No more Houdini imitations!

My 2 year old was in a carseat that fit a child up to 40 lbs. It had the little plastic clip that you slid up to the armpit level to keep the belts tight around the chest. Well my 2 year old decided he no longer wanted that clip up near his chest. It started with him sliding the clip down so that when I'd get him out of the car that clip would be at his waist. Then, about 3 days after doing this, he must have gotten gutsy because I'm driving down the street and the next thing I notice is him STANDING in his carseat!!! I was so freaked out!

You would think this would be easy to remedy. Get the kid a new carseat, right? Well, it's not that simple in my family. My son has a weight problem, he is underweight. I can't keep weight on this kid. He is very tall yet VERY skinny. At almost 2.5 he is 39 inches tall but only 28 pounds. I knew, a few weeks before he started his escape act, that I needed to get him in a new carseat so I looked around, but the problem is most of the carseats have that little clip (that he can escape from) OR they are the booster seats for 35 pounds and up. My son only weighs 28 pounds.

The next day I heard that Toys R Us was running a sale on carseats, so I decided to go down there and see what they had. That is when I found this carseat. I read the specs on the carseat and it said it was a booster seat for 30-80 pounds. Well, ok my son is only 28 pounds, so onto the cell phone I go to call the doctor and get her advice. (Yes i'm a neurotic mother) My doctor said that him being in a carseat 2 pounds too "early" was probably better than him wandering around my car without a carseat at all. So I purchased this carseat.

The carseat was easy to install. The belt went right through the back of it and it took all of 30 seconds for me to snugly put the seat in my car.

This carseat has some really neat features. Unlike most other carseats this doesn't have that flimsy plastic clip, it has a strong plastic clip that actually "locks" together as part of the 5 point harness system. It doesn't easily move up and down so we have had no escape attempts from this carseat because he is snugly in there. It also has two clips that snap into a lock in the crotch area. The button to release these clips is in an obscure enough place, and hard enough to push that my son has not unlocked himself. The five point harness can also be made bigger or smaller from the front of the carseat to help accommodate bulky clothing etc. I like this feature because as most parents know it's the biggest pain in the rear to remove the carseat from the car to get to the back of the carseat to make the straps bigger.

The five point harness can be removed when the child is over 40 pounds and big enough to use adult seatbelts. When the child does have the five point harness removed, there are clips (Comfort Clips) near the top outside of the carseat, on each side, so that you can properly position an adult seatbelt.

The sides of the carseat extend out enough that a sleeping child can rest his head on them. Many of the other carseats I saw didn't have that, and I could only imagine the contorted positions the child would sleep in.

There are also, what they call, adult style armrests on this carseat that come equipped with a cup holder that can be attached to either one of the armrests.

This carseat is also approved for use on an aircraft with the harness system.

The carseat is also a snap to clean. Just today we went to McDonalds for lunch on our way home from the Dr. On the way into the car my son spilled his iced tea on the seat and it beaded up, almost as if the seat was waterproof. The specs do not say anything about it being water resistant, but I grabbed a napkin and wiped it up and when we got home it was dry and so was he.

We have used this carseat for a good two months now, and I'm very glad I purchased it. I feel much safer with my child in a carseat that has locks instead of flimsy clips. I would especially suggest this carseat to anyone with a toddler who has tried to escape from other style of carseat. But overall I would suggest this carseat to anyone in the market for a seat for a child over 30 pounds.