-star rating system for booster seats. The more stars a seat has, the easier it is to use. The ratings from the NHTSA take into account the ease of installation the seat is into your car and securing your child in it. The rating also takes into account the content and clarity of the instruction manual. You can find their listings here.
Easily adjustableAs your child grows, their seat will need to grow with them. Better quality booster seats on the market let you easily adjust not only the harness straps but the headrest height on the seat. Being able to easily change these will always ensure a proper fit for your child.
LATCHLATCH, otherwise known as Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren has been in effect since 2002, requiring that all seats and vehicles have to be compatible with the LATCH system. The system allows you to attach the booster seat directly to the vehicle instead of just using the vehicle’s seat belt to secure the booster seat. While this can make installation easier, seat belt installation is just as safe when done correctly.
Easy CleanupIf you have a child, you know messes. Having a booster seat that’s easy to clean is pretty much a necessity. However, there are many out there that do not have a detachable machine-washable cover. Those that do certainly stand out in the market.
ComfortWhen your child is in a booster seat, whether you’re traveling five or fifty miles, you want to make sure that they are comfortable the entire time. Having a well-padded seat with plenty of support for their head will help your baby have a better ride.
SafetyMany new booster seats offer special energy-absorbing foam to protect their head and chest as well as a 5-point harness, which has a strap for each shoulder, hip and one for between their legs to help protect your little one if they happen to be in an accident. As they get older, the vehicle seat belt can be used and many booster seats have belt guides to assist in making sure the belt is being used properly.
Benefits of Infant Booster seatsWhile most parents shopping for a booster seat will know that the biggest benefit of a booster seat is your baby’s safety, there can be some other benefits that some may not be aware of
SafetyIf you asked a new parent, they would say safety is the most important benefit of using any car seat and they would be right. Safety is very important. A booster seat is to keep your growing child safe as they transition from car seat to not needing one any longer.
While a lot of booster seats use the seatbelt that will come with your vehicle, there are some on the market that will use their own safety harness that can only add to the safety for your child.
ComfortA booster seat is designed to put your little one in a position where they are seated comfortably for any trip. By putting padding in spots where your child’s body is contacting the seat the most, such as the seat, backrest and headrest, manufactures use ultra-soft and breathable materials that can turn their booster seat into a comfortable place to sleep on every trip they take.
ConvenienceOne of the best benefits that come with some new booster seats is the ability to change from a booster seat with a backrest, to one without. This convenience can ensure that your child will be using their booster seat for some time.
Choosing what’s best for you
When it comes time to choose a booster seat for your child, you have to realize that your choice goes beyond features, price, style or any other factor. Your child’s safety is the most important factor to consider when choosing a cart seat.
There are many booster seats on the market that may offer very similar safety features and any one of them listed on our list of the 10 Best Booster seats in 2017 can be an excellent choice for you and your little one to ride in wherever you may travel.
But, regardless of the products on our list, there is only one overall factor that determines what the best booster seat is and that’s you. You will always know what is best for them and choosing the best baby booster seat will ultimately come down to you and the one which you feel is the best option to keep your little bundle of joy safe.
We really hope that our list of the 10 Best Booster seats in 2017, if not helping you decide on a booster seat, gave you some idea of what you’re looking for in one, then we’ve done our job.
Do you have a Baby Booster Seats on our list? Let us know how you like it in the comment section below.
Last Update on the 7th of March 2017
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