Although there are those who choose to move their children from a front-facing seat directly into a vehicle seat, the NHTSA doesn’t recommend this.

It is safer to put your child in a booster car seat for as long as possible before they can use the seat of your car. Fortunately, there are many to choose from. In fact, there are so many that it can be overwhelming to choose. So, we decided to make things easier for you.

We did our research and came up with this review of the best booster seats. In order to come up with a thorough review, we sifted through thousands of booster seat reviews, NHTSA ease of use ratings and consumer reports.

These seats have all been proven to be safe, comfortable and easy to use. They also have high weight and height limits to make sure that you can use them for as long as possible. This list is composed of booster seats that can be used in two modes.

Most of them have a removable back that allows them to be used as either a high-back booster or a backless booster car seat. There are also those that come with a harness and other accessories that make it more comfortable for your child.

What To Look For In A Booster Car Seat

Before you begin your search for the perfect booster car seat, a few things need to be considered…

Have you checked the child safety section of your vehicle owner’s manual? There you might find some relevant information like belt and seat features, which will help you decide the size and model that best suits your child.

The next thing to consider is the compatibility with your child’s needs. How tall is your child? And how much do they weigh? The standard booster seat weight capacity ranges from 100-120 pounds and the standard height capacity, 57-63 inches. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), children should stay in a booster seat until the lap belt lies snugly across the upper thighs (not stomach) and the shoulder belt fits across the shoulder and chest instead of crossing the neck or face. The typical booster seat age is approximately between age 8 and 12, which is usually when your child reaches the right height for a booster seat.

Now that we’ve considered these important points, we can finally look at what features make up the best booster car seat.

Safety Rating. The NHTSA rates all booster seats on how easy or difficult a product is to use and includes detailed notes based on real life experience. In addition, Consumer Reports compile information such as features and specs. It is always a good idea to first narrow down your options to ten functional and reliable products and then look them up on the NHTSA and Consumer Report website. Luckily, we’ve already got 10 outstanding products here that will most likely meet your requirements. But we still recommend that you check them out on the two sites above just to help you narrow down your choices to the safest booster seat that works best for you.

Safety Features. When it comes to combination and high-back booster seats, you should look for the right side-impact protection and energy-absorbing foam. Another good feature to look for is the LATCH system. This will help keep an unused booster seat from becoming a projectile object and driving hazard.

In case you’re wondering, LATCH stands for Lower Anchor and Tethers for Children and are harnesses that most child car seats are equipped with that can be either push-on, hook-style, or rigid lower anchor connectors. These devices should be attachable to the lower anchors embedded in the crease of your vehicle seat. According to an article by Consumer Reports, all cars built after 2002 have these LATCH anchors. They also recommend that because they have a weight limit, when the combined weight of your child and car seat exceeds 65 lbs., you should install the seat using your vehicle’s own seat belt.

Easy-to-Use Harness or Belt Guide. Your child is probably at the age now when independence is beginning to blossom. A booster car seat could be good practice for them because in an ideal situation, they should be able to buckle themselves into the seat on their own. The only way this can happen, though, is if you make sure that there are marked belt paths that allow the seat belt to operate normally and safely. And that probably shouldn’t stop you from double checking, but it’s always nice to see your little one growing up.

High-back or Backless. That is the question. High-back booster seats are usually the more recommended of the two due to its superior shoulder belt positioning and side-impact protection. Backless booster seats are appreciated for their portability and ease of installment.

As you can see there are many different things to consider, but it really depends on what is most comfortable for your child, which leads us to our last point. Be sure to take note of the store’s return policy for booster car seats before making your purchase as checking the fit of your booster seat is really important. Most stores should allow you to return the booster seat if it is not compatible with yours and your child’s needs; and if not, we wouldn’t trust it.

Best Booster Car Seats At A Glance

Before we delve into a detailed discussion on the different kinds of booster car seats, below is a brief overview of the car seats that we think you might want to take a quick look at.