Lucy Rawlins – our product reviewer reviews Bubblebum – the inflatable carseat for 4-11 year olds. Perfect for Grandchildren!
“What a novel idea! The thought of an inflatable car seat for children – admittedly – worried me to start with. The idea of my four year old sat on ‘just’ a cushion and supposedly still safe was a concern. But I needn’t have worried!
Our Bubblebum came in the most delightful packaging, rolled up in its own drawstring bag, with ribbons to hold it in place. Whilst rolled up, the Bubblebum fitted nicely in my bag – it also fits well in a large glove compartment and the boot of the car too.
It has straps either side of the seat to attach the seat to the car seatbelt and also a longer, detachable strap at the back which is fantastic for shorter children needing a little something to help hold the diagonal belt against the shoulder. These all make the seat very secure, and coupled with the material on the outside of the seat, there is no chance for slipping or sliding, no matter how much little bottoms will wiggle!
It took less than a minute for me to take the seat out of the bag, inflate it (it has a brilliant screw type cap which stops the air coming out) and attach the VERY handy shoulder strap to ensure the seatbelt doesn’t cut or rub the child’s neck. This was a godsend as although my son isn’t a small four year old, without the strap the seatbelt would’ve been uncomfortable for him. The fact that the seat is inflatable means that it’s not bulky either. It allows the seat to be in the middle of two full sized car seats in the back of a car, and for there to be no problems with seatbelts and still plenty of elbow room!
Deflating the Bubblebum could not be easier either. Simply unscrew, push the air out, and roll it up.
I tried the Bubblebum on not only my own child, but his friends too – at the ages of 6 and 8. It was perfect as the 8 year old refused to sit on her booster seat, but one look at the Bubblebum and there was an instantaneous reaction of “oooh can I go on the purple seat!?”
I will say, that as a temporarily or emergency booster seat, the Bubblebum is fantastic. I cannot fault it. It’s quick, easy, and sturdy enough. But I would say the bigger the child, the safer it seems. This may be because I’m so used to seeing my son in his car seat with arm and headrest though!
I did find that the Bubblebum is also adaptable for various situations (not stated on the website!) including; cinema seats, in a restaurant with ridiculously high tables, and anywhere that needs a booster cushion, but not necessarily a safety harness.
Overall it’s a fantastic piece of kit, well worth the £29.99 rrp price tag and I may well be stocking up on another one – just in case I need a spare!”
