Mothercare Dream booster seat

Shortly before my daughter turned 4 years of age we decided to get her a booster seat for the car. Her forward facing car seat (group 1) was getting far too small for her, so we headed down to Mothercare. The booster seat we decided on was the Mothercare Dream Booster Seat.

The Mothercare Dream Booster Seat is made of tough durable plastic and has a padded cover which covers the plastic. This makes the seat really robust but not uncomfortable to sit on. We've had no complaints, even on long journeys.

There is no need to set up this booster seat, it's ready to go. Just pop it in the car, sit the child on top and pull the seatbelt across like you would normally. On the side of the seat is a diagram of how to use the belt if unsure. The seat also comes with a small plastic gadget called a belt guide which ensures the belt is positioned correctly over the childs shoulder.

Some car seats are a nightmare to clean as they are made with polystyrene or are awkward to take apart. The Dream Booster Seat is really easy to clean - just pop off the padded cover (which is suitable for hand washing) and give the plastic a wipe over. It scrubs up really well.

The seat is quite heavy compared to some booster seats (which ensures it doesn't move around when the car is in motion) but is actually very lightweight and easy to move around - I hate having big chunky seats that you have to fiddle around with to move between cars etc. The seat also has arm rests on either side and is very wide, which enables larger/older children to use to seat without any problems.

The booster seat is suitable for children from 15kg/33lbs to 36kg/79lbs (approx 4-11 years) and is classed as a group 2-3 seat. My daughter took a couple of weeks to adjust to the height of the seat, as her group 1 seat allowed her to sit a lot higher up in the car. The height of the seat (excluding arm rests) is roughly 4 inches, which allows my daughter a good view out of the window.

We went for the pink version, but there is a more boyish/unisex grey version available too. The pink version also features a few butterflies on the front and looks very nice indeed (little girls will be very happy!).

One downside to this seat is that it doesn't have sides or a head rest (unlike seats which have a back on them) which can be quite uncomfortable, especially when my daughter falls asleep. The Mothercare Dream Booster Seat is our main booster seat but when we take long journeys (which I know my daughter will fall asleep during) we tend to use a booster seat with a back (which we were given and didn't purchase). There is also the worry that if there happened to be an accident there wouldn't be much head/neck support. Something else which could be considered a downside is that it's quite basic and doesn't come with any extra features such as drink holders, which can actually come in very useful.

The Mothercare Dream Booster Seat is only available from Mothercare and costs £19.99, which is a very reasonable price for a good quality and reliable booster seat in my opinion. You can buy instore or online. It also comes with a 2 year guarantee.

Overall this is a robust, durable and reliable booster seat with only a few downsides. It looks good, it's the perfect height, it's comfortable on the bum, it cleans up well, you can move it around easily (but doesn't budge when in use) and is easy to use. I'm happy to recommend the Mothercare Dream Booster Seat to anybody looking for a good quality backless booster seat.

Summary: A good booster seat from Mothercare.