Sunshine Kids Santa Fe Booster Seat, Silver

If you are reading this you are probably in the market for a backless booster. You want one with LATCH, if your vehicle can make use of that feature, so that the seat is securely attached to the car even when it's not occupied. Otherwise, with a booster that does not have LATCH, you will need to fasten the seat belt around the seat when it's not occupied so that it can't become a flying object in a vehicle crash. Boosters with LATCH are the greatest thing since sliced bread! Since new state laws require kids to be boostered longer and longer and parents drop kids off in car pool lines and don't want to have to get out and go buckle their empty boosters in, LATCH is a necessity for many.

I purchased both the Sunshine Kids Santa Fe Booster and the Clek Olli booster, which are the only two backless boosters with LATCH I could find. I'm not counting high-back boosters with removable backs that have LATCH. I strictly needed a backless booster. We kept both seats and have used them for three months now. I'll review the Olli first.

The Clek Olli boasts soft fabric and cushioning but my praise stops there. I had a hunch that the Olli wouldn't provide good leg support and that has proved true. It's very small. Clek says the seat is comfortable for kids 6-12 and I can't believe they made such a small seat depth with kids of those ages in mind. It's fine for short trips around town but I don't think my children would do well in long trips on it. The seat depth is only 12" deep and ends halfway up the thighs of my 6 and 8 yr olds, who are each about 50" tall. They look like they're sitting in a booster too small for them and both prefer to sit in the Santa Fe. The armrests on the Olli are long and stationary, which causes maneuvering a seat belt underneath and buckling up difficult. The Clek does not come with a cup holder. Overall, due to the small footprint and lack of support I felt like the Clek Olli was designed for a child who was really too small to be using a booster seat in the first place. Another discouraging factor of the Olli to me is that the LATCH attachments on the back are rigid. This can make installation easier, but if your car has LATCH components that are not centered your seat may end up covering the seat belt buckle of the seat next to it. If you want to use the booster in a car without LATCH you have to try to tuck the LATCH connector under the back seat cushion on your car. This didn't work well in one car we tried it in - the booster seat was hanging off the car seat because we couldn't scoot it any closer to the seat due to the LATCH attachments.

The Santa Fe Booster is a little wider and deeper than the Clek Olli and looks appropriately sized for my kids. It features more of an incline than the Olli so their knees are raised a bit and well-supported. The armrest is shorter on the Santa Fe than on the Olli and that makes getting the seat belt buckled much easier. The Santa Fe also comes with a fold-out cup holder, which has come in handy more than I expected it to. The LATCH connecters on the Santa Fe are not rigid, providing more play during installation (off center LATCH connectors in your vehicle's seat? LATCH the booster and then slide it over a bit so the person next door still has room to buckle), and it can be adapted well for use in cars without the LATCH system. The Santa Fe being cheaper than the Olli is just an added bonus.

The Sunshine Kids Santa Fe Booster Seat is great! We ordered it for our older child when our younger one moved up from the Graco Snugride into the convertible car seat. Our five-year-old got this new booster and loves it, its comfort, its cup holders, and especially the fact that it is pink. What I love best about it is that it has the LATCH system that you use in conjunction with the vehicle's seat belt, rather than just the seat belt alone. That way, I don't have to worry about the booster seat possibly moving around when my child gets in and out of the vehicle and, more importantly, in the event of an accident. I wasn't too confident about a portable, non-latching booster staying put under the same circumstances. It costs a little more than most portable boosters, but that difference is made up by the confidence of knowing I have done everything possible to ensure my child's safety and security while riding in our vehicle. I'm glad I found this product! I only wish there were more like it on the market.

The LATCH feature keeps the seat in place without anyone having to secure it with a seatbelt after the kid gets out, which is very helpful with a severely autistic child. It works very nicely in a captain's chair seat in our Dodge Grand Caravan.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a booster for a captain's chair seat in a Dodge Caravan.