When it comes to choosing a good booster seat, it’s really, really hard to do better than the Britax Frontier 90 and the Britax Pinnacle 90. However, if you don’t have the budget for those seats, and still need a good booster, you’re going to want to learn more about the Graco Highback TurboBooster, which I spent the past weekend reviewing and testing in 3 across installations. Read on for details!

Graco Highback TurboBooster – What’s the big deal?

The Graco Turbobooster continues a tradition of versatile, high weight and height car seats by Graco that makes this one of the better booster seats on the market. It’s a dual mode booster car seat, which means it can be used in two configurations: as a high back booster and as a backless booster. The TurboBooster has been on the market in one form or another for more than 10 years and continues to keep children safe all over the country. For parents of booster-age children, the Graco TurboBooster is a booster worth considering. Here’s some more information on the latest iteration.

Graco TurboBooster Limits for Weight and Height

High back booster: 30-100 pounds, and between 38 and 57″ in height.  The seated shoulder height of the child in terms of the belt guide can extend up to 19.5.” Your child should be at least 4 years old. Of course, research into car safety indicates children should remain rear-facing for as long as possible (the average is 4 years in Sweden, which posts the lowest child fatality rate on Earth), and after rear-facing, the child should remain forward-facing as long as possible before switching into a booster.

Backless booster: 40-100 pounds, and the height limits will vary between 40″ and 57″. Your child should be at least 4 years old.  Remember that children should remain in booster seats until their seat belts fit them over the shoulder, across the chest, and flat on the upper thighs.

Buy the Graco TurboBooster on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Dimensions of the Graco Highback TurboBooster

The seat is 16.5″ wide and 15″ deep, and is up to 26.5 high.” The seat weighs 9 pounds in high back mode, making it the lightest and narrowest booster seat I’ve reviewed so far.

Why Buy the Graco Highback TurboBooster?

I’ve had the privilege of reviewing some pretty awesome car seats over the last few years, both as a parent and as a grizzly guy writing a car safety blog. I advocate rear-facing to the limits, forward-facing to the limits, and only then switching to boosters. I prefer convertible seats to infant seats and combination seats to boosters, simply for efficiency. Dedicated boosters, in the end, are designed to do the same thing as combination seats in booster mode: to properly position seat belts on children who are old enough to sit in them. So if there are combination seats that do as good of a job as dedicated boosters, why would I review and even suggest a dedicated booster?

First of all, I love how affordable it is. A common complaint about car seats is how much they cost, and I understand where parents are coming from. It would be nice if more cars came with integrated car seats, the way Volvo did with the XC90. However, until then, parents have to shell out money for seats, which can get in the way of paying for other essentials. This isn’t as much of an issue with the TurboBooser because it’s well under $100. We need more car seats like it.

Buy the Graco TurboBooster on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Second, I like how easy it is to adjust the height of the TurboBooster. You literally just pull the handle at the head rest by the top and pull the seat up or down. It’s also easy to turn it into a backlesss mode, although that can also be a con, as the brace holding the seat together could stand to be made firmer. Some parents have complained about the seat essentially coming loose and falling apart under its own weight while being carried. This doesn’t make it any less safe when it’s actually installed with a child in it, but it’s the kind of annoyance you just don’t see on higher quality boosters.

Keep in mind that to install the TurboBooster, you’ll need to put screws in the armrests. However, the installation besides that is rather easy. Additional things I like about the TurboBooster is that you don’t need a head rest behind it when using it in a backless mode, which isn’t that common in booster seats.

Essentially, the TurboBooster is a seat that’s been around the block a few times. There are a few different versions of it now, including the Safety Surround and Affix. My favorite is the TurboBooster featuring Safety Surround, available in gray, green, and orange, as it offers deeper wings to surround the head and torso, which may significantly increase side impact protection. This is the version of the TurboBooster I would buy if on a budget, as side impact protection is worth its weight, particularly given the severity of side impacts compared to frontal impacts.

Finally, I like that the lifespan of the seat has been extended in post-mid 2011 seats from 6 years to 10 years; this makes the TurboBooster useful across multiple children.

The Graco TurboBooster is a solid car seat and, in my opinion, one of the better budget booster car seats currently available in the United States for children above the age of 4.  There are certainly better booster seats on the market, such as the Clek Oobr or Britax Parkway SGL, but not everyone has the finances to buy high end car seats, which is why it’s important to know which budget-minded seats are well designed and trustworthy. The TurboBooster is likely to be the last seat your child needs before s/he is ready for a regular adult seat belt.

You can buy the Graco Turbobooster in a range of colors here. Canadians can buy the regular and Affix boosters here.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

When it comes to car safety, you can focus on driving safely and you can focus on choosing a safe car. However, if you have children, you also need to focus on choosing a safe car seat. This is one of a series of reviews I’ll write on what I consider to be the best car seats currently available in the United States. Today I’ll take a closer look at the Maxi-Cosi Pria 70 with TinyFit, one of a range of car seats manufactured by Maxi-Cosi through parent company Dorel.

Maxi-Cosi Pria 70 with TinyFit – What’s the big deal?

The Dorel Maxi-Cosa Pria 70 with TinyFit is essentially an infant car seat built into a convertible. In terms of functionality, this is one of the most impressive seats on the market. It’s a convertible car seat, which means it can be used in two configurations, including as a rear-facing infant seat, and as a forward-facing seat. It’s a rather unique approach to car seat safety by Dorel, and aims to make the Maxi-Cosi Pria 70 safe for premature infants while enabling parents to eventually use it to rear-face their children longer. Is it worth it? Read on to find out!

Buy the Maxi-Cosa Pria 70 with TinyFit on Sale at Amazon here.

Maxi-Cosa Pria 70 with TinyFit Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 4-40 pounds. Your child’s head should not reach past 1″ below the top of the main shell and should be less than 40″ in height. The TinyFit must be used when the baby is between 4 and 18 pounds and is optional between 18 and 22 pounds as long as your child’s head does not extend past the top of the insert.

Forward-facing: 22-70 pounds, and between 34 and 43″ in height. The tips of your child’s ears need to be below the top end of the shell. Your child should be at least 1, and it’s recommended that s/he is at least 2. Of course, research into car safety indicates children should remain rear-facing for as long as possible (the average is 4 years in Sweden, which posts the lowest child fatality rate on Earth), and after rear-facing, the child should remain forward-facing as long as possible.

Dimensions of the Maxi-Cosi Pria 70 with TinyFit

The seat is 20″ wide and weighs 22 pounds with the TinyFit insert and slightly less than 20 pounds without it. It’s not the lightest seat on the market by a long shot, but it’s not bad for a convertible. The width, however, will make it a challenge to fit the seat in narrow cars when it comes to 3 across installations, even if you use it with seat belts instead of LATCH (seat belts are just as safe but take up less room).

Using the Maxi-Cosi Pria 70 with TinyFit

When you open the box, besides the seat, you’ll also find a chest clip specifically designed to keep small infants secured, and it will do a much better job than the regular chest clip that is pre-threaded into the harness. If you have a small infant, the first thing you’ll want to do, then, is switch that chest clip.

There are 12 harness height positions to choose from in total. Nine of those don’t involve the TinyFit, and range from 9.5″ to 17.5″ in 1″ steps. When the TinyFit is added, you get three more slots that range in 2″ steps from 5″ to 9.” You can adjust the harness height from the front of the Pria 70 even after the seat has been installed; you do this through squeezing the back of the handle and pulling it either up or down.

You have three recline positions to choose from with the Pria 70. You get them by pulling the recline handle; it’s the big red handle behind the restraint on the bottom. If you’re rear-facing, you’ll want to use positions 2 or 3, while if you’ve got a forward-facing child, your recline positions will depend on the weight of the child. If the child weighs between 22 and 40 pounds, you’ll need to use the 2nd position, while if the child weighs more than 40 pounds, you’ll need to use the 1st position.

As with virtually all convertible seats, you can achieve a safe install with a seat belt or with a LATCH system. I prefer to use the seat belt install as it makes it easier to install multiple seats across and it is also often the only safe option for an install in the center seat. A tether is available for forward-facing use only. However, although it is best practices to use one, it is not required by Dorel.

Buy the Maxi-Cosa Pria 70 with TinyFit on Sale at Amazon here.

Why Buy the Maxi-Cosi Pria 70 with TinyFit?

This is the meat and potatoes of this car seat. The Maxi-Cosa Pria 70 with TinyFit is one of several seats in the United States that allow you to rear-face a child for up to 40 pounds. This isn’t as good as it gets anymore, but it’s still decent. Every pound is precious, as the longer you rear-face, the safer your child is. In the US, parents tend to turn their children around into the line of fire at 1. In Sweden, this typically isn’t done until 4. Children in Sweden are far less likely to die in car crashes than children in the US. It makes that much of a difference. This alone is reason enough to buy the Maxi-Cosa Pria 70 with TinyFit.

However, the primary reason why I’m a fan of the Pria 70 with TinyFit is: the Tiny Fit insert! The majority of convertible seats on the market come with lower limits of 5 pounds. However, many of these seats don’t work well with small babies due to harness slots that are too high on the lower end. The Pria 70 with TinyFit changes this with its lower 4 pound minimum weight limit and low bottom harness slots. On the other end of the spectrum, the seat will work well with larger and older children due to its 70 pound weight limit. That makes the seat more versatile than many other convertibles like the Dionos. I love preemie-friendly seats, as they’re so hard to find, but so necessary.

What’s the biggest disadvantage to the Pria 70 with TinyFit?

The biggest strike against the Maxi-Cosa Pria 70 with TinyFit is the fact that there are seats that allow you to RF significantly longer by weight. It’s also a rather heavy and bulky seat, and the harness straps that are included cannot be removed or replaced. You also have to switch to using a seat belt installation if your child weighs more than 40 pounds, which might be a bother to parents who prefer the LATCH system.

However, if the ability to fit smaller newborns, practice ERF, and enjoy ease of installation are important to you, the Maxi-Cosa Pria 70 with TinyFit will give you what you’re looking for. Finally, I do like that the seat is FAA approved for aircraft use. I do wish it had more than a 6 year lifespan, though, and I also like that it is made in the United States.

I recommend the Maxi-Cosi Pria 70 with TinyFit wholeheartedly. You can buy the Maxi-Cosa Pria 70 with TinyFit in two colors here.

If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can shop here for Canadian purchases. Have a question or want to discuss best practices? Join us in the forums!

When it comes to car safety, you can focus on driving safely and you can focus on choosing a safe car. However, if you have children, you also need to focus on choosing a safe car seat. This is one of a series of reviews I’ll write on what I consider to be the best car seats currently available in the United States. The full set of recommended car seats is here.

Cybex Aton 2 – What’s the big deal?

The Cybex Aton 2 isn’t the kind of seat I’d typically review, given my preference for convertibles and combination seats, but functionality is what’s important, and in terms of functionality, this is one of the most impressive seats on the market. It’s an infant car seat, which means it can be used in one configuration: as a rear-facing infant seat. It does not forward face; for that, you’ll need a convertible. It’s one of the newest infant seats from Cybex, and aims to improve child safety by adding various side protection features to their already popular Aton seat. Is it worth it? Read on to find out!

Cybex Aton 2 Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 4-32 pounds. Your child’s head should not reach past 1″ below the top of the main shell. There is also a 30″ height limit for the child.

Of course, as a good parent, you’re not going to stop at 32 lbs, since research into car safety indicates children should remain rear-facing for as long as possible (the average is 4 years in Sweden, which posts the lowest child fatality rate on Earth), and after rear-facing, the child should remain forward-facing as long as possible.

Buy the Cybex Aton 2 on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Dimensions of the Cybex Aton 2

The seat is 17.25″ wide at its widest point and up to 21″ high. The seat weighs 9 pounds, which makes it the lightest seat I’ve reviewed so far. Of course, being an infant seat, it should be much lighter than a convertible. It weighs 21.2 pounds when attached to the base.

Using the Cybex Aton 2

The Aton is an ever-growing line from Cybex that features the Aton, Aton 2, and the Aton Q. Between the Aton and the Aton 2, which is the topic of this review, many features are similar, but the Aton 2 adds a load leg to the base, as well as a LSP, or Linear Side-Impact Protection system, which is located on the handle.

What’s a load leg, you ask?

Well, they’re all the rage in Europe, as they’re designed to reduce the amount of downward rotation experienced by a car seat (and the child inside it, of course), during a collision. Downward rotation is a fancy term for the seat’s continuing to move forward and downward (due to inertia) in a frontal collision where the vehicle suddenly comes to a stop. Because downward rotation is reduced, rebound, or the rearward movement of the seat after the initial instance of downward rotation, is also reduced. It is essentially a foot, or leg, that sticks out like a tripod and locks once you squeeze a lever. Remember that the leg needs to be flat on the vehicle’s floor and that it shouldn’t extend to the point that it pushes the seat base above the vehicle seat. You can adjust the leg up and down to compensate for differences in length across vehicles.

The Linear Side-Impact Protection system is essentially a wing-looking device on the Aton 2’s handle that you turn outward when the seat is installed in an outboard position; the purpose of it is to reduce the side impact forces that the child experiences in a side impact. From reading this blog, you know that it doesn’t take much for the forces in a side impact to quickly add up to life-threatening levels, so anything that helps here is worth looking at. You don’t use it when you install the seat in the center. Essentially, all you do is turn the LSP upward toward the door it’s closest to, and that’s it.

Being an infant seat, the Aton 2 can be detached from its base and attached to strollers by Cybex, Baby Jogger (e.g., the City Mini), and several other companies, which makes it easy to transport your children while on the go. You simply need the Maxi-Cosi adapters for the strollers you’re interested in combining with the Cybex.

If you want to buy extra bases so you can install them in other vehicles, you can buy extra bases for the original Aton here or bases for the Aton 2 here. Note that the Aton & Aton 2 are both backward and forward compatible with the Aton and Aton 2 bases, which is quite the money-saver if you’ve already invested in one.

The seat may be installed with or without the base

Keep in mind the seat belt installation when the base is in the European style. To do that, you essentially wind the shoulder belt behind the seat itself while the lap belt threads through the seat arms as typical in baseless installations. This makes the baseless installation quite easy to do and also very stable, which is great if you need to move the seat into a new vehicle and don’t have a base available.

I like the base because it makes it a snap (literally) to install and remove the seat, which is crucial for getting a newborn or young infant out of a vehicle or into one without waking him or her. I particularly love the process of releasing the seat from the base; you push in part of the button on the base, and from there you push the button. Trust me; it’s awesome. The entire installation is easy, even compared with that on a Chicco Keyfit, which is saying something when you think about how easy it is to install a Keyfit.

The Aton 2 is preemie friendly

There are a lot of seats that require a lot of hoops such as blanket rolling to make work with premature infants, and any mother who has purchased, bought, and returned several car seats to and from the NICU in effort to find a seat that makes a good fit knows how thankless of a task that is. However, the Aton 2 fits preemies easily (as long as they weigh at least 4 pounds), which is a blessing. Three harness slot heights are included with the Aton 2; they range from 7″ to 10.5.”

Buy the Cybex Aton 2 on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Why Buy the Cybex Aton 2?

This is the meat and potatoes of this car seat. The Cybex Aton 2 is not designed to help you rear-face a child until the cows come home. What it does well is provide parents with a convenient and nearly fool-proof method of getting their child safely from the hospital and around for the first few months of life. After that, I’d recommend replacing it with a convertible seat with the highest RF limits you can find. In other words, look for these seats. Remember, every pound is precious, as the longer you rear-face, the safer your child is. In the US, parents tend to turn their children around into the line of fire at 1. In Sweden, this typically isn’t done until 4. Children in Sweden are far less likely to die in car crashes than children in the US. It makes that much of a difference.

If ERF is what’s most important, then you might wonder why I’d suggest a seat that doesn’t come anywhere close to the best ERF limits. That’s because infant seats aren’t designed to RF forever. They’re for convenience! A class A convertible like a Foonf weighs more than 30 pounds; add the 7 pounds of a newborn and there’s no way you’re going to take that seat and child anywhere if it’s all you have as a child seat.

In contrast, with a seat like the Aton 2, you buy it, package it with a stroller, such as with the City Mini, and use the seat and stroller to transport your child when walking, and move the seat with your newborn about without waking up your child. Later, as your child gains in weight, you’ll naturally stop using the infant seat and start using the stroller or a good baby carrier to transport him or her, and when s/he’s in the car, you’ll use a high quality convertible car seat, and then later a combination seat. That’s the easiest way to navigate the practicalities of weight, children, car seats, and transportation. Start with the infant seat and stroller, or infant seat and carrier, and transition to the stroller or carrier and convertible seat.

Besides the general conveniences, I’m a big fan of the LSP and load leg systems, and these are the two reasons why I’d consider this seat over the Keyfit, or any other infant seat I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing so far.

I do wish the Cybex Aton 2 came with more than a 6-year product life. However, for a seat that’s simply designed to get you going as a safe way of transporting an infant, it can easily be used for multiple children within a family. I also like that it’s FAA approved for aircraft use and that the canopy provides SPF 50 protection against UV rays.

I recommend the Cybex Aton 2 wholeheartedly. You can buy the Aton 2 in a range of colors here. Unfortunately, it’s not yet available in Canada, but the closest Canadian equivalent I’d recommend is the KeyFit 30, available here.

Finally, here’s an example of a great baby carrier, the Pognae, that my wife and I use on a daily basis.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

When it comes to car safety, you can focus on driving safely and you can focus on choosing a safe car. However, if you have children, you also need to focus on choosing a safe car seat. This is one of a series of reviews I’ll write on what I consider to be the best car seats currently available in the United States. It focuses on one of the most luxurious infant car seats currently available, the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35.

Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 – What’s the big deal?

The Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 isn’t the kind of seat I’d typically review, given my preference for convertibles and combination seats, but functionality is what’s important, and in terms of functionality, this is one of the most impressive seats on the market. It’s an infant car seat, which means it can be used in one configuration: as a rear-facing infant seat. It does not forward face; for that, you’ll need a convertible. It’s one of the newest seats from Cybex, and aims to improve child safety by giving parents a safe and stylish infant seat to start with before moving up to their Primo Viaggio convertible. Is it worth it? Read on to find out!

Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 4-35 pounds. Your child’s head should not reach past 1″ below the top of the main shell. There is also a 32″ height limit for the child. The harness positions range from 4.5″ to 10.5″, while I measure the shell height as around 18.”

Of course, as a good parent, you’re not going to stop rear-facing at 35 lbs, since research into car safety indicates children should remain rear-facing for as long as possible (the average is 4 years in Sweden, which posts the lowest child fatality rate on Earth), and after rear-facing, the child should remain forward-facing as long as possible.

Buy the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Dimensions of the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35

The seat is 17″ wide at its widest point and up to 24″ high. The seat weighs 9.5 pounds, which makes it one of the lightest seats I’ve reviewed so far. Of course, being an infant seat, it should be much lighter than a convertible. The base weighs 7.4 pounds and is around 22″ long, 15″ wide, and 12″ deep.

Using the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35

There are a lot of things to like about the Primo Viaggio 4-35. Some folks will like that it’s made in Italy (much like the Primo Viaggio convertible). Others will like the fact that not only one, but two infant inserts are included. Others will simply like the fact that it comes in more than a dozen(!) different colors. Whatever the reason, here’s what it’s like to use it.

From the start, the first thing I like about the Primo Viaggio 4-35 is that it comes with a built-in anti-rebound bar. Rebound is the backward motion of a car seat after initially moving forward in a frontal crash, and is also known as cocooning; reducing it reduces the risk of a child flying into the back of a car seat in a severe collision. To use the anti-rebound bar, all you need to do is install the seat without a base and swing the seat handle backward until it’s in its lowest position against the vehicle seat. Pretty neat, right?

I’m a big fan of no-rethread harnesses in car seats, as I don’t like taking seats apart once I’ve got a good installation, and I don’t like fiddling with straps if I don’t have to. The 4-35 includes a no-rethread harness that can be adjusted to six different heights from 4.5″ to 10.5″, which means most infants will be able to find a good fit. I also like that there are 2 infant inserts included to increase the odds of fitting newborns. The stage 1 insert is designed to be used from birth to 8 pounds, while the stage 2 insert may be used at any age or weight.

A number of new infant seats come with UPF 50+ canopies, which is designed to reduce sun exposure for young children. I personally believe it’s a good idea for children to spend as much time outdoors as possible, as is often the norm in countries outside of the US (e.g., Sweden, Finland), but it’s still nice to have a good sun shield now and then.

Another feature currently popular in the infant car seat market is the harness retainer. These are designed to keep the buckles out of the way while fitting a child into a seat. That way, you don’t have to work the buckles out from behind the child afterward. I’m used to simply moving the harnesses out of the way, but it’s still a handy feature if you use it.

If you dig underneath the fabric of the seat, you’ll see that the seat shell is vented in order to make the seat more breathable. It looks like something you’d find in a race car; I like it. Of course, you’ll also find a rear storage compartment, which is handy for storing the manual.

Being an infant seat, the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 can be detached from its base and attached to strollers. If you want to buy extra bases so you can install them in other vehicles, you can buy extra bases here. The seat may be installed with or without the base. The base includes an anti-rebound bar that is a required part of the installation, and you’ll need to add it to the base when unboxing and installing everything. You simply click it into the top rear portion of the base.

I like the base because it makes it a snap (literally) to install and remove the seat, which is crucial for getting a newborn or young infant out of a vehicle or into one without waking him or her. However, there’s nothing wrong with a baseless installation if that’s what you’d prefer.

You can perform a baseless seat belt installation in either the traditional method or in the European belt routing style. To do that, you essentially wind the shoulder belt behind the seat itself while the lap belt threads through the blue seat arms as typical in baseless installations. This makes the baseless installation quite easy to do and also very stable, which is great if you need to move the seat into a new vehicle and don’t have a base available.

Something else I like about the 4-35 is that it is preemie friendly. There are a lot of seats that require a lot of hoops such as blanket rolling to make work with premature infants, and any mother who has purchased, bought, and returned several car seats to and from the NICU in effort to find a seat that makes a good fit knows how thankless of a task that is. However, the 4-35 fits preemies easily (as long as they weigh at least 4 pounds), which is a blessing.

Buy the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Why Buy the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35?

This is the meat and potatoes of this car seat. The Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 is not designed to help you rear-face a child until the cows come home. What it does well is provide parents with a convenient and nearly fool-proof method of getting their child safely from the hospital and around for the first few months of life. After that, I’d recommend replacing it with a convertible seat with the highest RF limits you can find. In other words, look for these seats. Remember, every pound is precious, as the longer you rear-face, the safer your child is. In the US, parents tend to turn their children around into the line of fire at 1. In Sweden, this typically isn’t done until 4. Children in Sweden are far less likely to die in car crashes than children in the US. It makes that much of a difference.

If ERF is what’s most important, then you might wonder why I’d suggest a seat that doesn’t come anywhere close to the best ERF limits. That’s because infant seats aren’t designed to RF forever. They’re for convenience! A class A convertible like a Foonf weighs more than 30 pounds; add the 7 pounds of a newborn and there’s no way you’re going to take that seat and child anywhere if it’s all you have as a child seat.

In contrast, with a seat like the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35, you buy it, package it with a stroller, and use the seat and stroller to transport your child when walking, and move the seat with your newborn about without waking up your child. Later, as your child gains in weight, you’ll naturally stop using the infant seat and start using the stroller or a good baby carrier to transport him or her, and when s/he’s in the car, you’ll use a high quality convertible car seat, and then later a combination seat. That’s the easiest way to navigate the practicalities of weight, children, car seats, and transportation. Start with the infant seat and stroller, or infant seat and carrier, and transition to the stroller or carrier and convertible seat.

Besides the general conveniences, I’m a big fan of how anti-rebound bars are available in both the based and baseless installations. I also like the no-rethread harness, harness retainers, and potential for European belt installations. Some people will also be a fan of the fact that it’s made in Italy, and I’m definitely a fan of the wide range of colors in which you can purchase the seat. Aesthetics aren’t the most important thing when choosing a seat, but they do make a difference, and it’s nice to see car seat manufacturers paying attention to that.

I do wish the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 came with more than a 7-year product life. However, for a seat that’s simply designed to get you going as a safe way of transporting an infant, it can easily be used for multiple children within a family. I also like that the canopy provides SPF 50 protection against UV rays.

I recommend the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 wholeheartedly. You can buy the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 in an incredibly wide range of colors here. Canadians can buy it and extra bases here.

Additionally, here’s an example of a great baby carrier, the Pognae. We use ours in the winter months and love it.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

Dorel has been in the car seat business for a long time, and I’ve had the pleasure of using a number of their seats on various trips around the country with my kids in the past. They offer seats up and down the line in terms of budget and child fit, and one of the newest offerings in the booster range from them is the RodiFix. Let’s take a look at it together.

2020 update: There haven’t been any significant changes to the RodiFix in the last few years besides slight fabric updates; weight and height limits remain the same, and this is still one of the three best dedicated boosters on the market (alongside the Clek Oobr and Peg Perego Flex 120).

Maxi-Cosi RodiFix – What’s the big deal?

The Maxi-Cosi RodiFix continues a tradition of high quality car seats by Maxi-Cosi (who brought us the Pria 70 with TinyFit convertible) that makes this one of the most impressive booster seats on the market. It’s a single mode booster car seat, which means it can be used in one configuration: as a high back booster and not as a backless booster. For parents of booster-age children, the Maxi-Cosi RodiFix is among the best boosters on the market.

Maxi-Cosi RodiFix Limits for Weight and Height

High back booster: 33-120 pounds, and between 34 and 57″ in height.  The seated shoulder height of the child isn’t anywhere in the manual, oddly enough, but after measuring it a few different ways, I’d state it’s close to 21.” Your child should be at least 4 years old. Of course, research into car safety indicates children should remain rear-facing for as long as possible (the average is 4 years in Sweden, which posts the lowest child fatality rate on Earth), and after rear-facing, the child should remain forward-facing as long as possible before switching into a booster.

Remember that children should remain in booster seats until their seat belts fit them over the shoulder, across the chest, and flat on the upper thighs. This is commonly known as the 5 step test, and it’s a great way to check to see when your child is ready to use an adult seat belt.

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Dimensions of the Maxi-Cosi RodiFix

The seat is 12″ wide at the base of the seat, which makes it significantly easier to install than many boosters. The seat weighs 14.5 pounds, which makes it one of the lightest high back boosters out there, and definitely the lightest on the market right now with rigid LATCH attachments. There are no armrests.

Why Buy the Maxi-Cosi RodiFix?

I’ve had the privilege of reviewing some pretty awesome car seats over the last few years, both as a parent and as a grizzly guy writing a car safety blog. I advocate rear-facing to the limits, forward-facing to the limits, and only then switching to boosters. I prefer convertible seats to infant seats and combination seats to boosters, simply for efficiency. Dedicated boosters, in the end, are designed to do the same thing as combination seats in booster mode: to properly position seat belts on children who are old enough to sit in them. So if there are combination seats that do as good of a job as dedicated boosters, why would I review and even suggest a dedicated booster?

First of all, the Maxi-Cosi RodiFix has a rigid LATCH attachment instead of a flexible one. This is an attachment system that’s more secure than the typical flexible attachment found in most high-end boosters in North America. There’s also the word that the rigid LATCH configuration may prove more stable in side impact collisions, increasing the safety of children in the deadliest kinds of collisions. All you have to do when using the LATCH system to attach the RodiFix is to pull the connectors out and move the seat until it sits on your vehicle’s lower anchor bars. Similarly, the removal is also quite easy, as you can detach each side one at a time. When you aren’t using the connectors, you simply tuck them into the seat. Of course, using the connectors is optional, but it has a number of advantages already mentioned.  These are several reasons to like the RodiFix. However, there are more.

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Something else I like about the Maxi-Cosi RodiFix is that the headrest comes with EPS foam throughout the inside and also is home to Dorel’s proprietary Air Protect Technology, which, according to Dorel, can reduce head injury risks in side impacts by up to 20%. Similarly, the torso wings of the RodiFix have lots more EPS foam to increase levels of side impact protection and reduce stress and strain on the body during collisions. All of these are good things. However, I also noticed that the foam did not have any plastic shell backing it, which gave the wings a rather delicate feel. I found myself being extra careful when moving the seat around during installations because I felt like the foam could crack if I bumped it into anything. It probably wouldn’t have, but it made me nervous.

You can fit the RodiFix in any car on the market

My favorite reason is the sheer ease of installation. Because it’s just 12 inches wide at the base, installation is just great in almost all conditions. It won’t work in every 3 across setup, but if you’re having trouble with buckling or with puzzling many seats in small spaces, this is likely to be the seat that’ll make boostering possible. This alone is reason enough to buy the RodiFix.

Beyond this, I like how padded and plus the Maxi-Cosi RodiFix looks and feels, as well as the fact that it comes with two recline positions. The armless element is unusual but can certainly come in handy during tight installations. However, keep in mind that the seat is on the narrow end, which means that if you have wider or stocky children, they might begin to complain before long. If your kids are average in width or slim, they’ll be fine.

Oh, and there aren’t cupholders. It’s a European seat (it’s made in Portugal), and those aren’t that big over there. I almost didn’t think to mention this, but it’s something that might make a difference to a child who loves his or her sugary drinks.

Finally, again, the Maxi-Cosi RodiFix is also simply an easier seat to install than most, due to its very narrow base width of 12 inches. That means it’s actually possible to install 3 across in a number of small vehicles.

The Maxi-Cosi RodiFix is a rather unique car seat and, in my opinion, one of the best booster car seats currently available in the United States for children above the age of 4.  It’s likely to be the last seat your child needs before s/he is ready for a regular adult seat belt. You can buy the Maxi-Cosi RodiFix in a range of colors here. Canadians can buy it here.

If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can buy my books here or do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can shop here for Canadian purchases. Have a question or want to discuss best practices? Send me an email at carcrashdetective [at] gmail [dot] com.