I previewed the Mifold in January, and was genuinely impressed by their claims. I am a Dad to 4-year-old Boy/Girl twins and have experienced, more than once, the pain, hassle and grief caused by travelling with your own car seat! I even tried playing the hire car lottery with pre booked seats, which proved worse. So on a recent break to Nice, France, I decided to put Mifold through its paces.
Mifold Grab & Go Car Booster
Although I had run a preview article, I had a basic understanding of how it works, I did not try it out, nor show the kids their Mifolds ahead of the trip. When the seats were delivered I took them out of the boxes for just a quick inspection.
“Damn, they are small!!” my exact words.
Mifold market their product as 10 x smaller than the average booster. You really do not process the size difference until you hold one. It was then I realised the best way to put Mifold to the test – give it to the kids.
As we set of for Heathrow, I put a Mifold in each of my children’s backpacks without telling them. Not once did they complain about the weight of their packs! This is more significant when you consider our 4-5 hour door to door trip became a near 14 hour delay ridden nightmare, but still they did not complain. That’s right parents, my 4 year olds carried their own car seats on vacation, there and back!!
How it Works
I gave Mifold the ultimate “Dad Test”. By the time we got to the hire car, it was nearing midnight, the kids were over tired and I had spent the last 12 hours keeping them entertained. Now I had to fit two car booster seats that broke with the norm!
How glad was I to have brought the Mifold with us! My first attempt was 2 minutes to install it. 2 minutes!
Firstly you open out the Mifold and depress the red slider tabs underneath and so you can adjust the side bars, so the seat sits snugly in place on the back bench seats. Once you have the correct width, release the tabs and they lock the side arms in place.
Sit your child onto the Mifold padded base and then feed the seat belt through both the side arms to keep the safety belt lap section firmly, but comfortably, across the hips. Then click the end of the belt into the safety buckle.
Finally, using the fixed strap at the rear of the booster seat, clip on the chest part of the safety belt to bring it down to the required height for your child.
This is the genius in the Mifold. Normal booster seats do just that, boost your child up so they are the correct height for the safety belt. Mifold reduces the height of the seat belt to fit, and grow, with your child. I found the adjustable strap easy to use and the seatbelts sat in a good position on both of my children for every trip.
Specifications
- 10 inches by 5 inches when Folded
- Can fit 3 in a row
- Suitable for ages 4 to 12
- 6 Colours; Lime Green/Taxi Yellow/Denim Blue/Slate Grey/Perfect Pink/Pearl Grey.
Final Thoughts
My only concern, and it was a big one, was around the protection my booster seats at home gave compared to the Mifold. But, having now used and experienced the Mifold, I think this is an unfair comparison.
Although you could easily use a Mifold every day, it is not meant for that. It has been designed to be small and lightweight to keep in a bag, in the boot or even the glove box. It has been designed to give you a ‘something is better than nothing’ option of having a car seat when you need one. Grab a taxi in any major city in the world, how many would have a car seat for your child? Not many.
Mifold have a Q&A section on their website which covers all the regulations their booster seat meets and how to care for your product.
Overall, the Mifold is a brilliant device for a real problem parents face, and for the price and size; every family should have one!
Price
Check Mifolds online shop for your country. Here in the UK, Amazon has the booster seat as a Prime item for those who are Prime eligible and the price is £49.95.
