Baby Smart Cooshie Booster Seat - Blue
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Baby Products Reviews of Baby Smart Cooshie Booster Seat - Blue
Customer Review: Theres no way you won't fall in love!
Summary: 5 Stars
I started using this cooshie (actually in purple, to the other reviewer they DO come in purple, although we ordered it Blue from Amazon) for our daughter when she was about 18 months old.
That was 18 months ago, and we were actually very upset that we had to place her in a booster at that age (the fancy highchair we had just drove us crazy, this was our only option). Its a very unique booster seat, and we are VERY happy to have purchased one.
It stays on our kitchen chairs easily (wooden chairs, with an upholstered bottom) and surprisingly enough the cooshie even grips onto those! It does grip better to our all wooden dining room chairs, but after reading the "melting" reviews, I will be using a kitchen chair for her while in the dining room :). It also adapts well to outdoor furniture, and just about ANY seating area. It doesn't have straps or anything that will eventually collect crud and just become annoying, and it "sticks" to the chairs due to cleverly thought out rubbery material, it grips to just about anything! The cooshie doesn't have buckles or anything to contain a child, so you should think twice before purchasing if your little munchkin just doesn't sit still, or may fall off. The cooshie is VERY lightweight and easy for my daughter to take off of her chair, and bring ANYWHERE she will be sitting, even directly on the floor! It has also been a fun pool toy (dont ask how the heck it got into the pool, because frankly I dont know!) and it floats, just its not to be used as a flotation device! The cooshie is SO EASY TO CLEAN, just wipe it up, and I swear you will never have to deep clean or anything, just wipe it up and EVERYTIME you are done!!
My daughter LOVES sitting at the table with everyone, and the cooshie is actually very comfortable. She hasn't ruined hers yet, although she isn't a really rough girl, but it may become an issue with rambunctious children, as the foamy inside may rip or something, but if that ever DID happen, we would purchase another without any hesitation. She also has been able to get into the chair herself, which worried me, I though we would have to lift her. But the cooshie is just another obstacle that most kids will be able to get over, my daughter has developed a very "funny-to-watch" technique as to how she will get into her chair, so this shouldn't be a problem.
I too found it annoying that my daughter cant lean back all the way, since there really isn't too much of a back, but enough to make it annoying to use the actual chair to lean back against (if that's hard to follow, I apologize, she just cant rest with the cooshie). It doesn't seem to bother her that much, but I wish there was SOMETHING that would enable her to "rest" back a bit. It will also destroy your wooden furniture if there's nothing between the cooshie and the wooden finish. The cooshie comes with a large carry bag, that we found very useful for eating out or going to relatives... it holds her cooshie, and bibs and whatnot for her younger brothers, or something to entertain her... it doesn't fold or anything, but I wouldnt expect any booster to be anymore "luggable" than the cooshie is.
Its also great for the older crowd, my friends EIGHT year old was always sitting on his knees while eating, and he isn't really short, just that they have odd chairs, and that he preferred to be up closer. Once he tried the cooshie, he was more confident and comfortable, and actually wanted ours! So, this goes without saying, my friend purchased one for him and he takes his EVERYWHERE!
The cooshie is just a great booster seat for older children, or at least toddlers. Its simplicity and perfection in design amazes me, and I will defiantly be on the market for two more in a few years, when her twin brothers need them too!
Customer Review: A Good Booster but Not the Perfect Solution
Summary: 3 Stars
The Cooshie Booster is a good booster seat for toddlers when used in the right conditions. However, my wife and I are yet to experience the miraculous calming effects at the dinner table that so many other reviews have mentioned.
The Booster is made from one solid piece soft foam material. The material is very lightweight and cleans up very easily. The one-piece construction also aids in clean-up - no cracks to trap food or let spills get through to your furniture. Plus, the material grips on wooden chairs; it's never budged when our active two-year-old is using it. This ease of use, both at the table and when getting washed in the sink, are its major selling points.
On the other hand, the one-piece construction makes the bulky Booster less than ideal for use away from home. Forget about using it at restaurants because it's not different enough from what they'll provide. We only take ours out when we're going to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a few days; otherwise, it's more trouble than it's worth. Sure, it's lightweight, but the supplied carrying case is roughly the size of a bowling ball bag. Plus, the bag is very cheap and unattractive; basically they're selling you the packaging as a carrying case.
Lastly, we haven't seen the Booster effect any great improvement in our son's attention span at the table - when he wants to get down, he wants to get down, period. I don't believe that any booster seat could make such a difference in toddler behavior, so I don't hold it against this one; I'm just surprised how many others have reported these results. If anything, our son is frustrated by the Booster because its size prevents him from climbing into his chair unassisted. Because he's in the toddler independence phase, he'd often rather climb into another chair by himself rather than be lifted into the Booster.
So, the Booster does a great job of providing a simple-to-use and easy-to-maintain solution at home, but if you take your little one out frequently, a more portable options would suit you better.
PROS
* Stable, soft foam stays in place without marking chairs
* Very easy to clean with one-piece construction
CONS
* Bulky on the go
* Will frustrate toddlers who like to climb into their own chair
Customer Review: We just love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
My 16 month old daughter has gotten to the stage where she no longer wants to use a highchair or any of those other booster seats with the trays (ie. Tot-Loc, First Years 4 in 1 feeding seat, and First Years Folding Booster...all great products by the way) She really just wanted to sit at the kitchen and dining room table like a big girl, and she didn't want to sit in the baby seats that allow you to convert them to big kid boosters by removing the trays. We were at our wits end and after reading all the reviews here, we decided to give it a try, but I must admit we were a bit skeptical and nervous using this for our daughter because she is so young and most of the other reviewers said they used this for an older child. Well our daughter absolutely loves this and is so proud of her upgrade from highchair to big kid comfy booster. The booster wipes clean very easily, sticks to the chair very well, and the seat itself is non-slip, so our daugher does not slouch and side off this seat like she did with other hard plastic boosters. Best of all, the seat brings her to the perfect height at our table (much better fit than the hard plastic boosters) and she appears to be much more comfortable (not to mention our once picky eater is now happily eating everything she sees now). This booster seat seems to have completely changed the way my daughter looks at meal time for the better. Also, the travel case this booster comes with is a nice touch, and it has room to pack a bib or small snack as well as the booster. We're looking forward to using this booster for the next couple of years, and since it's so portable, we only need to buy one and just take it everywhere we go.One thing I should mention, I wouldn't buy this booster for a child who is overly active and doesn't like to sit still. My daughter has no problems sitting still for extended periods as long as she is occupied, but if she were the kind of kid who always has to be moving at this age, I wouldn't use this booster just yet as it does not have any safety belt to hold your child in.
Customer Review: Over 4 years have purchased 6 for us and friends kids
Summary: 5 Stars
We currently own 3 of these. The first cooshie seat came free with some stuff I ordered online when my daughter was 1 month old (4.5 yrs as of Oct. 04). I put it away, as she was not going to use it before she could sit. At age 1.5 she was having a hard time sitting through meals when using hard plastic booster seats, so I pulled it out. She has been using it ever since. We ended up with 3, one for home, one for my husband's car and one for mine, so that if we ate out, we had one. My daughter has always been willing to sit still for long periods of time, coloring, etc... as long as the seat she is in is comfortable, so this made sense for us. Over the last 3 years, two of our friends have borrowed one of ours and subsequently purchased one or two for their children. Most of us have wood chairs, however they have fabric seats and wood backs. None of us has had any damage to the wood finish. None of the 6 boosters that we have between us and our friends have any missing chunks (as some have reported). We have all owned them over a year, with ours being used the longest, around 3 years. We were very sad to see that Baby's R Us store is no longer selling this seat, which is where we purchased our others and where our friends purchased theirs. Their replacement version is from a different manufacturer and I did not like it, primarily because it was not cooshie, which to me, is the soft yet firm quality this seat. I will purchase mine on-line until they reappear at a store where I can purchase a different color again. In case you wonder why I am purchasing more... two friends in Canada have given me money to bring them back one on my next trip to the U.S. as they can't be found in Canada yet.
Customer Review: Very Comfortable and Stays in Place
Summary: 5 Stars
I currently have four children aged four and younger and the Cooshie is our favorite booster seat. It is soft and comfortable and, even with all of my oldest son's ups and downs and wiggles and squirms, it stays right where I put it. We have had our oldest Cooshie for more than a year and it is still in one piece and good shape despite my son's abuse.
The Cooshie is about the size of the traditional hard plastic booster, so you can take it with you but it's not the most convenient thing to haul around. We typically toss ours into the car when heading to a restaurant just in case there are no acceptable boosters available and only take it out if needed. The zipper case it comes in does have handles, so that makes it a bit easier.
This booster is very easy to clean. I typically whipe ours down with a damp rag each meal and take it to the sink for a thorough wash regularly. I've even been known to take a Clorox wipe to it when the kiddos have been sick in addition to the washing.
A note to consider - the rubber does have the potential to break down some varnishes and paints over time. If you are quite attached to your chairs I would recommend a nice slip cover so that the booster doesn't come in direct contact with the finish (or go the cheap route and put a piece of cardstock or posterboard against the back of the booster). The bottom of the Cooshie has a different finish and texture than the rest of the booster and I'm not certain if the bottom has the same potential to break down the finish since I have farm chairs with straw seats, so there is no finish to break down, though the Cooshie has taken some paint off of the seat backs.