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

Just got back from a 4-day trip using the BubbleBum booster seats. We bought two for our 4 year old twin girls (weighing approximately 43 lbs each). We tried the booster seats out in our car first, to make sure they were comfortable. We packed them in our checked luggage and got them out at the rental car facility. Easy installation in a minivan. The girls were not able to thread the seat belt through the red clips, so we had to help them each time. They could also easily push the seat belt release, so we had to explain to them that was not safe and didn’t have any problems while riding in the car. We also had to explain that the shoulder strap needed to be across their chest for safety. (They are use to sitting in a Britax Marathon, which they can buckle-up themselves, with 5-point harness). Overall, we are very pleased with the product. Our car trips were typically 15 minutes to 1 hour long and the girls didn’t complain about being uncomfortable. They actually fell asleep a few times. We’re glad we didn’t have to pay the $10 per day, per car seat to the rental company, and we look forward to using these boosters to give friends a lift or for use in friend’s/ relative’s cars. We will continue to use our Britax Marathon convertible car seats until they reach the weight/height limits though.

Seemed like an unsafe idea at first but it’s safety rated which sold me. Traveling with it on a plane is amazingly easy and easy assembly upon arrival. No more lugging large and heavy car seats through airports again! It was such a deterrent to travel before for that reason but no longer!

So happy with this seat! Works great with my son and he loved the bright pink color.

This is an outstanding idea - and its well executed. This booster seat is incredibly lightweight, its easy and fast to inflate/deflate, its very compact when deflated (folded or rolled up), its made of quality and durable materials - and its easy on the cars interior (wont damage your seats). From the functional standpoint, this seat is small and sits a little lower than more conventional booster seats. The belt guides are sturdy and made of quality materials that shouldnt damage seat belts over time. Overall - this is a great product. Nevertheless, I need to temper the positive aspects of this booster seat with the fact this type of booster seat (lap belt guide only) should only be used with a secondary type of restraint - like a safety vest that incorporates belt guides for both the lap and shoulder belts. A great example is the Ride Safer vest system by Safe Traffic Systems. The Ride Safer vest not only properly guides both the lap and shoulder belts, its reinforced, padded and is designed to better distribute crash forces over a much larger area than what a standard seat belt is capable of. I think this is a two-way relationship as well, though. The best application of the Ride Safer vest is in conjunction with a quality (certified) booster seat like this one. I think it is important to frame an opinion, and help the reader understand the perspective from which a review is written - especially when that opinion is regarding safety equipment. I have a two-decade background in military safety, relating to both off-duty (ground) safety and aviation safety - to include mishap investigation. This experience includes investigating motor vehicle mishaps (there is no such thing as an accident). Motor vehicle fatalities account for over 30,000 deaths per year in the U.S. (33,561 in 2012*). Children account for approximately 1,200 of these deaths. While this number seems tiny compared to the total number of fatalities - the number of child fatalities per mile is comparable to adults. The exposure rate of adults is simply higher (the number of hours the average adult is on the road when compared to children - and children account for only 1/6th of the population). The number of children injured in motor vehicle mishaps in the U.S. is however staggering - approximately 170,000 children per year. One of the biggest contributing causal factors for child injuries and deaths is the child being out of position relative to the restraining device - preventing the safety equipment from restraining and mitigating the forces of the crash properly. The only purpose a booster seat serves is to better position (elevate) a child relative to the shoulder strap, to prevent the shoulder strap from riding up a childs neck and face by ensuring the proper angle of the shoulder belt (relative to the childs shoulder and neck). This angle is critical for any occupant. If the occupant sits too high relative to the shoulder belt (typically an adult or tall child), a collision can cause geometry-related secondary spinal injuries (mid and lower back) caused by the shoulder belt transmitting too much crash energy to the mid and lower back. If the occupant sits too low (typically with a small child), a collision can result in the child sliding under the shoulder belt - which can severely injure the childs neck (and face). The biggest problem with using a booster seat that only guides the lap belt is in the assumption that booster seat will keep a child in the correct position relative to the shoulder strap for the entirety of your travels (and therefore safe). If you have a kid - then you know any assumption that your child is going to stay in one position is simply not even remotely similar to reality. Kids move and wiggle around a lot, and a booster seat equipped with simple lap belt guides is not going to do anything to maintain the proper shoulder belt alignment with your precious, perpetual motion, micro human. Unfortunately, the results can be tragic. This is why I strongly believe in a certified safety vest like the Ride Safer safety vest in conjunction with a properly designed booster seat. A certified and tested safety vest physically attaches (and therefore attaches your child) to the seat belt, and the vests belt guides help ensure the childs position remains correct at all times - and the booster seat ensures there is not any excess force transmitted to the childs neck and head in a collision by providing the proper geometry of the shoulder belt relative to the vests upper belt guide. This particular inflatable booster seat is the perfect travel companion - especially with a certified safety vest. While automotive safety vests and booster seats are not certified and should not be used for air travel, they can be easily packed and used in taxi cabs, and in the event the front seat is the only available place for the child. While not optimal (a back seat is considered safer than the front seat for children), a child can safely travel with the combination of this booster seat and the safety vest in the front seat of a car, truck or two-seat sports car - and this is also legal in most states (check your local laws for specific requirements and restrictions). If this is done, you should of course ensure the child is sitting as far back from an airbag (if so equipped) as possible, or if your car is equipped with an airbag deactivation device (many cars do this automatically based on the weight in the passenger seat), then it is recommended it be deactivated for individuals weighing less than about 65-70lbs. I would not recommend using this booster seat (any booster seat) by itself in the front seat. I would only recommend the use of a booster seat in the front seat when used in conjunction with a certified safety vest that meets Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS 213). This review and my mentioning of the Ride Safer safety vest in this review were both unsolicited by their respective manufacturers. I did not receive any compensation (in any form) for my review. *NHTSA DOT HS 812 011

We went on a family cruise and needed a car seat for our 4 year old granddaughter. We just had short trips while traveling to and from airport and while at port. Worked perfectly and easy to transport.

I ordered this for a trip to Chicago with my family. My daughter is 6 years old and 48 inches tall. She still needs a booster, and I needed a portable option for uber-ing around the city. This was perfect! It positioned the belt perfectly across her lap, and the shoulder adjustment was super easy to slide from side to side for different cars (I do realize it needs a slight adjustment in this pic, which I did but did not retake photo). It also fit in small middle seats between two adults, including the center seat on the third row of a mini-van. My child needed help from an adult to buckle in properly, but my 10 and 12 year olds were able with some coaching to figure out how to help their sister buckle in. It doubled as a “booster” in restaurants with deep chairs. My daughter loved her seat and said it was comfortable. It easily inflated with just a couple breaths, and easily deflated. It helped to close the valve to keep it deflated because it will partially inflate when you open it. Once rolled up and in its bag, the booster fit in my Kavu bag with a little room to spare for other items. This seat was absolutely perfect for our trip, and I plan to keep it in my van for spontaneous play dates. The only thing I would change is to make the drawstring on the carrying bag more substantial or add a loop so that you can easily hang it from a bag with a caribiner. I ended up tying loops in the drawstring and attaching it to the outside of my bag because some days I needed the space in my Kavu for kids’ jackets. If I took a smaller purse to dinner, my husband just carried it in his hand, so some kind of handle would have been nice.

I like that this product is very, light, easy, and very handy. We used it when we travel and needs to use uber or lyft. What i dont like it is its too low a little higher and bigger would have been great. By the way my daughter used this when we went to Disney world and had to wait for the parade. She was able to use this to seat on the pavement.

We needed something for our 6 yr old for a 5 day vacation. After looking around at a few products, some very similar, I decided on BubbleBum. It worked out perfect. Its compact, fitting easily into luggage or a backpack. It installs/uninstalls very easy, with no hassle. The only issues I had, its skinny, her butt just fit onto it. My biggest issue though, the location of the mouth piece to blow it up, which sits right in the crack of the seat. Its elevated just enough to not be touching it all the time, but it does touch a very dirty part of any cab/Uber, etc, just because people sit there. I had to buy alcohol wipes to sanitize between rides. I think these should be included, just because travel does sometimes mean taxis and such. Other than that, we loved this thing. Now, I do see some reviews complaining about being uncomfortable, or whatnot with long trips and such, but the thing is, that is not what this is meant for. Its for quick, in and out uses when you have no choice and cant bring a real car seat or booster. If youre long term car traveling, just bring an actual booster.... With that said, for what this is made for, and how it is meant to be used, it works, and it works well.

Did the job for travel to the Bahamas where we took some Ubers around the area. Packed small.

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.