25 New Booster Seats Earn IIHS Best Bet Nod

With 25 new booster seats added to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s list of Best Bets for 2014, parents should have an easier time finding one that fits their child. This year, 41 new boosters were tested in IIHS’ annual booster-seat evaluations that focus on seat belt fit. However, the seats aren’t crash-tested.

Related: Too Many Parents Skimp on Booster Seat Use

Booster seats are for kids, ages 4 and older, who no longer fit in a forward-facing child-safety seat. Seat belts are made for adults, so a booster raises up children, allowing the seat belt to be positioned across their chests and laps.

To earn Best Bet honors, a booster seat must correctly position a seat belt on an average 4- to 8-year-old in most cars, SUVs or minivans. A correctly positioned seat belt sits flat on a child’s upper thighs, and the shoulder belt lies snug over the child’s shoulder. Three boosters were named Good Bets; IIHS says they provide acceptable seat belt fit in most vehicles.

The Check Fit designation was given to eight booster seats. These seats may position a seat belt correctly, but parents should try them out before buying to see if they work well for the child and the cars they’ll be used in. Five booster seats — the Diono Olympia and Pacifica, Kids Embrace Batman No Back Booster, Eddie Bauer Deluxe Highback 65 (high-back) and Safety 1st Summit 65 (high-back) — are not recommended by IIHS.

IIHS dinged the Diono Olympia and Pacifica because the shoulder-belt guides on both seats don’t properly position the belts. In IIHS tests, the shoulder belt touched the face instead of sitting on the test dummy’s shoulder and then routing the seat belt across the chest.

Cars.com recently tested Diono’s Olympia, Pacifica and Rainier convertible/booster seats. My 7-year-old son used the Pacifica as a booster seat, and we didn’t run into any problems with his shoulder-belt position. However, that’s just one experience in one car. IIHS uses four sets of conditions to test the range of seat belt configurations in passenger cars. Diono’s Rainier convertible/booster seat earned a Good Bet rating because its adjustable headrest allows parents to change the shoulder-belt guide’s position for a proper fit.

The Batman No Back booster’s lap belt fit caused it to be labeled as Not Recommended. The booster seat’s armrests, which also work to position the lap belt, push it too far out on the child’s thighs.

While IIHS only tests new booster seat models, there are a few Britax model names that may look familiar to parents who have perused this list in past years. In 2013, IIHS named the Britax Frontier 90, Pinnacle 90 and Pioneer 70 Check Fit boosters. For IIHS’ 2013 booster seat evaluations, click here. The car-seat manufacturer discontinued the seats and redesigned them for 2014. All three have earned Best Bet designations this year, thanks to an improved armrest design that correctly positions the lap belt.

“With backless Best Bet boosters retailing for as little as $25 and top-rated high-back versions starting at about $60, parents should be able to find a booster seat to fit their budget and transportation needs,” Jessica Jermakian, IIHS senior research scientist and child-passenger safety expert, said in a statement.

The full list of IIHS’s 2014 booster seat evaluations are below. Parents should note that ratings for dual-use models (those that can be used in high-back or backless modes) vary for each position. The Maxi-Cosi Rodi AP is a Best Bet when used as a high-back booster seat, but it earns a Check Fit designation when used as a backless booster.

Best Bet

• Baby Trend Hybrid 3-in-1 (backless mode)
• Baby Trend Hybrid No Back (backless)
• Britax Frontier 90 (high-back mode)
• Britax Pinnacle 90 (high-back)
• Britax Pioneer 70 (high-back)
• BubbleBum Neon (backless)
• Cybex Solution X-Fix (high-back)
• Diono Solana (backless)
• Dream On Me Turbo Booster (high-back)
• Eddie Bauer Deluxe Belt-Positioning Booster (high-back)
• Evenflo Chase (high-back)
• Evenflo Symphony 65 (high-back)
• Graco Argos 80 Elite 3-in-1 (backless)
• Graco Argos 80 Elite 3-in-1 (high-back)
• Graco 4Ever All-in-1 (backless)
• Graco 4Ever All-in-1 (high-back)
• Graco Milestone All-in-1 (high-back)
• Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 with Safety Surround (high-back)
• Kids Embrace Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (high-back)
• Maxi-Cosi Rodi AP (high-back)
• Maxi-Cosi RodiFix (high-back)
• Peg Perego Viaggio HBB 120 (high-back)
• Recaro Performance Booster (high-back)
• Safety 1st Store ‘n Go (high-back)
• Safety 1st Store ‘n Go No-Back (backless)

Good Bet

• Baby Trend Hybrid 3-in-1 (high-back)
• Cybex Solution Q-Fix (high-back)
• Diono Rainier (high-back)

Check Fit

• Dream On Me Coupe Booster (backless)
• Dream On Me Turbo Booster (backless)
• Eddie Bauer Deluxe Belt-Positioning Booster (backless)
• Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 with Safety Surround (backless)
• Harmony Folding Travel Booster (high-back)
• Maxi-Cosi Rodi AP (backless)
• Peg Perego Viaggio HBB 120 (backless)
• Safety 1st Store ‘n Go (backless)

Not Recommended

• Diono Olympia (high-back)
• Diono Pacifica (high-back)
• Eddie Bauer Deluxe Highback 65 (high-back)
• Kids Embrace Batman No Back Booster (backless)
• Safety 1st Summit 65 (high-back)

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Editor’s note: This story was updated on Oct. 15, 2015, to reflect corrected ratings for the Eddie Bauer Deluxe Highback 65 and Safety 1st Summit 65, which IIHS erroneously scored as Best Bets. Both booster seats are Not Recommended by IIHS.