Design
The Hipod Senator 'with sound' is a convertible booster seat. This means with its inbuilt harness it's suitable as a forward facing car seat from 8kg and with the car seat belt as a booster seat up to 26kg.
It comes in Mirage which is a black and grey combination and if you're wondering there was an superseded version without sound hence the 'with sound' distinction.
Features
This booster seat features a height adjustable headrest, removable 4 point safety harness, side wings for protection, seat belt guide, shoulder pads, inbuilt speakers and a side pocket for toddler and child treasures.
Performance
The Hipod Senator 'with sound' is the best-rating booster seat in the NSW Centre for Road Safety (CERT) tests for safety and rates well for ease of use. The seat is solid and has side wings to protect your child's head and body in an accident.
This car seat gives you three restraint options to accommodate your child's growing needs. For babies use the inbuilt four point safety harness, for larger toddlers remove the safety harness and use an optional extra H harness or, for older children up to 7 years, use your car seat belt.
For safety's sake, it is best to use the inbuilt safety harness for as long as your child will fit in it up to 18kg. Only move your child to an H harness, then to the car seat belt when they have physically outgrown the other options. An H Harness must be used if child is in a lap only seat belt otherwise they get no torso support.
Once you move to a car seat belt the safety guide will assist you to ensure the seat belt sits low across your child's lap to minimise the impact of a collision. Our tester family hasn't used the seat belt option yet. We'll update the review when we have more information to report.
The Hipod Senator is easy to install correctly. It will take the most inexperienced installer about 5 minutes. To adjust the headrest you need to lift the yellow flap at the back of the car seat to allow it to move it up and down. Make sure you follow the instructions to ensure the headrest is at the right height for your child.
This seat is padded for your child's comfort but you can feel the plastic base through the seat cover, especially under the legs at the edge. You can easily remove and machine-wash the cover when it gets dirty.
The Senator Hipod profile is slim and it's a good choice if you need to fit three car seats in the back seat of your car. It still has plenty of bum and height room to accommodate a larger child.
It's also a particularly good option for Nanna and Pop or other family members who may have to accommodate children of different sizes and/or move the seat in and out of the car regularly.
In the olden days I used to poo-poo car seats with speakers as being excessive, that was before Bob the Builder and his theme song entered my life. I now know that parents will do a lot not to have to hear the same children's song over and over again.
Finally, I'll just point out that I like the way the instructions are attached to the seat in a tag style rather than paper instructions. Its a little detail, but an important one.
Drawbacks
The Hipod Senator is a basic model car seat. It doesn't have armrests or cup holders or a fancy pants seat cover. If you can live without these you are good to go.
When you extend the headrest to the top of its height if feels a bit wobbly. Safety tests demonstrate that this is not a safety issue but if you think it will concern you check out the display model before you buy.
Also regarding the head rest, when our dad tester pops our little toddler tester into the seat he naturally holds on the top of the booster to maintain his balance. This causes the head rest collapse into the seat and he has to pull the seat forward and readjust the headrest which is awkward.
Conclusion
There's no compromising on safety with the Hipod Senator and that's the most important consideration when buying a car seat.
Personally I'd trade in the speakers for a bit of extra comfort, but then again just the thought of Bob the Builder on a long haul ...
Target stores often have discounts on car safety and you can often buy the Senator booster on sale.
You can never know enough about car safety for your baby. Find more information on the NSW RTA website or from your local state roads and traffic authority.
Hipod
The Hipod range of car seats and prams are sold exclusively through Target.
