Our child car seat experts disagree, as not every car has added safety features. It gets a good overall safety rating and it’s easy to install using the Isofix mounting points or adult seat belt. IceFox Inflatable Couch, Pool Floats, Inflatable Lounger& Anti-Air Leaking Design-Ideal Air Sofa, Cool Inflatable Beach Chair for Hiking Gear & Music Festivals… 4.0 out of 5 stars 863 $35.99 $ 35 . In March 2020, we surveyed 1,800 parents with children under 12. Among preventable injuries, drowning is the leading cause of death for children 1 – 4 years old. Inflatable booster seats are crash tested. Confused about the law on booster seats? These child car seats are approved for use with children from 15-36kg, which is around three and a half to 12 years of age (around 36kg, or 135cm tall). You can adapt it to comfortably fit your growing child, and the Isofix connectors allow you to securely attach it to your car, even when it's not in use. Each BubbleBum is made from similar components to that of airbags, life rafts and life vests. mifold is more than 10x smaller than a traditional booster and just as safe. As we have already discussed, the position of the shoulder belt is incredibly important in the event of a crash, but there is an additional danger, which comes about when the belt rides too high on the neck. This is the cheapest price I can find, the next is over at Kiddicare for £23. Our car seat experts and many others believe these backless cushions are not the best way to transport children, and recommend using a high-back booster seat instead, whenever possible. This car seat has no major weaknesses and is among the cheapest Best Buy Group 2/3 car seats currently available. A booster seat is therefore, a seat belt positioning system. Read the full review to find out how it performed in our tough crash tests. A child aged 3 or older can travel in a back seat without a child car seat and without a seat belt if the vehicle doesn’t have one. This Group 2/3 high-back booster seat has advanced side-impact protection and an additional attachment point to help ensure the best lap belt position. But the change to booster seat rules should help to keep older children in high-back car seats for longer, and may encourage parents to swap their backless booster cushion for a high-back booster seat instead. The super tough, rigid side clips provide perfect belt fit and replace the armrests that conventional seats use to position the lap belt. There’s also a risk that a young child sitting on a booster cushion could easily wriggle out of position – we’ve seen this happen in our fitting tests. Use the booster cushion in the middle back seat of a vehicle if you can. Find out more in our Isofix car seats guide. Find out more about Which? Baby-⁠Safe Plus II SHR (with Isofix base). But remember, if your child does have a backless booster, it’s crucial that you make sure both the seat and seat belt are … Find those that came top in our crash tests in our car seat reviews, Parents who incorrectly think a booster cushion offers the same protection as a high-backed booster seat. Our car seat experts recommend using the lowest group seat for as long as possible. Graco All-in-One Car Seats: All-in-One car seats are approved, but when installing do NOT use the shoulder belt lock-off with inflatable belt systems. Backless booster seats are still certified to be safe, legal and available to buy (for children over a certain weight and height), as long as they conform to the current law. This is uncomfortable for the child, and they will often throw their arms over the top of the shoulder belt to get more comfortable, with the belt then digging into their abdomen… severe injuries can result in the event of a crash. Shops can also sell backless booster seats that are approved for use by children weighing between 15 and 36kg, so you’ll need to check the label before you buy. Some parents prefer to keep their child in a toddler seat for as long as possible because they're kept secured in the seat by a five-point harness, while a Group 2/3 seat uses the car's adult seatbelt to keep a child in place. When used correctly, the shoulder strap should ride from the shoulder and across the chest with the lap belt positioned across the bony areas of the pelvis. Q2: What age can children use them? member, you can get instant access by joining Which? Lugging boosters through the airport is … A booster seat for use by a child at an event, e.g., a movie, a theater production, a professional baseball game, etc. Booster seats - are you breaking the law? Same Day delivery 7 days a week £3.95, or fast store collection. There are no safety straps, so it’s only suitable for older children, and not babies or toddlers. They are still legal to use, but booster seats with high backs and side wings are recommended as they provide a higher level of safety. mifold comfort features the super comfortable, extra padded “Compact Comfort” seat cushion, an updated shell design, anti-slip pads and easy to fit shoulder guide. It gets a good four-star rating overall for safety, and if you use the optional Isofix connectors it means you don't need to remember to secure the car seat when it's not in use. Booster cushions raise children up, but some struggle with keeping the shoulder strap of a three-point adult seatbelt in the right place on a child, and provide virtually no side-impact protection if you’re involved in a side-on collision. 99 BubbleBum includes an extra level of insurance against this in the form of a shoulder belt positioning clip, which gives you the opportunity to position the shoulder belt more precisely than other booster seats. It's legal to use booster seats or booster cushions as car seats for children, but the rules differ depending on whether they're old or new. A wide variety of inflatable car booster seat options are available to you, such as type, material. The Bubble Bum in an inflatable booster seat developed by Grainne Kelly, a mom of two, who was frustrated by booster seats when traveling with her family. This keeps the design sleek and narrow, saving space in your back seat. Don't Buy car seats – find out which car seats to avoid. First month £5, then £9.99 per month, cancel anytime. It is legal to purchase a used seat if its less than 7 years old (keeping in mind that I haven't been keeping track of these regulations for several years now as the booster … Click HERE to go over to Amazon; I think this is a GREAT idea and I'm SO buying one! By continuing to browse you consent to our use of cookies. A worrying number of parents (35%) believe that a backless booster seat offers the same protection as a high-back booster – but this isn't the case. It's legal to use booster seats or booster cushions as car seats for children, but the rules differ depending on whether they're old or new. You'll have no issues installing this lightweight high-back booster seat, which is approved for use from 15 to 36kg (approximately four to 12 years old). At BubbleBum our core commitment is to make EVERY child safer on EVERY journey. today. When your toddler reaches 18kg (usually around four years old), or is taller than 105cm, you'll need to swap to the next stage of child car seat – a Group 2/3 seat. About 4% of these are Car Seats. Booster seats are temptingly cheap – some start from as little as £6 – and there’s no doubt they’re convenient. We can go through as many as 20 samples of the same seat to get the final score. But some Group 2/3 car seats also convert to a booster cushion for Group 3 mode. Essentially, this removes the seat's protective sides (Group 2) and turns the seat into a booster cushion. To address travelers’ need for a child booster seat, UK-based BubbleBum has come up with a clever solution: an inflatable seat. As parents and carers, it’s only natural to want the best for our loved ones, so when it comes to something as important as a car booster seat, we need to be certain that it is safe. hiccapop UberBoost Inflatable Booster Car Seat | Blow up Narrow Backless Booster Car Seat for Travel | Portable Booster Seat for Toddlers, Kids, Child | Black/Gray 4.6 out of … Alibaba.com offers 430 inflatable car booster seat products. We repeat the crashes again and again, with the seat fixed in the different modes it can be used in. So, if you own a backless booster seat bought before this date, you can still use it for a child within this weight range. Inflatable booster cushion; Simply a blow-up cushion, which raises the height of your child. If all available rear seats are occupied by children under 4, then a child under 4 may ride in a car seat in the front seat. BubbleBum Inflatable Booster Seat - Pink The BubbleBum Inflatable Booster Seat - Pink is a super handy booster seat with a cheeky name. car seat tests. D672,996 International Patent No. BubbleBum Blow Up Car Booster Seats It’s the adult seatbelt in a Group 2/3 seat that helps to distribute the force of a crash away from a child’s body. The BubbleBum has been fully crash-tested, and meets and exceeds USA and EU booster seat safety regulations R44/04 & FMVSS 213. We use cookies to allow us and selected partners to improve your experience and our advertising. Example: Kiddicare inflatable booster cushion. Amazon are selling this Bubblebum inflatable booster seat for £19.95, instead of £29.99. Since this booster seat has not been approved for use in Canada yet, I enlisted the help of my friend … mifold is the world’s most compact and portable backless booster seat. But while using any seat is better than using none, booster seats offer very little protection in a crash, particularly if you’re hit from the side. Children must be properly buckled in a car seat or booster … We were recently introduced to BubbleBum – a portable inflatable and affordable (it retails for $39.99 in the US) booster seat for kids 4 to 11 years old. However, we can see that a backless booster is an appealing option for parents who might occasionally have to try to squeeze a third child into the middle back seat of a car, or for a short journey in a taxi. BubbleBum says their product meets and exceeds US and EU safety regulations (I know it’s approved for use in the US. A booster seat can help to raise a child's body to a height suitable for using the adult seatbelt. Did You Know? It meets safety and legal obligations in many parts of the world (like the USA, UK and Europe) and does not take up much space at all in luggage. Without a booster seat,  the shoulder strap can sit dangerously across the neck or face, with the lap belt across the soft and vulnerable abdomen, meaning that in the event of a crash, children are much more likely to be seriously injured, or worse. This high-back booster seat isn't far off being a Best Buy, and it’s worth considering for children weighing between 15 and 36kg (roughly three and a half to 12 years old). Only logged-in Which? The booster seat can be selectively inflated at the intended seat site and, after the event is viewed by the child, can be quickly deflated and folded into an envelope for subsequent ease of carrying and reuse. Answer: Most booster seats require children to be at least 4 years of age and 40 pounds to use them. This allowance is retroactive to previous Radian convertible and Monterey booster models. Diono is happy to announce that all Diono convertible car seats and booster seats currently sold in the market may be safely installed and used with Ford Motor Company’s Inflatable Seat Belts. If you’re travelling with your child and need to use a backless booster cushion – for example in a taxi, or if you regularly give a child a lift to school – then read on for tips below on how to use one. The level of overall crash protection is good, it's straightforward to install and easy to use. Multi-group seats If a car seat can be used in a number of different ways and attached by different methods (Isofix or car’s seatbelt), we crash-test it in each format. In today’s blog post we shall be discussing the safety of blow up / inflatable car booster seats. Ready to use in just about 10 seconds, this inflatable booster car seat from BubbleBum is a great portable model for trips and travels as well as for car pooling and taxis. You'll be able to see this when your child's eyes are level with the top of the seat. UK law states that children must use a child car seat until they're 12 years old or 135cm/4ft 5in tall, whichever comes first. What’s more, a young child may not be tall enough for their head to reach the side airbags. We believe that blow up car booster seats are the future because they fulfill the purpose of a conventional rigid booster seat, whilst being lightweight and compact enough to go anywhere with your child, including on occasions where they would otherwise be forced to go without. If you're not a Which? Let’s see how the Hiccapop UberBoost inflatable booster compares to a similar model by BubbleBum. Okay, so right from the start, these two differ in design. Remember, it's illegal not to use a child car seat – not to mention unsafe. Learn More » Crash tests Our experts have specially designed the crash tests, making them more demanding than the legal minimum standard requires. Keeping your kiddie safe during occasional rides when on the go, it easily packs into a convenient carry bag. Watch our video for information on the new set of rules for backless booster seats. The seats, and seatbelts in a vehicle are designed to fit an adults body, and as a result, are not correctly proportioned to provide good belt fit to a child. You can buy booster seats that are simply the cushion part. This i-Size high-back booster seat is approved to the latest regulations, and is suitable for use with children between 100 and 150cm tall, which is around age three to 12 years. Some have ‘horns’ that help the car’s adult seatbelt to sit across your child’s tummy. We are so happy that we have found another alternative – a BubbleBum booster seat! Crash test dummies These are wired up to record the crash forces on the most vulnerable parts of the body, and accurately indicate the risk of injury a real child could have in a crash. Find out more about car seat law in the UK. A booster seat works by raising the child up to a level where the seat belt can be positioned in the manner it would be on an adult… across the chest and pelvis. The BubbleBum booster seat is inflatable or ‘blow up’, but it’s not like those novelty inflatable hammers that you used to get at the state fair. This includes all models of the following both as a harness seat and a belt-positioning booster seat, Extend2Fit® 3 … The BubbleBum has been fully crash-tested, and meets and exceeds USA and EU booster seat safety regulations R44/04 & FMVSS 213. Existing seats not affected by new rules It has a nice sitting position and a large, well-padded seat, plus it doesn’t take up much room in the back of your car. Some seats in this category have Isofit connectors, rather than Isofix, They're similar but are more like soft latches, or hooks that attach to the anchor points in your car. A2: Inflatable car seats are suitable for children ages 4-11 years old and up to 57 inches tall. Some may also be using an extended rear-facing seat, which will keep your child rearward facing until they're 105cm tall. Some booster cushions have performed so badly in our crash tests, the results meant the score was instantly downgraded to a 0% Don't Buy – our lowest possible score. This is what’s known as a high-back booster seat. Some booster cushions are approved for use with children weighing 15kg or more, but any new ones on the market can only be used with children weighing more than 22kg, and taller than 125cm. The BubbleBum front-facing, backless booster seat fits a 40 to 100-pound child. The booster seats we've tested have not proved as safe in our crash tests as high-back booster seats with a full-length back and 'wings', as these provide extra protection for the head and chest in a side-impact crash. You can understand more and change your cookies preferences here. Our blow up booster seat has been tested and re-tested, including extensive crash testing and found to exceed the strict USA and EU booster seat safety regulations R44/04 & FMVSS 213. This invention relates to children's booster seats, and in particular to inflatable booster seats. We do a similar thing for car seats, and feel this more accurately reflects what could happen in a real crash. Mifold – is it safe? Find out when you can use them, plus all you need to know about high-back booster seats – including our top five. Buy your BubbleBum here on Amazon: http://rebrand.ly/bbamz, Further information on the safety standards we exceed can be found here, US Patent No. The BubbleBum inflatable child seat booster has been flying off the shelves Operational in seconds, it's suitable for children aged four to 11 Many airlines … A child in a rear-facing car seat may only ride in the front seat if the airbag is turned off. Some booster cushions are approved for use with children weighing 15kg or more, but any new ones on the market can only be used with children weighing more than 22kg, and taller than 125cm. We’ve tested a handful of multi-group seats that convert to a backless booster seat in Group 3 mode, and these are Don't Buys because of their poor crash-test results, especially for side-impact crashes. It meets federal motor vehicle safety and CPSC standards, and is compatible with lap and shoulder seat belts. Booster seats are backless cushions that you can use as a child car seat. BubbleBum Inflatable Backless Booster Car Seat We purchased the BubbleBum Inflatable booster seat for both kids expressly for travel. It’s easy to fit, and you can install it using the adult seatbelt and Isofix, which means it stays secure in the car even when not in use. From 1 March 2017 backless booster seats can now only be used with children taller than 125cm and weighing more than 22kg. mifold comfort is ideal for everyday use and compact enough for every adventure! The Bubble Bum Inflatable booster is the original inflatable car booster seat, created for kids ages 4 – 11 years old, weighing 40 – 100 lbs. This seat is inflatable, which makes it perfect for taking anywhere and everywhere: the cinema, a football match, restaurants, on holiday, or for just general rides in the car. For this reason, we believe that blow up booster seats are not only safe, but also indispensable. However, backless booster seats made and bought before this date are still legal and approved for use by children weighing between 15 and 36kg. Avoid using a backless booster cushion with young children if at all possible, especially those weighing less than 15kg (around three years old). 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