Sunshine Kids Monterey Booster Seat: Fit for a king

Our 4-year-old has a bit of a superiority complex.  It’s Owen’s world — and we’re all just living in it.  His sense of self hit a frightening new high recently when he saw an episode of the Backyardigans that featured Pablo (his favorite character) as a king, and now — you guessed it — he wants to be addressed as ‘the king.’  King Owen has been barking orders left and right, and among his many requests was a throne.  While we resisted the urge to tell what we really thought, we recently received the Monterey Booster Seat from Sunshine Kids, and thought it just might do the trick.  Transitioning Owen to a booster seat from the convertible seat has been no small task and we’ve struck out on more than one occasion for various reasons, but not so with the Monterey.  King Owen has been holding court in it daily.  It is so big and comfy, with lots of convenient touches, that it looks and feels as though it was fit for a (toddler) king.

The Monterey ($130; available in red, gray and pink), first and foremost, employs fantastic safety features.  The head wings are large — which I personally love. I know some children/parents have an issue with big head wings because they block the view out the side window, but to me the trade-off is a no-brainer.  Give me better protection for my child’s head and neck in the event of a side impact collision over a grumpy toddler with a partially obscured view any day.  I know at first Owen wasn’t very happy about the the head wings but he adjusted and now it’s a non-issue. 

Speaking of side impact, the Monterey features additional protection in its extra deep sidewalls.  The seat quite simply cradles Owen on all sides, effectively wrapping him in energy-absorbent EPS foam.  A reinforced seat bottom is lined in EPE foam, serving as a great anchor.  In lesser seats, a child can slide out from under the lap belt in an emergency braking situation but because the seat pan of the Monterey is angled the lap belt stays positioned low across your child’s pelvic region, exactly where you want it to be.  Integrated, optional LATCH connectors with a front adjuster allow for an even more secure installation. The Monterey is Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213 compliant; To read a .pdf report of how the Monterey performed in crash tests, click here.

Now, on to comfort!  The safety features are what attracted us to the Monterey, but what makes the booster so attractive to King Owen is how easy it is to customize the fit of the ‘throne’ exactly to his dimensions.  It is expandable to not only accommodate children of varying height, but also of varying width, for the wings and side walls can be extended outward all the way to 20-inches.  Because the Monterey is rated to safely carry children up to 63-inches tall and weighing 120-pounds, this ability to adapt to the growing shape of a child — no matter which direction they’re growing in — is a great feature, even when the high back is removed and the seat is used as a backless booster.  In addition, the headrest is adjustable to twelve (that’s right, twelve!) different positions with 7-inches of vertical movement.  Still unconvinced? The Monterey offers two recline angles.  The fabric is a soft microsuede combined with a nice breathable, washable mesh. Owen is prone to sweating and used to sweat profusely in his convertible car seat, but not so with the Monterey, even now that the weather has turned warm.

Last but certainly not least, my husband’s favorite feature of the Monterey:  The dual, extra-deep cup holders.  His own cup holder broke last year and we’ve yet to replace it.  Now he needs only to reach behind the passenger seat for easy access to his water bottle, while our son still has his own cup holder for a juice box or sippy.  Even King Owen can share a cup holder when there are two to go around. 

No matter what the size of its occupant, no matter what the season, this is a booster seat that is a winner.  We’ve been extremely pleased with the Monterey; It has the safety features that matter to us, while at the same time keeping Owen so comfortable he’s content to just sit back and enjoy the view, instead of fidgeting with the seatbelt or squirming in his seat.  With the added bonus of being able to accommodate him as he grows upward and outward, we know we’ll get years and years of use from the Monterey.

To purchase, click here.