BubbleBum Inflatable Travel Booster Seat for Car, Portable Booster Seat for Car - Backless, Foldable & Narrow Slim Fit -Travel Car Seat for Kids 40-100 lbs - Black

This is our third Bubble Bum. We had to retire one early because a kid thought it was brilliant to poke some holes in it. The Bubble Bums are very portable, wide enough to fit the kids, but a little narrower than the super wide plastic boosters, which is a big deal for us since on some days we sit three across in two rows of our van (total of six kids in back), and no one feels like they are being unduly squeezed like we saw with the chunky seats. They inflate relatively easy with one exception (talked about below). The kids all agree they are also more comfortable than the traditional plastic booster seats. Our five year old can buckle himself with this booster, including the recommended looping through the red guides/supports/whatever you want to call them on the sides. Overall, we are happier with these than the umpteen boosters we have tried over the years. Now for the down side. First off, when inflating, there isnt a one way valve, so you have to keep blowing in the silly thing while you close the valve, otherwise it deflates when you remove your mouth. That is a huge drawback, especially if you plan on deflating and re-inflating them all the time for the advertised portability. It does allow for easy deflation, but when inflated, they dont take up that much more space. They should have come up with a different plan so you can take your mouth off and not have the thing deflate. Second thing we noticed is that the foam on the underside of the cover degraded in just two years. It starts to come apart as a powder. It is not hugely noticeable, since I only saw it when I took apart the one with holes in it, but I would expect a longer lasting foam. Third thing is an annoyance. We bought the newest one at the end of October, 2021. I looked at the manufacturing date on the new one and it reads July 8th, 2019. Great. I just got a new product that has been sitting around for 2 years and 4 months. With something they tell me should only be replaced after 4 years of use, I am wondering what 2+ years in storage has done to it already...and under what conditions it was stored. Hopefully mine was just a box temporarily misplaced and most people are receiving fresh inventory, but I was not thrilled at all to receive something so stale. So, overall, we are happy with it, but those few drawbacks make it an okay product, kind of short of the excellence I was hoping for. Short of a new, better product out there, we would probably buy another one, not because they are so great, but because nothing else seems to shine as better.

Seat works great for travel. Easy set up and storage.

It was easy to inflate and put in the car, but the seat slips around a lot. I wish it had a rubber antislip material on the bottom. I found myself holding it in place during the ride. It did give my son the extra inches to be able to safely use a regular seat belt. We only used this during travel to and from airport 15 minute drives max. Easy to deflate and store in a backpack while not using.

I like this booster as a travel booster. It is compact and easy to transport, inflate and deflate. It is very lightweight and my 6 yo likes to carry it with her. It is comfortable under her. I think it would also make a perfect car-pooling booster as it is so easy to slip in a backpack and to learn to use. I would not recommend this as an everyday booster though, or maybe just for older kids who already ride a backless booster, because the should strap moves too easily. If the kid moves in the seat (and which kid does not ?), for instance leans forward or to the side, the shoulder strap becomes displaced (there is no way to lock the position) and does not come back into place (like it would do in a high back booster). As a result, the belt is still correctly positioned on the lap but not on the shoulder, and comes too close to her neck., and I end up readjusting it or nagging my child not to squirm so much - which is unpleasant for everybody. Of course it comes without side impact protection, so again, OK if you kid is already big enough to ride a backless booster, but as for me as long as they can fit a high back booster this is what they will ride on the daily. Attractive fabric pattern.

Convenient but not for the upper limits of the seat weight range. It says it fits up to 100lbs but it barely fits under their bum! It needs to be a bit wider for the older/heavier kids to use comfortably.

UPDATE (4-STAR REVIEW): With a vacation and a rental car planned, we needed a portable booster seat, so this time I ordered two other different travel-friendly booster seats from Amazon. We required that a travel booster seat be lightweight, take up little space in our luggage, be accepted by our daughter (now age 8), and most-importantly, safe. The other two booster seats arrived and unearthed the previously dreaded BubbleBum, and let her have her choice by sitting on each in our car at home. Given the three choices, she chose the BubbleBum. We used it in the rental car during our Spring Break 2017 vacation, and she used it, no problem. So, Ive updated my review from 2-stars to 4-stars to reflect our success. My daughter would probably still prefer the seat have more of a tapered edge on the front (under her legs), so she didnt feel like she was sitting on a bubble (no pun intended), but it worked sufficiently for its purpose. I did have to check on her to make sure she was sitting upright and to the back of the seat, or else her safety would be compromised, and she needed help getting buckled-in each time, but that just took 3-minutes. Its not perhaps the most ideal item, but when traveling, you sometimes have to make due, and thats what this is. I would not recommend this for longterm use, and neither does the manufacturer. I would recommend this for short-term use while traveling. PREVIOUS, 2-STAR REVIEW: This is a great idea, and I really wanted it to be a success for my family, but it didnt work for my 7-y.o. The seat is too small to comfortably sit on for any length of time, and is much like trying to sit on a balloon. My daughter is not a big child and is actually on the petite side and it doesnt give sufficient seating area for comfort. It would be better if it was made big enough to cover a car seat more, because when inflated it was only about 12x14, or so. Additionally, she found a way to flip it up behind her and not sit on it, and Id be driving down the freeway and glance over my shoulder to find her in an unsafe position on the seat of the car, rather than the inflatable booster seat; not good. Also, without arm rests, I kept finding my daughter sitting on it in creative ways, such as turned sideways or with it up behind her back. In short, she hated it.

kept feeling like she would fall off

size is not big , only for small kids

I have two Bubble Bums and while I have a couple of qualms with it, it is still deserving of 5 stars. I travel a lot with my daughter and we use Uber a lot. The Bubble Bum, when deflated, fits in a larger handbag. We pull it out, inflate in a few seconds, jump in our Uber, buckle up, done. I recommend this seat to so many people. Here are my problems with the seat: It needs a better system for rolling up and securing with the belt strap. We’ve made it work, but this is a design flaw. After rolling up a bunch of times (probably 60+), the seat wouldn’t inflate all the way and didn’t feel as secure as it was lumpy (from the rolling). The side buckles for the seatbelt take a couple of moments to get onto the seatbelt and, while my 10-yr old can do it, my 6-yr old cannot, so plan to help the kids into the seat. Finally, I find the belt-positioning strap has to be reset every single installation (which is a lot when using 5-6 Uber’s/day). Because we also use the strap to keep the seat rolled up, it is off from th shoulder height ‘setting’ for our kid. This isn’t a flaw, just annoying. I wish there were a button, hook and loop closure, or eleastic band to keep it rolled. The bag it comes with is great for traveling. When not traveling, we keep a Bubble Bum in our car for school pick-up when friends tag along.

I like everything about this one. Not heavy, easy to clean and durable