The First Years: On the Go Booster Seat Review

My husband and I learned early on with our first baby; always have a travel booster seat/highchair in the car with you!  It has saved us on many occasions.  We love The First Years: On the Go Booster Seat, as you will not from my glowing review. In fact, we love it so much, we use it in our house for the kids (at our kitchen table) when they are too big for a highchair, but not quite tall enough to sit comfortably at the table with us! And we keep one in the car, just in case.  I can’t tell you how many times we have shown up to a BBQ at a friend’s house, or maybe a “hole in the wall” burrito place and there wasn’t a highchair in sight.  No problem for us! Simply find a stable chair, and take the 10 seconds it takes to install the On the Go Booster and you are all set.  The best part (in my opinion) of the On the Go Booster is that there are 2 straps for security; one that goes around the back of the chair and one that goes under the chair.  You tighten those up and really feel like the booster is completely stable and safe.  And of course there is a lap belt as well to keep baby secure in the seat.  Another super cool feature is that you can ‘inflate’ the seat portion of the booster. There is a valve that you can open and it will inflate the bottom part of the booster up to 4 inches (which can be nice when they need a little height added to their table seat!) Easy clean up too…I just wipe it clean with a wet cloth and on occasion, take it out back and shake-shake-shake the crumbs out!

The only issue I have really found with The First Years On the Go Booster Seat is that you can’t really get it completely 100% clean after months and months of use.  I definitely recommend giving it a good wipe down after each use, but it’s not really the kind of thing you can throw in the washing machine.  It doesn’t really bother me that it gets a bit ‘dingy’ after time because I know it’s clean, just worn in a bit.

From what I can tell, this booster seat is made mostly of foam (inside) and vinyl (cover).  And plastic for the strap-clicker things.  Probably not the most ‘eco-aware’ item in the world.   Also, I found a discouraging article from 2009 here: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/04/22/hasbro-mattel-lego-best-other-toy-makers-in-climate-actions/, which noted “Most companies in the toy and child equipment industry, however, received a failing grade, with only five companies scoring any points at all on a scale of 1 to 100, according to a press release. The survey takes into account 22 criteria that measure a company’s efforts to address its climate footprint, reduce its emissions, support (or block) progress on climate legislation and communicate climate change efforts clearly to consumers.” In this survey, 8 companies received a score of 0, including Chelsea & Scott, the parent company to One Step Ahead (maker/distributor of the First years On the Go Booster Seat).   There was no further information on their website speaking to their environmental policy, but the information I did find elsewhere made me rethink more purchases from their company without more research first!

• Eco-Awareness:
  
• Luxurious:
  
• High-Design:
  
• Good Value for your Money:
  
• Good Gift:
  
• Appropriate for Ages:
  1-2 yrs old