Combi Dakota Booster Car Seat
Pros:
Comfortable, easy to use, easy to wash
Cons:
None that I can think of.
The Bottom Line:
This is light, easy to install, easy to use, and washes up nicely. I have no complaints.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
There comes a time in every childs life where they become too big for the car seat. Not to mention they dont want to feel or look like a baby. Unfortunately however most still need some protection in the car aside from a regular seat belt. You see seat belts are not designed for small children so in case of an accident a seat belt while helping a child to stay put in their seat can also get pushed into the child in places that are not very safe for children. Therefore a booster seat is necessary to help the child to achieve enough height to assure that the seat belt grabs them in the correct area in case of an accident.
I have 3 children, one of them is still in a regular car seat, and my other two not so long ago just stopped using their booster seats. Each of my two older children used 2 different kinds of booster seats. One of them that we have (yes I still have it, saving it for the 3rd child) the Combi Dakota Backless Booster Seat in the pewter design.
Combi Dakota Backless Booster Seat
Basically the Combi Dakota Backless Booster Seat sits upon the car seat. The child climbs inside and weaves the seat belt through the seat belt positioner. The seat belt positiioner is shaped in such a way that it hold the seat belt in place. There is a postitioner on both sides of the car seat. The booster seat is backless so the childs back rests on the actual car seat. This seat needs to be used with both the lap and the shoulder seat belts. The adjuster has a plastic fold-and-lock clamp with a cord that can be adjusted by pressing a single button. Just press the button, slide the adjuster up or down the cord, and release. The cord can be moved to the left or right side of the booster seat to do this you will need to simply unsnap the cover move it and then re-snap it. Installation is as simple as placing it on the seat. Any child old enough to use this seat can simply belt their selves in.
The seat itself is nice and wide, and it is shaped for comfort. It is shaped in such a sway that fits the natural curve and shape of the body. The seating also has nice padding for more comfort.
There is a cup holder on the side that matches the fabric. The fabric is black and gray. The fabric is breathable, and resists staining. It is easily removed by simply unsnapping it. It can be tossed into the washing machine, I do not put our in the dryer though, I just let it air dry. Since the fabric air mesh it dries really quickly on its own. If you wash the fabric before you go to bed it will be dry and ready to place back on the car seat the next day, just by leaving it lie flat.
The car seat can hold a child from 33 up to 100 pounds. There is not really a height limit since the back of the car seat is the seat. My kids were still rather short at 33 pounds and were still in the regular car seat, I think we moved them to the booster when they were between 45 to 50 pounds.
Thoughts and Experience
Both of my kids really liked this car seat. They both had a seat that they preferred. My daughter preferred this booster while my son preferred the other one, but there really was never an issue if one or the other had to sit in the other booster seat. They sat really comfortably in the booster seats for a really long time. They both stayed in them until they were 9, and they finally started to have some growth spurts.
This car seat is still in excellent condition after being used for quite a while. The material on the seating is still looking pretty good. This seat is very light and portable, and if a seat needed to be transferred from my car to someone elses this seat was very easy to move, it is not bulky or heavy. This would make an excellent booster seat to take along for air travel, although we have not done that, but it is light weight enough to carry comfortably if need be.
We never had any problems with the car seat. The whole design is very simplistic so there is really not a whole lot that could go wrong. It is also kind of attractive as booster car seats go.
At around $30.00 this booster car seat was about $10.00 more than our other booster car seat, but it is clearly the more attractive of the two and the price is still pretty good considering you will get years of use out of it.
I am happy to recommend the Combi Dakota Backless Booster Seat.