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

Thread the shoulder belt into the red guide. It’s wide enough to avoid most seatbelt retraction issues, while the little metal gate should avoid the shoulder belt slipping out accidentally. Nice! The Monterey XT’s lower anchors are not required and can only be used in vehicles where the lower anchors align directly behind the connectors on the Monterey XT. You shouldn’t use the lower anchor connectors on a booster in a vehicle seating position with offset anchors, as the booster won’t be positioned correctly for the seat belt to fit properly.

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 Diono Headrest/height adjusts from behind and may need to be done prior to installation and before the child is in the seat. 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.If you plan to use your shiny new booster seat in a taxi, Uber or Lyft on your journey you don’t even need to worry about installing with the rigid LATCH. It’s primary purpose is to avoid the empty booster seat becoming a projectile but you won’t be leaving it in the car when you’re done. How does the Diono Monterey 5iST car seat compare to other travel booster seats? The LATCH anchors on the Diono are tightened from the front of the booster which makes it easier to install than a traditional car seat. Parents of bigger littles will understand the frustration in finding a booster seat that works for their kid. Most boosters seem to have very narrow seat pans, making them uncomfortable for littles with larger thighs or bums. The Diono model weighs a few pounds less, which can be significant if you’re partial to a model that’s easy for your child to be able to carry around for carpooling purposes. For daily use my kids find the Diono Monterey 5iST to be very comfortable. My kids are spoiled by our fleet over extremely comfortable booster seats but they’re happy to ride in this one. It is a subjective matter, as some kids prefer a firmer ride or a squishier ride and different kids have different arm rest preferences.

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.Will it actually fit a kid who is my height and 120lbs? At that point it’ll depend a lot on body structure, but rest assured it does get very, very wide. As with all boosters, you need to make sure that their ears are fully contained within the booster seat. The manual states not to use the lower anchors if they interfere with the vehicle seat belt. Vehicle Headrest Required We can find the key specs and features of Diono Monterey 4DXT and Monterey XT in the table of similarities and differences below. It’s important for us to look at their specs and features before we can talk more about their key differences. 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. Car Seats for the Littles® is a service mark registered in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Donate