Product Description

Designed to accommodate children between 33 and 100 pounds, this comfy toddler seat is lightweight, portable and perfect for carpooling or transferring between cars.

Features:

• Convenient cupholder for holding drinks or snacks
• Shoulder belt positioner works on both sides
• Lap/shoulder belts required
• Premium, washable air mesh fabric
• Molded plastic base covered with removable, washable fabric pad
• Extra-wide seat base for stability

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #715 in Baby Product
• Color: Pewter
• Brand: Combi
• Model: 8820-66
• Dimensions: 18.30" h x 17.20" w x 11.10" l, 5.70 pounds

Features

• Lap shoulder belt required.
• Extra wide seat.
• Shoulder belt positioner works on both sides.
• Molded plastic base completely covered with washable fabric pad.
• Lightweight and portable for carpooling.

Customer Reviews

Good seat, bad shoulder belt adjustment
I bought the 2006 model of the Combi Dakota, and I love it. I gave it to the in-laws so they would have a booster seat to chauffeur the little one around, and they love it. My father-in-law was actually gushing about how easy it was to install and use (my father-in-law does not pay compliments lightly). You can quickly and easily adjust the shoulder belt with this seat. The shoulder belt adjuster pulls the shoulder belt down a couple of inches so that it fits over your child's shoulder and not over your child's throat. The 2006 model has a really nice plastic fold-and-lock clamp with a cord that can be adjusted by pressing a single button. Just press the button, slide the adjuster up or down the cord, release, and you're done (the child can be in the seat when you do this). The cord can be moved to the left or right side of the booster seat (unsnap the cover, move the cord, re-snap the cover). The seat is small and sturdy enough to throw into a duffel bag and check it in with your other luggage when you fly so you'll have a booster seat at your destination. When I did this on a recent trip, my in-laws made absolutely certain that I would return this seat to them because they didn't want to mess around with some other seat. So now in 2007, I purchased (and subsequently returned) a second Combi Dakota booster seat.

If you click the purchase button, you will be buying the 2007 model. Not as good as the 2006 model, not by a long shot. The shape is mostly the same. By thumping on it, it sounds like the two models are equally sturdy. The big (HUGE) difference is the shoulder belt adjuster. Like most booster seats, you use your car's lap and shoulder belts to strap in the kid. The 2007 model replaces the cord with a strap that comes up through the center back of the seat. It's a thin strap, so maybe your young one won't feel the strap behind his back. The adjuster clamp was replaced with a simple molded plastic clip. Inserting the shoulder belt into this new style clip is hard enough, but adjusting it is time consuming and tedious. To adjust the height of the shoulder belt, you must remove the shoulder belt from the clip, loosen the booster seat's strap from the clip, and then tug at the strap literally six different directions to make your best guess as to how far the clip should be adjusted, and then some how hold the strap at this position while re-tugging the slack out of the strap. Re-insert the shoulder belt into the clip. Repeat this procedure until you get the shoulder belt adjusted over your child's shoulder. Repeat this procedure if another child uses this booster seat. Repeat this procedure if you move the booster seat to another car.

You can see the 2006 user's manual at the Combi web site (combi-intl). I could not find the 2007 user's manual on their site. The 2007 user's manual that came with the 2007 booster seat had illustrations of the new adjuster strap, but the verbal instructions adjacent to the illustrations still describe the clamp and cord used in the 2006 booster seat. This makes it sound like you can adjust the 2007 model by simply pressing a button and sliding the adjuster up and down a cord (this is not true for the 2007 model). Print out the verbal instructions above and paste them into your user's manual (should you choose to purchase this seat).

There's no way I'm going to use the 2007 model. There's NO WAY I'm going to give this seat to my in-laws. Whenever we fly with our child, we will borrow back the 2006 booster seat.

The 2006 model was made in Romania. The 2007 model is made in China.

Fits where other boosters don't
Most booster seats are very wide in the back. Not this one, it tappers to the back making it well over an inch narrower in the back then other seats. This makes it possible to put three booster seats next to one another, and the three kids can all buckle themselves. With other booster seats, the back edge of the booster seat ends up over the top of the seat bucket, and/or the kids can't get their hands between the booster seats to buckle themselves. This booster seat works between two regular car seats, and the child can still buckle them self. If you have to put a lot of kids in one car, this is the booster seat to get.

Not narrow at all, decent seat though
We were very disappointed in the size of this seat not the quality. Quality seems fine but I don't know what kind of car the reviewer owns who said you can put three of these in a back seat but they were way off base. We have a simple Cosco High rise and it is at least 2 inches narrower than the Combi, we also have two Britax Parkway and a third combination seat (can't remember the type). Our cars are a Volvo V70 and now a 2006 Honda Civic. We can get two Parkways and the combination seat in the back of the Civic. We bought the Combi (to replace the High Rise as it looked more comfortable) for short trips. Although two Parkways fit, it is difficult to fit the head rest (when 3 seats are in the back) for one of the Parkways when it is extended for our oldest daughter. The bases widths are not the issue with this configuration.

The Combi however is widest of all the seats we own now and pretty much useless to us because it is so wide. The seat is built well and comfortable enough but definitely don't buy it because of the one review saying it is narrow.