Customer Reviews

RideSafer Car Seat Travel Vest - Size Small 30 - 60 lb and 34 - 52 Inches - Blue

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We live in NYC and use this vest when we are with our toddler and need to jump in a cab. It is perfect for quick trips around town, and lightweight enough to carry it in my diaper bag. Positives: Seems like a very high quality item, lightweight, easy to put on, easy to thread the seatbelt through the hooks. Negatives: Not a booster, so she cannot see out the window, and it is too bulky and uncomfortable for her to wear for long periods of time.

Our daughter is at the low end of the allowed size: 31 lbs and 36" and the small fits her, but she has a tendency to slip down into the vest, especially on leather seats. Because I sit in the backseat with her, I can see when that happens and I can straighten her back up, which is much safer and more comfortable for her. For this reason I would not use it on a long trip, especially if I were not sitting in the back seat with her. At least not until she is bigger and the vest fits her better.

I bought this vest to take on our trip to the Grand Canyon, because I didn't want to lug our (small for his age) 6-year-old's booster seat around in the airport. The vest fit easily in the suitcase, even with the detachable headrest. The vest fit my son well and did a great job of positioning the seat belt. However, after we started driving I began to wish that I had brought the booster.

The first problem was that my son wasn't able to see out of the car window without the booster. This was unfortunate, because we passed a lot of scenery and wildlife that he missed out on. On the plus side, it may have prevented carsickness, since he couldn't see the passing landscape. The other problem was that he didn't want to wear the vest outside of the car (I couldn't blame him, the vest is thick and stiff, and the weather was hot). Our booster has one shoulder clip to position the seat belt, which stays in place all the time, so all you have to do is buckle the seat belt. The vest has two buckles across the front to secure the vest on the child, plus a shoulder strap and two lap clips to position the seat belt. Because my son didn't want to wear the vest outside the car, every time we got in the car we had to get my son's arms through the vest, buckle the two buckles on the front, and clip the seat belt into the two lap clips (we were able to leave the shoulder strap attached the whole time). Even if he had wanted to wear the vest outside of the car it would still be inconvenient compared to our booster, because it was fairly difficult to get the seat belt in and out of the lap clips. While my son can usually unbuckle his seat belf and get out of the car by himself, he could not manage to unbuckle the vest, so the whole routine had to be done in reverse at every stop, and he was not happy to be trapped in the seat. We did a lot of stopping at scenic overlooks, so this was a big pain.

If you don't want to lug a booster at the airport, and you don't plan to be in and out of the car a lot at your destination, then the vest is great. One review I saw suggested that parents would be trading their boosters for the vest for everyday use. I definitely do not agree, though it could come in handy for the occasional carpool where you need an extra booster.

Well worth the money! Much better than other travel vests I have used, as my child really is secure in her belt, with the vest holding it in just the right places to make the seat belt work as it should! My daughter loves to wear it, as she says it looks like a space suit, and it is simple to use- just 3 quick buckles to put on the vest and then the seat belt fits as it should. She can still move and adjust in her seat and the belt is still in the right places-down low on her hips and to her side near her shoulder! I've used other products, but they look more like a seat belt in form, but do not function like this one. We live in NYC and do not have a car, but do rent and go on vacations and have used this a lot in our almost 2 years since purchasing it! The only down side is that our daughter is not sitting higher like in a booster seat to see out the window. We are looking forward to our son growing big enough to fit this, and our daughter can then wear the larger size! This was great to have on our trip to Europe and saved us from having to tote 2 car seats on the plane! I think it could be FAA approved without too much trouble if the company tried, as on the plane my daughter wasn't allowed to wear it, but without it, her plane seat belt kept hiking up around her belly when she wiggled about like normal children do.

My 7 year old is Autistic, and NOT ready to sit without a harness. but out grew all the carseats harness limits. special needs carseats for larger kids and young adults are 1500$ or more. i found this, and it has been WONDERFUL. DD didnt like it at first, but adjusted to it.

I love the vest. Seems more safe than a booster. And I need to squeeze 3 guys in the back in a month & the vest will make it easier. My son, however, is always complaining he's 'stuck' (as he should be). I do see his mobility is more limited... it is hard for him to grab & get things. Hopefully once the winter coats are gone - that will help. And once he's between 2 car seats - that'll be interesting.

This is a great option for parents who need to fit 3 children in the back of a small car and/or need a child safety restraint that can safely be used with just a lap belt and top tether. We have a 1997 Honda Civic which has only a lap belt in the rear center seat, so the travel vest is the perfect thing to fit between my twin daughters' Britax Parkways because it's narrow enough to fit and because it can be safely used with a lap belt and top tether. And since it's very compact, I can just leave it tethered between the boosters so it's ready whenever we need to transport another child. And if we need to transport another adult in the back seat, one of my daughters will use the vest instead of the booster and the adult can sit where the other booster normally sits. Also it doesn't have an expiration date so as long as it's not involved in a crash, we'll be able to hand it down to another family after my daugthers outgrow it.

My daughter is at the small end of the size limits, but is still comfortable, if a little restricted in her movements. She feels safe and doesn't seem to mind that she can't see out the window as well as before in the high chair.

I would not recommend this product. My 3 1/2 year old daughter did not like it at all. She complained that it was uncomfortable even though she fit the specifications, she somehow managed to shimmy out of it while we were driving, at one point it tore into her neck, almost choking her. It seemed so unsafe and not well designed that we wound up having to go buy a car seat on our vacation. It was a horrible experience for us, very stressful dealing with her frantic screams since she is usually very calm. It did not seem safe or well designed to us. Would not recommend. I wanted to give this NO STARS but the system wouldn't let me so I give it one star for fitting nicely in our suitcase.

At the recommendation of friends, we bought the "RideSafer, Size Small, Blue" at the beginning of the summer, because we were traveling to a number of countries over a period of a month and because taking a heavy car-seat was just not viable for us. We now use the product in taxis in our home city. Overall, we are very pleased with our purchase.

GOOD POINTS:
-- It's a very good design; after a little practice, it's really easy and quick to use. The seat-belt reposition hooks are very clever.
-- It seems to be a MUCH safer option than holding our toddler on our laps.
-- It's super easy for travel; it can easily fold into a large bag or suitcase, or even hang on a stroller.
-- It's perfect for taxis and travel, especially to countries where new, safe car-seats in rental cars are hard to find.
-- Our toddler really likes what we and she call her "space-suit."

BAD POINTS:
-- The design isn't perfect (hence the 4 stars, not 5). As other reviewers have written, it's easy for the child to slip down. Our daughter often purposely slips down as a kind of game, which is certainly dangerous. Therefore, this product should only be used if an adult is sitting next to the child at all times (which is fine in a taxi, anyway), as the vest and child will need to be readjusted a number of times throughout even a short journey. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND YOU USE THIS IF THE CHILD WILL BE SITTING ALONE IN THE BACK SEAT.

OVERALL:
-- Good product, just use with caution.

We used this 'small' sized RSTV for frequent city taxis rides during a recent trip with our 4.5 year old girl (50th percentile height) and found this to be ideal relative to other solutions out there. Just as some have already mentioned, she instantly *loved* this 'astronaut' vest (I was honestly a bit surprised, although we did get it in pink). I tried it out at home before our trip so as to be more confident at the moment of truth, and found it to be fairly quick to get your child set up with the vest on and a car seat attached to it.

It is very lightweight and folds in half or thirds to shove into a tote bag, including the detachable foam neck support (which we did bring along as this seemed to be something she liked about it - not sure the foam neck support shows in some online images of the vest).

I would recommend this to other parents whose children meet the height/weight specs and who anticipate vehicle travel without easy access to a car seat.

Although I prefer our 5-pt booster for daily use at home, I would also use this vest in a pinch if we have larger guests and really need to use all of the seats in our cars (i.e. without losing space to a regular car seat).