Travel Gear Review: BubbleBum Inflatable Booster Seat

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Photo from BubbleBum Product Page (http://www.bubblebum.co/us/booster-seat/)

On our recent trip to India, I discovered my new favorite travel accessory for my son – the BubbleBum Inflatable Booster Seat. I bought this not so we would have a car seat in India, but so that we could take Uber to the airport and save a ton of money on parking and taxis. We have recently discovered that with the addition of Uber and Lyft in Los Angeles, we can now get to the airport for half the price as a taxi. The only problem is that when we are traveling somewhere where we do not need our son’s carseat, we cannot take Uber or Lyft. Thus, began my hunt to find a suitable travel friendly replacement that would allow us back into Uber with our son.

Before settling on this seat, I checked out several other types of travel ‘carseat’ devices including the Ride Safer Travel Vest.  This seemed like a great alternative for my son’s carseat. It is small, lay’s flat and doesn’t weight too much. My hesitation with it was that he would be so low down in the seat that he wouldn’t be able to see out of the window, so the chances of him actually wanting to use it may not be so great.  And, it is quite expensive.

And then I remembered hearing about an inflatable carseat. And wahla! I found the BubbleBum Inflatable Booster. It is cheap at only $30 and can be purchased easily from many retailers. Your child needs to be between 4-11 years old, at least 40 lbs and 40 inches tall to use this booster safely. Our son was just on the cusp, but it still worked well for us.

The Pros:

– It is super light and small. It can be folded into its small carrier bag or placed flat in your luggage (our preference) for easy travel.

– It blows up quickly and easily with only a few strong bursts of air.

The Cons:

– Even though it meets all US Federal requirements for a booster seat, it does not seem to provide as much security as a more rigid booster seat does. If I was on a long road trip or driving around a lot in the US, I think for more security I would take our regular car seat.

– It is not easy to get in/out of if you are frequently getting in/out of the car. One of the attachments secures to the seatbelt and needs to be removed each time before getting out of the car.

However, for the price and convenience of this booster seat, it is a no brainer for us. This turned out to be a great purchase. Not only did we end up using it all the time in India (at my son’s preference and suggestion!), it has already saved us so much money getting to/from the airport.  And now that we are home, my husband can also use it to take our son places in Uber since he doesn’t drive. Win win!

I can already foresee us taking with us to our yearly trip to Europe, trips to NY or other metropolitan cities where you rely on taxis more often than private vehicles.  And apart from travel, I am excited to have an extra booster seat in the car so we can bring my son’s friends home for play dates as needed!

If you travel at all and need a small light weight booster seat for light car travel, definitely check this seat out.

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