Is this all because RyanAir is charging £20 to bring a carseat on a plane? Where are all these Britons going without their carseats, anyway?
It turns out inflatable booster seats are proliferating across England faster than CCTV cameras and poorly thought-out government database surveillance schemes.
Here's a question, though: Does using PayPal to buy a [government safety standard-certified!] car seat from a start-up feel somehow different from heading down to the big box store to choose a hunk of plastic made by an unaccountable international conglomerate whose lobbying power has kept government regulators at bay for decades? Or is it just me?
Bubble Bum Booster Seat, £25 in the UK [bubblebum.co.uk via jan from loopfietwinkel.nl]
I have never taken booster seats on holiday - since the children came out of their baby seats i have relied on car hire companies as you have so much to bring with a child anyway. It is not starting to get much more expensive to hire seats abroad and the last two years we have had problems with them not having seats and them being below standard.
i bought these a few months ago and they are great. Not only are they better for travelling, they are more comfortable and cheaper too. I take my hat off to the inventor - only wish i had thought of it first!
I have been thinking about switching to a booster seat, but am very confused. Are they just over the top pillows? Or is there more too them.
BTW: For the last two years (daughter now 3) we have been using the
Eddie Bauer Portable Car Seat B Collection. It is awesome for traveling.
Thankyou for your valuable feedback on Bubblebum.
Our objective is child safety and being a mother myself I understand the difficulties that one can encounter when travelling or simply picking an extra kid up from school. Being a mum/dad we are not made aware that children are 70% safer when travelling by car using the correct child restraint. A booster cushion is not only to raise the child up but to position the seat belt correctly ie across the lap (on the bony part of the hips at the top of the thigh) and across the chest, not the throat and neck. With a cushion alone, there is a risk of submarining.
If our Bubblebum can help mums and dads to protect their child for a journey that they may have taken without a car seat then our job is well done.
We are trying to have the law changed in the UK to remove any exclusions in the use of Booster seats and group 1 car seats, as we have discovered that it may prevent as many as 1000 injuries to children over the period of 1 year.
We are not lobbying for parents to buy the product, but to use 'a' booster seat as we feel that many parents are unaware of the dangers and do not intentionally place their child at risk.
I do hope you find this helpful.
Grainne Kelly
Bubblebum (UK) Ltd