A friend of mine wondered why I added this item to my baby shower registry. “You’re not going to use this for quite some time. Why get it now?” My answer to her was simply that time flies and we’d need a booster sooner or later. I figured I’d pull it out when my daughter reached about 6 months and just store it in our car for emergency, high-chair-deficient situations. Plus, since we tend to eat in the living room, I had a hunch we’d get more use out of this booster than out of the bulky Peg Perego high chair my husband bought from a coworker.

THE BASICS
The Safety 1st On the Go Fold-Up Booster is a compact, folding booster seat for use with children aged 6 months to 4 years (maximum weight 50 lbs.). It is made of a hard, durable plastic and is green and blue with a yellow, dishwasher-safe tray. There is a flat storage compartment on the back of the seat that can hold small items such as bibs or spoons.

The chair itself has a straight back and a three-point harness with retractable straps to hold children firmly in their seat. The leg part of the buckle strap is padded but the waist belt is a simple woven nylon.

The booster is held in place by two straps that buckle beneath just about any kitchen or dining room chair. The straps store inside the seat when the tray is clicked into its storage position. The Safety 1st On the Go Fold-Up Booster is adjustable to two heights via a set of legs that fold up when not in use. This booster can be used with or without its tray.

MY EXPERIENCE
My original hunch was correct. We’ve hardly ever used our pricey high chair. I didn’t start introducing solid foods to my daughter until she was about 6 or 7 months old and even then, it was an occasional treat. She was about 10 months old when I really started feeding her on a regular basis and that’s when this booster earned its worth in our house and on the go.

I did keep it in our car starting from when my daughter turned 6 months old. When we’d go out to someone’s house, there was no need to worry. If we went to a restaurant, I was prepared in case there weren’t any high chairs. This booster has made traveling to grandma’s house very easy. It’s relatively lightweight (maybe 10 lbs.) and it is easy to tote around. Once the tray is snapped into its storage position, this seat measures approximately 14” x 10” x 6”. It even has a built-in cupped handle.

Setup is fairly simple. The tray unsnaps from the bottom of the booster seat revealing the chair straps. The back of the chair flips open revealing the harness. The chair straps wrap around just about any chair and fasten underneath. Once the straps are tight and the booster seat doesn’t wiggle, baby is placed inside, belted into position, and the tray snaps to the sides in front of the child.

The trickiest part of the setup is wrapping the straps under a chair. The straps are long enough to adjust for odd-shaped or sized chairs, but it’s hard to click things in place when you can’t see what you’re doing. On occasion, I flip the chair upside-down while attaching the booster. I have caught my fingers a few times while trying to buckle/unbuckle the straps.

Babies squirm and wiggle and hate to sit still so even with the three-point belt harness, we’ve had some issues with my daughter trying to escape. But once the tray is snapped into place, there’s no where to go. It fits very snuggly, maybe a little too snuggly. At 15 months old, there’s still some room between her and the tray, but I could see it being a problem in another few months. It might not be a big deal since this booster can be used without its tray. I'll simply just move the chair closer to the table.

The tray itself is on the small side compared to a full-size high chair tray and there is no indented cup holder. The actual eatable tray surface measures 11” x 5”, which means you cannot rest baby’s bowl anywhere on the tray if you expect your child to keep his/her hands off the food. But since it is dishwasher safe, even big messes aren’t horrible. Because of its snap-in-place sides, the tray may not fit in all dishwashers. It just barely fits in the front section of mine, but I usually just sponge down the tray.

The booster is a fairly solid construction and doesn’t have too many grooves or any soft indents so it’s not difficult to clean with a sponge and soapy water. Since the tray is small, though, you can expect a lot of mess to be on the floor next to the booster.

The first time I packed up our booster, I had some difficulty. It was hard to know which way the tray fit onto the bottom of the booster (there is only one way it works) and I couldn’t get all of the chair straps to stay inside. But it’s gotten easier with practice. I had been under the impression that the "retractable" straps were automatic with a push of a button, but there's actually a manual knob.

Although I thought the storage compartment would really come in handy, it hasn’t. We do keep a spare bib in there sometimes, but the space is just too small to be of any real use. Plus, the door of it opens very easily so it would be hard to keep anything important.

BABY’S VERDICT
My daughter doesn’t like being strapped into anything, but if you put food in front of her she doesn’t seem to mind as much. We haven’t had any real issues putting her in this booster. A couple of times she didn’t want to sit still and pushed herself forward (after being belted in), making it difficult to snap the tray in place. But with a little gentle coercion and a touch of brute strength, she sat up and I was able to quickly snap the tray in.

She likes being seated with everyone else at the dining room table when we have get-togethers. This booster (when its legs are pulled out) puts her at a good height and good distance from the table and the plates of those next to her: close enough to make her think she can get to them, but not close enough for her to snatch them.

MOMMY’S VERDICT
OK, I admit, we’re a bit unconventional. Generally, my daughter sits on my lap or on the couch to eat. Sometimes she even runs around our living room while she eats. But when I want her to sit still, I don’t pull out the bulky, hard-to-clean high chair. Instead we use this booster seat. It’s been great at family functions and even at get-togethers and holidays at my house since our high chair doesn’t fit well in at our dining room table or even in our dining room for that matter.

At 6 months old, my daughter didn’t hold herself up very well and it would’ve been nice if this booster reclined a little or if it was a little more comfortable. But since we didn’t use it often back then, it wasn’t that much of a problem. Plus, you really shouldn’t use a booster before your child can sit up properly. As for comfort, any padding would make it harder to clean. My daughter doesn't seem to mind sitting on hard plastic, so I guess I shouldn't either.

Overall, I’m happy with this booster. It’s easy to clean, easy to use (at home and on the go), and very travel friendly. I think it still has a lot of life in it, for my daughter and in the future.

FROM THE MANUFACTURER
With a compact fold and retractable strap system, this deluxe booster makes mealtime easier, both at home and on-the-go.

• Folds for travel and storage
• Two seat levels to grow with baby
• Built-in storage compartment for feeding essentials
• Convenient carry handle
• Retractable chair straps never get lost
• Three-point safety restraint with easy release buckle

www.safety1st.com


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