We’ve had the Century Breverra Classic since June 2000 when my third child was born. There simply was not enough room in the rear seat of our Ford Explorer with 2 Evenflo Ultara w/ tray shield car seats and an infant car seat. The Classic can be used as a high back booster (HBB) with the harness system. After reaching the maximum limits for the harness, the harness system can be removed and the seat can be used as belt-positioning booster (BPB).

We actually have two of the Classics, one for each of our vehicles. When my eldest started preschool, my husband would drop him off in our Nissan pickup truck, while I picked him up after school in the Ford Explorer. Our truck does not have a passenger side air bag and only has the side facing rear jump seats, so my son sits in the front passenger seat. The shelf price for this seat was $80. With the use of Geoffrey rewards coupons that I received from using my Toys R Us Visa Card, I purchased this booster seat at Toys R Us for only $20.

Miscellaneous Info
~~ Aesthetics ~~
The seat cover comes in 4 different colors. We have the Jewel Tweed that has a gray and black background with specks of red, blue, and green sprinkled around it. Since the upholstery in both of our vehicles is gray, the car seats blend in very nicely. The pad also comes in an elegant Birdseye Navy and 2-tone Heron and Mallard. The covers are easily removed from the shell and are machine washable.

This seat is fairly lightweight. The plastic shell is smooth and slippery and there is a very shallow carrying handle. Both of these features make it a bit difficult to hold the seat with one hand. But you can always use the holes in the back that the vehicle seat belts go through to carry around this seat. The smooth plastic shell can be easily cleaned with a damp rag; however, dirt and whatever else my children roll around in tend to fall into the crevice that holds the crotch strap.

With a base measuring a mere 13 inches and having a gradual curving up and out of 2 more inches, this is a fairly narrow booster seat. Since there are no armrests on the side there is less chance of the sides of the booster interfering with the armrest on the vehicle door or other car seats along either side of it.

~~ Comfort ~~
I tried this seat out and found that the back and bottom padding is fairly thin as compared to our other car seats, those being the Evenflo Ultara, Century NextStep, and Fisher-Price Futura. This seat is more elevated than our other seats, so my son does get a better view outside the window. This seat also has NO side headrests at all for the child to lean their head on when they get sleepy. When he would fall asleep, my son would normally have his neck bent in such a way that it made MY neck sore just looking at him.

~~ Tether ~~
Although it is fairly standard in most car seats today to include a tether strap, there are still some on the market that do not include them. You can still purchase a separate tether strap and anchoring system that your dealership can install in your vehicle. Our Classic came with the tether and anchor system. And since our truck was already outfitted with an optional tether strap anchoring hole, my husband merely installed the anchor and bolt system.

BOOSTER WITH HARNESS
~~ Limits ~~
When using the Breverra Classic with the harness, the child must meet all of the requirements:

•Weight is 30 – 40 lbs (13.6 – 18 kg)
•Height is a minimum of 35 inches (89 cm) tall
•Child is able to sit upright unassisted
•Child’s shoulders are NOT above the top harness slots

If the child exceeds any of the weight and height requirements, you must use this as a BPB without the harness or you must find a different seat with higher weight and height ratings. These ratings are the maximum limits the harnesses and car seat shell have been tested for during a crash.

Once the child has exceeded 40 lbs, please remove the harness and start using this seat as a BPB. My 5-year-old son is currently 45 lbs and 42” tall, so he has graduated from using the harness system and is currently using this seat as a BPB.

~~ Harness System ~~
The Classic uses a 5 pt harness system. Unlike the Premier model, the Classic does not have shields attached to the tongues. Because of this, the harness DOES have a habit of twisting, causing me to spend a few minutes of untwisting the belts to keep them flat.

The 5 pt harness is one of the safest restraint systems available. The straps are positioned across the strongest areas of the child’s body that can withstand the force of an impact, these areas being the shoulders and hips. The harness straps come in two separate halves on both the left and right side of the child and go from the top of the child’s shoulders to both sides of the child’s hips and finally attach together at both the child’s chest and crotch area.

The top harness straps attach in the middle of the chest located at armpit level with a lockable harness tie. The tie comes in two separate halves and locks together. They can only be removed by pressing down on the tabs, but they can easily slide around on the straps without the harnesses slipping out from the tie. I like this tie better than the slip ties on other car seat restraints, because my child cannot remove the harness from the tie.

Shortly before we removed the harness system, my 5-year-old had finally figured out how to press the release buttons. So it’s a good thing he is now using this as a BPB.

~~ Rear Harness Adjuster ~~
I hadn’t even considered the harness adjuster feature when I bought this booster. It is an absolute PAIN to adjust because the harness adjustment is in the back. In our Explorer, we need to unlatch the seat belt holding the booster just to get to the adjuster. Luckily our Nissan truck has reclining bucket seats so we can keep the booster seat buckled in and just adjust the recline position of the vehicle seat to easily reach the adjuster bar.

To adjust the harness straps you lift the adjuster bar located at the back of the seat. To tighten the straps, pull down on the loose ends of the straps in the back. To loosen the harness, pull on the straps from the front of the seat. Lower the adjuster bar when you have desired position.

A good indication of how tight your child’s harness should be is to see if you can slide 1 finger under the harness located at your child’s collarbone level. Another way to check is with your fingers, slide the straps located at your child’s collarbone level together and pinch the harness. If you can pinch anything, the harness is too loose.

This method of adjustment greatly reduces the ease of using this seat. When you position the harness, it is only adjusted according to the type of clothing the child is wearing at the time. If the weather changes constantly and abruptly in your area, causing you to switch from dressing your child in a T-shirt to bundling them up in a sweater or jacket, this is definitely NOT the seat for you.

~~ Adjustable levels ~~
Unfortunately, there is only a single crotch strap position on this seat. But there are 2 different height levels for the harness slots that are easily adjusted. When the child’s shoulders have just passed the current harness slot level, it is time to adjust the slot level. Lift the adjuster bar located at the back of the seat and unthread the harness straps. Pull the straps out of the current slot, guide them back through the appropriate slot level, and finally rethread the strap through the adjuster bar. I have found it easier to guide the straps through the slots by going underneath the seat cover.

~~ Installation ~~
This is a forward only facing booster seat. If your child is less than 30 lbs, less than 35 inches tall, less than 1 year old, and still needs to be rear facing, this is NOT the seat for you.

For both of our vehicles, the Classic fits perfectly and installs easily. However, when we tried installing this seat in my sister’s Oldsmobile Intrigue, there was just NO WAY that we could get a tight fit. There was at least 5 inches of give side-to-side and forward that we didn’t allow my son to ride in her car. If you are planning on buying this seat, please ask a sales person if you can try the display model to see if it will fit correctly in your vehicle. The sales people at Toys R Us were very accommodating in coming out to our car with us so we could try out the seat.

You MUST use both a shoulder and lap belt when installing this seat. Therefore you cannot place this booster on a vehicle seat that has a lap belt only seat belt. There are slots located in the middle back of the booster seat. There is no front flap you can lift, but you can slip your hand under the cover to easily guide the vehicle seat belt through.

Our Explorer has Automatic Locking Retractor (ALR) belts that will automatically ratchet and lock the vehicle seat belts after you pull the seat belt out completely. Because of this, we are easily able to secure the booster until there is absolutely no give forward or side-to-side in our Explorer. Our truck uses Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) belts that will only lock the vehicle seat belt whenever you press on the brakes or during impact. Because of this, we must use a locking clip to secure the booster in our truck.

BELT-POSITIONING BOOSTER (BPB)
~~ Limits ~~
When using the Breverra Classic without the harness, the child must meet all of the requirements:

•Weight is 30 – 60 lbs (13.6 – 27 kg)
•Height is from 35 – 50 inches (89 – 127 cm) tall
•Tops of child’s ears are NOT above the top of the booster car seat

I would also like to add that the parent should determine if their child is mature enough to stay inside the seat belt. If your child is still a wiggly worm who likes to move around and take their arm out from underneath the shoulder belt, you may want to keep your child inside a harness until they are older, up to the maximum harness ratings.

~~ Installation ~~
Since my eldest son is now over the ratings for the harness system, he is using the Classic as a BPB. The harness system must be removed, which is actually a very easy process. Instead of having the vehicle seat belt threaded through the slots in the back, you must use the lap and shoulder belt across the front of your child just as you would as an adult.

For children who are still too short for the vehicle seat belt to fit properly across the shoulder, there are single position comfort clips on both the upper left and right-hand sides of the booster. You guide the vehicle seat belt through these to better position the seat belt on your child.

When using these clips, I have noticed that the booster cover tends to pull away from the shell when my child tries to reach forward. In our Explorer, we remove most of the slack from the seat belt so he has minimum amount of movement, which prevents the cover from coming off the shell too much.

In our truck, we have the sliding latch plates that allow my son to loosen the lap portion of the seat belt when he pulls on it. We use the locking clip to secure the lap portion of the belt, however the shoulder portion of the belt is still loose just as it would be for an adult. Because the shoulder belt is loose and it is threaded through the comfort clip, my son is able to bend forward and tends to pull the cover off of the shell. There are 4 corners of the comfort clip that the vehicle seat belt is threaded through. Unfortunately, the belt also tends to come out of one of the corners. As a BPB, this seat functions much better in a vehicle with ALR belts.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
You can easily order replacement parts by going directly to their website at www.centuryproducts.com. You can also call their toll-free number at
1-800-837-4044. I had questions concerning the harness system and about using this seat as a BPB. They have very friendly and knowledgeable customer service representatives that will answer any question you have about their products.

OVERALL
For its price, this seat DOES do its job of restraining our child in the car and I like the 5 pt harness system. However, the fact that this seat can only be used for children between 30 - 60 lbs (13.6 - 27 kg), it may have a shorter time of usefulness than a seat with a larger weight range. Also, the rear adjuster makes this an inconvenient seat for those who tend to change the thickness of clothing the child wears. We tend to dress our child in layers and make them take off their jackets in the car.

RECOMMENDATION
Personally, I prefer our Century NextStep MX booster seat that we purchased for our younger son. It is much more versatile in adjusting the fit to different sized children, it has a wider weight range, and it has a front harness adjuster. The Breverra Classic is rated third in its class for toddler/booster seats by Consumer Reports with an overall score of approximately 75 out of 100. The highest rated was the Fisher Price Grow with me with a score slightly over 80.

Because of the hassle involved when adjusting the harness, the narrow weight range for usage, and the fact that this seat does not fit well in all vehicles, I have to lower my rating. But since this seat does use a 5 pt harness, is more narrow than other car seats, and it does restrain my son securely in our vehicles, I recommend using the Century Breverra Classic as a safety seat for your child.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 20
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years