Lower anchors have weight limits set by the vehicle and car seat manufacturers. You can determine the lower anchor weight limit by checking the warning label or installation diagrams located on the side of the car seat. If your car seat does not have a label, you can determine the maximum allowable child weight for lower anchor use by subtracting the weight of the car seat (usually available in the car seat’s instruction manual) from 65 pounds. The booster car seat keeps your child protected and safe while traveling and grows with them from front-facing to high-back and backless boosters. Its simple and secure harness system allows you to adjust the headrest and harness in one quick motion.
Like our top-pick seat from Graco, the Chicco KeyFit 30 is tricky to install tightly without its base, since it uses an American belt-path configuration. We wish that weren’t the case, and if no-base installs are a priority for your family, the KeyFit 30 probably isn’t your graco turbobooster ideal seat. To secure the base using LATCH (see this video for a demonstration), you click the push-button LATCH hooks into the car’s anchors. And then to tighten, you pull up on a single strap located at the center of the base (labeled with the words “Pull Strap Storage”).
In booster mode, the entire base must be in contact with the vehicle seat. Despite the Liing’s compact front-to-back dimensions, it can hold an infant up to 35 pounds or 32 inches; it also works for infants as small as 4 pounds, so it’s an option for some preemie babies. The Liing comes with removable support padding that you should use for babies who weigh less than 11 pounds.
First are rear-facing baby car seats (suitable from birth to age 2 years), which are placed in the rear seat with your baby facing the back of the car. Next are forward-facing toddler car seats (ages 2 to 4 years, and no more than 40 lb.), which are similar to rear-facing seats, except positioned facing the front of the car. Finally, belt-positioning boosters are available in high-back or backless (ages 4 to 8 years, or up to 4’9”), which elevate your child on a higher seat while using the standard seat belt. This slow, but secure progression helps your baby gradually grow into a seatbelt safely. For meeting all these stages, try a car seat that transitions from one step to another, such as a convertible car seat. This allows the car seat to grow with your little one, which creates a smoother transition and is more cost effective.
Your baby will be ready for this larger, five-point safety harness seat once they’ve outgrown their infant seat’s height and weight limits (usually around 30 inches or 30 pounds); this will likely happen at any point between 6 months and 2 years of age. Once you transition to the convertible seat, you’ll start out with a baby or toddler sitting graco turbobooster in it rear-facing and eventually end up with a much bigger kid riding in it forward-facing. Getting the hang of convertible seats can be daunting—what with their various installation modes and positions, multiple seat belt paths, and safety tethers—which is why we set out to find the models that are the simplest and safest to install and use.
In sedans, these are usually located above/behind the vehicle’s back seat on the rear shelf. In some larger vehicles such as vans, pickup trucks, and SUVs, these tether anchors may be found on the back of a vehicle seat, on the floor, the ceiling, or other location. Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions.