The First Years Compass B540 Ultra Folding Adjustable Booster - Daisy

I purchased this booster for my almost 4 year old son when he hit the 40" limit for his convertible car seat. He is 36 lbs. I researched for hours on the web and decided to try this one. Besides comfort, it was very important for me to have side impact protection. But it was also important to find a booster that worked for sleeping toddlers where his head would not fall forward. We purchased the Graco high back booster for my husband's truck which he rarely rides in. The Graco is VERY flimsy, no side impact protection and his head fell completely forward the one time he did fall asleep in it. When the Compass arrived, I could tell right out of the box how much more substantial it was. The colors are great. We live in Florida and it's NOT black so it doesn't get hot. The side head wings are big but he can still see everything. They are great for resting his head against with lots of padding. The cupholders are great and retractible. We just returned from vacation and he...Read more

I purchases The First Years Compass B540 for my grandson for his 4th birthday. He has hip problems and spends a lot of time in the car going to skills training for Autism. I purchased this car seat because it seemed so plush and comfy. With large padded wings so that when he fell asleep he would have a soft place to rest his head. Four months later the vehicle he was in was totaled in an accident. A full size truck broadsided directly into his door, tipping the vehicle. When I arrived on scene my grandson was standing beside the car with only scratch's. From emergency personnel on the scene I was told "Great car seat grandma!" "He's fine, because of his car seat!" "I heard you bought him this car seat, I wish everyone had such a good car seat!" "Awesome car seat, its rare to walk away from an accident like this." I confess that, when I bought it, I did not know what the safety features were. I purchased this car seat because it was heavily padded, I thought for comfort. After the...Read more

Getting used with the sturdier carseats for smaller kids, I had a hard time picking a booster. They all looked shaky, lacked LATCH, just didn't feel the same. After some reading I realized that tha LATCH was really needed to hold in place the heavy seats, not the child. With the light booster the seat belt can handle the entire load.
With this worry gone, I started to look around for boosters. I never liked much the Graco ones available in Toys R us. They are very shaky, especially if you lift the headrest. I guess they would do since their only purpose is to lift the child, the rest is jus feel-good for the parent.
I got to see the Compass boosters in a store in Minneapolis once and I liked it better. The back does not move that much, even extended. With the head rest up it still has a full back rest because the whole back moves up. The seat belt guides on the headrest also look sturdier. The side padding for the head and back are also a nice safety addition.
I...Read more