Invented from his own needs of being a parent of four, Jon Sumroy has transformed a simple idea into a successful product – mifold, the Grab-and-Go Booster Seat. The multi-award-winning booster seat has now sold over a million times worldwide and has brought a convenient and safe revolution to keeping kids safe in cars. One small change is the presence of those little gray triangles. They’re intended to decrease slipping on the seat when your child gets in though they were inadequate for my kids’ testing. It feels like we’re living in the golden age of innovative baby and kid gear. Brands are realizing that parents are willing to pony up for game-changing products that make life easier, and parents with ideas and know-how are getting involved in design as well.

The RideSafer is a fantastic travel companion. The RideSafer fits well in all vehicles as far as we’ve seen.

The Skinny

In the case of the mifold Grab-and-Go booster seat, this is for children aged four years old and above who weigh between 15kg and 36kg. The current regulations under which mifold is certified, does not specify a minimum or maximum height requirement. Read more: Bringing your booster seat on an airplane Bubblebum (left) compared with Ride Safer travel vest (right) I love the concept of the tiny, compact Mifold booster seat, which is small enough to stash in my handbag or diaper bag. It simply unfolds and expands (those red tabs on the sides pull out) to adjust your child’s seat belt to the proper placement on his body. You’ll need to set the seat height once you place it in the car. The manual says to start with it at its highest setting, but that’s probably overkill. Just start with it higher than you think you need it, have your child hop in and then start tweaking. Your kid will need to bend his head forward to grant you access to the lever, so it might take a few tries to get the height right.

In this review, we specifically tried the mifold comfort. Thanks to a neighbor I had the opportunity to compare it to the original. While the bones of the two seats are basically the same, the new one is definitely an improvement!

Overview

At this age, either RideSafer or mifold will work to properly restrain a child. By age 5, most children can sit properly for the whole drive. Carpooling The hifold also gives a little boost – not much, but every little bit helps when you have a small kid who’s eager to see out the window.

The US doesn’t have side impact testing standards yet, and the version of EU certification that the hifold has doesn’t require side impact testing either. That said, hifold does have impact-absorbing layers in the head and side wings.I truly applaud Carfoldio for pushing the envelope on booster seat design. As kids get older and travel and carpool more frequently, it’s handy to have ultra-compact options that keep them safe. If you plan to travel with mifold, you need to be confident that your child will have a safe seatbelt fit in whatever kind of car you’re in – and if you plan to use a taxi, Uber or Lyft you may not be able to predict what will come your way. Before bringing mifold on a trip, I recommend trying your child on it in multiple cars to confirm that you get a good lap belt fit in different types of vehicles. When it’s unfolded it can shrink and expand every which way to fit a huge size range of kids – hence, the “hifold fit-and-fold” name. The price tag can feel hard for families to justify for such a specialized product (though it’s easier to swallow if you can pass it down to a younger sibling in a few years)