The Britax Parkway SG should be on retail shelves in July. No, it’s not the old Parkway booster with new fashions; it’s an entirely new product. The Parkway Secure Guard (formerly known as Slide Guard) is rated for kids 40 to 120 pounds and a standing height of 38 to 63 inches. The top seated shoulder height with the backrest is listed as 21.5 inches. The Parkway SG converts from an adjustable high back to a backless booster. It features the unique Slide Guard clip that helps prevent the child from sliding under the lap belt portion of a lap/shoulder belt, reducing the risk of abdominal injury.
I’m going to try to make this review somewhat shorter than normal, so as not to bore everyone with my typical review novel. After all, a booster is a glorified phone book, right? (Wrong!)
I’ll start with what many people want to know right away. Measurements and comparisons to the old Parkway. Britax lists the new SG at 17″ wide by 15″ deep, adjusting from 28 inches to 35 inches tall from the bottom of the base to the top of the back. It has a listed weight of 9.7 pounds in high back mode, 5.1 pounds in backless mode. Seat depth is listed as 11 inches and seating width as 13 inches. Shoulder width of the high back section is given as 12.5″ and crotch depth to the Slide Guard strap as 7.5″. But don’t take their word for it, here are some photos:
If you have an older Parkway, you’ll find the Parkway SG to be over 1.5 inches taller at the highest setting. The outside width is about the same. The head section is similar in size and width, but doesn’t flare outward and narrow at the neck like the one on the old Parkway. The torso wings are a little smaller and fixed arms are included on the base to allow it to be used as a backless booster. The height adjuster is located a little lower than on the old Parkway, so it may be a little harder to adjust for those with small hands. On the plus side, there is no gap in the cover on the top. Here are a few photos to compare with the old Parkway:
Below are a few photos with kids. On the left, my 4-year old, 40 pound son. In the middle, my almost-9-year-old and 64 pound daughter. On the right, my oldest son turns 11 in October and is 81 pounds and 4’10” tall.
Below are my older kids using the Parkway SG Backless:
Here is a quick video of the Slide Guard in action with my daughter. My 4-year old son still sits in a 5-point harness and hasn’t yet learned to buckle himself into a standard booster, let alone one with an extra clip.
The Slide Guard basically turns a 3-point lap and shoulder seatbelt system into a 4-point restraint. With the clip holding the lap belt down at the crotch, it not only helps keep the lap belt at the right position, but also keeps kids from sliding (or submarining) under the lap belt in a crash. This is especially important for smaller or squirmy kids, who may otherwise be at greater risk to suffer abdominal injuries in a severe crash if they aren’t positioned correctly. Many newer vehicle seat cushions are sculpted to help prevent adult occupants from submarining under the lap portion of the seatbelt, but the flat seating platform of a booster would not generally provide this kind of function for kids. Britax states that the Slide Guard clip must be used at all times. Period.
The clip itself is somewhat U-shaped. You just slide the lap belt in and proceed like any other booster. The length of the crotch strap is adjustable using a slider plate that you access from under the booster. Beyond Secure Guard, the new Parkway is not so different compared to various other boosters. It has a couple of nice cupholders that slide out from the base. The height is adjustable with a lever on the back. Side wings around the head and torso give added protection in side impacts.
Advantages? Obviously, the Secure Guard feature is unique and may be a major safety improvement in some cases. It adjusts taller than many boosters, so that will be an advantage for some kids, too. The side impact protection is a plus when used as a high back booster. The shoulder belt guide allows the belt to retract freely without getting caught. While it’s no Britax Starriser in terms of being narrow, it’s also not particularly wide. It will work about the same as the old Parkway for 3-across situations. It converts to backless mode, so that’s a handy feature as well. The quality is quite good. The back does not seem flimsy at all, as it may on some other high back models that convert to a backless. It also won’t fall off unintentionally, due to the way it is assembled. Overall, the manual is clear, though I would have liked a better photo or diagram of proper fit with the Slide Guard.
Disadvantages? It’s made in China. Another departure from the Britax convertibles and combination models that are made in the USA. Beyond that are mostly obvious issues. The Slide Guard clip is an extra step that requires a little more time for kids to use correctly. Younger kids will need supervision for a while till they get it right. The crotch strap may be annoying for older kids who haven’t been in a 5-point harness in a while. It’s actually a pair of straps that come up from the base shaped like this ^. They might be uncomfortable for bigger kids wearing shorts, a skort or a skirt, as they can rub on the thighs. Adjusting the length of these straps is necessary for proper fit of the lap belt. It isn’t difficult, but it does take some fiddling, especially if you are trying to make it longer. Because it converts to a backless, the fixed arms limit the seating width. That can make a tight fit for larger children with big hips.
Overall? A very nice booster with a unique safety innovation. The disadvantages are minor, but obviously if they are a problem for you or your child, another carseat or booster may be a better choice in your situation. The price is a reasonable $119 at retailers like Kids-N-Cribs.com and Amazon.Com. This is no glorified phone book. A big volume of yellow pages may raise a child up, but it won’t have the side impact protection of the Parkway SG. It also won’t have the fixed arms, the Slide Guard clip and shoulder belt guide to keep the lap and shoulder belts positioned correctly. With the high back section, it also provides adequate head restraint for the child, even in vehicles that have low seat backs or lack head restraints. The Parkway SG is well padded, too. Details on the Parkway SecureGuard can be found at the Britax USA website.
Remember, kids should use a booster or other appropriate child restraint until they are around 4′ 9″ tall. Ideally, any child should be able to pass SafetyBeltSafe’s 5-Step Test before being restrained with only the vehicle’s lap and shoulder belt. With it’s tall back and 120 pound limit, the Parkway SG should accomodate most kids to 10 years old and beyond. With the Slide Guard clip, there may even be applications for special needs situations for both children and young adults.
I just received the new Parkway SG and have an important question. I have a Volvo S80. The headrest gets in the way of the booster. It makes it lean slightly forward, creating about a 2-3 inch gap between the back seat the the top portion of the booster. I can’t decide whether it’s time to start using just the seat without the back. My daughter is 8 and is old enough, but I really like the side head protection that the back provides. I wondering which is worse: the gap or no head protection. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
It is certainly designed to keep the child’s bottom from moving forward. As for the head, some things to try are reclining the vehicle seat back slightly (if allowed) and locking the shoulder belt (if you have a locking retractor).
We often take long drives and am worried about head slumping that I’ve seen occurring with many booster seats. Does this new Parkway SG allow the child to sleep without slumping forward?
It’s the Britax Frontier. We have a couple reviews on it as well:
https://carseatblog.com/?p=32
https://carseatblog.com/?p=92
I’m curious about the red 5pt. booster in the background.
My son is almost five and is currently in a Marathon. I’d rather keep him in 5 pt. as long as possible, but he’s tall — 42 inches — and needs to move on.
Can you tell me what that red one is and how you feel about it?
Thanks so much for all the info.
I would say the depth is about average. My daughter is almost 9 and probably around average for her age, but still relatively old and tall compared to most booster age children. She hasn’t complained about the new or old Parkway that are both about the same for leg depth.
How does this depth compare to other boosters you’ve mentioned? I love everything about it but I don’t know if I like how your sweet girl’s legs are off the edge. Is she really leggy or would you say that’s typical? Would she complain?
My opinion is not to use this product, or any child restraint, below the manufacturer’s recommended minimum limits.
I’m frustrated by the 40 lb minimum. I was planning to get this seat for my 37lb 6 year old, but now I’m not sure. I wasn’t expecting this minimum. I understand that they want to discourage 3 year olds, but it makes it hard to know what to do for a small older child. What is your opinion on using this seat for a 37 lb 6 year old?
Wonderful pictures! I have a suv that has deep bucket style bench seats (hope that makes sense) Parkway is the only seat that we found fits just right that is not a harnessed seat. Graco and Evenflo are too wide on the back side of thier seat to fit properly. I was hoping to find out what the bottom of the seat looks like compaired to the Parkways undersided. I hope is will work, LOL, my husband is the one that realy wants this seat. I’m tickled he looked at it.
Thank you for this visual on this new booster seat not on the market just yet. The arm rests look a bit low, & I’m wondering if they were even necessary as often times I find they get in the way of a traditional booster seat. Would’ve loved to see Britax make them swivel up to make putting the seatbelt on a little easier. Guess we’ll see how much they may or may not be in the way when we purchase later on this month. So wish this booster was made in the USA. I’d pay what I’ve usually paid for Britax seats ($200-300+) just to have it be made in our great country.
Like most boosters, it does not have LATCH, nor does it need LATCH to safely restrain the child. With all boosters, the lap/shoulder seatbelt system is always what restrains the child in a crash. This is different than child safety seats with a 5-point harness.
A few booster models can be attached with lower anchors. This does not significantly affect the safety of the booster, because even when used with LATCH, it is still the seatbelt that restrains the child. The advantage of attaching a booster with lower anchors is to keep it from moving around when loading or unloading, with a squirmy child or when it is unoccupied. I believe there was a study showing that high back boosters attached with rigid LATCH may have a safety advantage, especially in side impacts, but I’m not sure how significant this is.
can it be used with the latch system ? I’m afraid of just using a seatbelt for installation incase of a crash.
I would say the leg support is roughly the same.
nice review. One q: it’s hard for me to tell from the pics how the seat depth compares to the old PW – does it provide better leg support for leggy kids than the old PW?
You know what I think I like most about it? The front-facing shoulder belt guides. The side-facing belt guides on the old PW work great in my Lexus RX330 which has the shoulder belt D-rings so far forward of the seat back, but that design catches the belt on my passenger side 2nd row captain’s chair where the shoulder belt comes out of the vehicle seat. The front-facing shoulder belt guides work best with seat belts that come straight out of the vehicle seat or from behind the booster.
No, it does not. It would have been nice to see rigid LATCH anchors, though I can only guess that would probably have driven the cost to $200 or more.
Does it have LATCH straps to anchor to the vehicle?
Love the clip, love the 40 pound minimum, love the price, love the extra height. Don’t love the MIC but it’s no different than most mass production.
On a totally unrelated note, that is not AT ALL what I expected your voice to sound like, Darren!
You can play Devil’s Advocate with just about anything, of course, but I commend every booster that has a 40 pound minimum. Somewhere, some parent will ask why and then learn it’s best to keep their 30 pound 2-year old in a 5-point harness.
The same applies for combination seats like the Frontier that don’t list 20 pound minimums just to have a bigger potential range of customers.
On the one hand, I’m glad it has a 40 pound minimum, because kids should be harnessed until 4 and 40. But, if the biggest reason for that is submarining, and this seat prevents that, then this is the best seat to have a lower weight limit. Make sense? I have mixed feelings about the higher (than typical 3 and 30) minimum on this seat.
Great review – thanks Darren. I love how the slide guard positions the lap belt – nice and low over the hips.
My oldest son no longer uses a booster. So, he didn’t actually ride in the Parkway SG, he only sat in it for a photo to show the height. He generally fits fine without a booster, so the only advantage for him would be that the clip would tend to keep the lap belt better positioned since he’s always moving around to annoy his sister or brother. He didn’t provide any feedback on comfort for the couple minutes he was sitting in the booster. I’m lucky he posed for the photo at all.
Nice review! Your eldest obviously fits by height but he looks a bit cramped. Does he five step without a booster? Was the belt fit better, worse, or the same with the PW/SG? Was he uncomfortable?
I love the way it fits your daughter and little guy.