Diono Monterey XT Fix Expandable High back Booster Car Seat with Expandable Height and Width, Group 2/3 (4 to 12 Years Approx, 15-36 kg), Gray Dark

Product Information

The diono Monterey XT Fix Booster Car Seat is a forward-facing Group 2 and Group 3 car seat which means it is suitable for children who weigh between 15 – 36kg (generally aged between 3 and 12 years old and up to a maximum height of 150cm tall). Flexible features

Instructions: 2/5 stars because the instruction manual can be difficult to find. (It comes inside a cloth sleeve attached to the bottom of the seat).The other folding booster seat in our family’s fleet is the the hifold by mifold. You can read my full hifold review for tons of info. While the Monterey 5iST FixSafe is about making a traditional booster seat more compact and somewhat more travel-worthy, the hifold puts the travel aspect first.

Remember: Kids aren’t ready to ride with the seatbelt alone until they can fit properly. That’s usually between 10 and 12 years old. Sadly we see many more serious injuries in school age kids riding in the seatbelt than in young kids in car seats. This booster has better crash test analysis results and is super comfy, it is somewhat heavy, but the price is good Engineered with our most side impact protection - our rigid shell is reinforced with 8 layers of high-impact aluminum and EPS energy absorbing foam, to protect the head, shoulders, and torso.

Overall Thoughts

While the Monterey 5iST is going to work for nearly kids until they are done with boosters, the Baby Trend tops out at 100lbs and 57″– fine for some kids in some seating positions but not universal. One nifty aspect of the Baby Trend is the super flexible positioning for the seatbelt: the shoulder belt can go either over or under the arm rest depending on what gives a better fit and the shoulder belt guide can be in one of three positions. The Monterey XT includes lower anchor connectors. While they aren’t required for use, they do secure the booster in the vehicle when it’s not in use. They also secure the bottom portion of the booster in place when the child is climbing in and out. But there’s no clear winner between these two products, they’re just different beasts. To get the tiny fold, it requires a lot more fiddling and a multi-step adjustment process every time you unfold and set it up. In exchange for weight, the hifold doesn’t have lower anchors and doesn’t feel nearly as sturdy. The underside of the bottom is not smooth and could cause wear on your vehicle seat over time if you don't use a protective mat. While some might argue that the quality is on par with the lower price, at least one competitor scored higher for quality and costs less. Should You Buy the Monterey XT? The lower anchor connectors are upside down compared to the lower anchor connectors on most other car seats. This is intentional, there’s no need to flip them over. Adjustable Headrest and Side Wings

A collection of posts taking part in the Me and Mine photography project; a monthly family portrait to treasure and to capture the memories Me and Mine The Monterey XT fits his frame perfectly. We can adjust the side wings to give his shoulders more room, and the internal width of the seat pan is a generous 12.5 inches wide, giving him plenty of room to maneuver the seat belt into position and ride in comfort. The depth of the seat is 14 inches — enough to keep even long-legged booster riders well supported. These are both great booster seats and they work as different tools in our family’s toolbox. Diono Monterey 5iST vs Baby Trend PROtect 2-in-1

Some kids at the top of the size range may find that the seat doesn’t offer quite enough support for their thighs, which can cause them to move out of the ideal position. Usually we don’t want more than a few inches of unsupported thigh. Our team asked, how do we simplify travel, so parents and children can take safety with them wherever they go? Diono won prestigious iF DESIGN AWARDS in product design for the Monterey® 5iST FixSafe™ chosen by the 98-member jury, made up of independent experts from all over the world in 2021 and 2022. In addition to the stated limits, there are some physical limits that come into play with booster seats. On the small end, we found that our younger child didn’t get a good fit in her other Diono booster seat until she was around 43″ since she’s more legs than torso. Fortunately the 5iST gets a lot smaller! I think she would have been just fine around 40″ since the lowest belt guide height I measured is 13.5″. You can see here how the 5iST compares to its cousin the Diono Monterey 4DXT in their smallest sizes. These lower anchor connectors are attached to the seat differently from those that are used for installation on harnessed car seats. They look like they are upside down and it will feel strange to install them this way, but it is correct.