What a LIFESAVER!

I know it sounds like a bad pun when I say that this carseat is a lifesaver, but it definitely is. I had reached a point with my two-year-old son that I began to dread outings. It's not that he was bad while we were out, or even that he was bad or cried in the car. I HATED the fight to get him into his carseat.

Being a relatively safety-minded mom, there was no way I was going to let him ride in the car without a carseat, but his convertible carseat for children 20-40 pounds was becoming an extremely tight fit for a kid who weighs a mere 30 pounds.

The type of carseat he had was the one with the guard that came down over his head an buckled between his legs. I felt the safest with this type of seat since the buckle release was relatively unreachable for his curious little two-year-old fingers. However, it also became impossible for us to latch. For some reason, my svelt little son has a bootie on him that was a bit too perky for that make of seat. Every time I buckled him in, he'd scream bloody murder, and I'd be very concerned about the probability of any grandchildren in the future, if you know what I mean.

I was simply beside myself, but couldn't think of a solution, as booster seats are supposed to be for children 40 pounds and up, and I assumed that he would be devoured by the enormity of one. I had a bit to learn.

While out Christmas shopping, we happened to wander through Baby Depot at Burlington Coat Factory looking for baby items for my seven-month-old nephew. Aidan (my son) was restless, so I let him out of the stroller to stretch his legs. As we walked through the carseat aisle, headed for baby toys, Aidan made a beeline for this seat which happened to be sitting on the bottom of the display. He plopped his little bottom down in it, slid his drink into the cup holder, and refused to budge.

It didn't even strike me at first that this was the seat we needed. My goal to was to shop for my nephew. Aidan then leaned over and patted the ground next to him, signaling for me to sit down and relax with him. he really liked this seat. I sat and rested a bit while trying not to get trampled by holiday shoppers, and took a good look at the seat.

It had a good look to it. The center of the seat has a light blue velveteen background with simple pastel checked design, and the edges are a dark blue suede-like fabric. I had to do my trusty mommy padding testing, to make sure that it wasn't made like a rock, and it passed with flying colors. It actually felt comfy. No wonder he liked it.

But would he fit in it? I assumed that all of the straps would be too long to confine him snugly, but I immediately saw how easily the straps were adjusted, and how painless it was for BOTH of us to buckle him in. I couldn't believe he was just sitting there letting me buckle him in. There is both a chest clip and a lower Y-shaped fastener that buckle this 5-point harness system. Of course, I was immediately concerned that Aidan would unsnap himself as soon as we got him buckled in as the fasteners are within his reach. I took it as a challenge. "Okay Aidan, unbuckle it. Can you get yourself out?" He couldn't.

SOLD!

As soon as we got out to the parking lot, I installed the seat in my car. I had no use for the new seat harness as my car is a 1993 model and the anchors were not being installed back then, so I tossed it in my glove compartment in case we were to ride in a newer car. I was amazed to see how much more snugly this seat fit into my sports car's bucket seats. It's almost like it is part of the seat.

The best part of the night was when Aidan climbed himself up into the seat and slid his arms through the straps, ready to be buckled in...without a scream. His only request was that we move the cup holder to his left side, which was a 2-second fix with this booster seat's adjustable cup holder. I'm jealous, I don't even have a built-in cup holder in my car!

The purchase of the Century Brevera Ascend was definitely worth it. We now have tantrum-free walks to the car, and effortless buckling in. What a lifesaver!