What Parents Need to Know about the Clek Olli

As parents, we’ve probably learned that car seatbelts are designed primarily for adults. Since you can’t really redesign the seatbelts to fit your children, you need a booster seat for your older kids so that they’re properly positioned for the seat belts to work as intended. That’s what you get from the Clek Olli, which is a backless booster seat for older kids when they’ve outgrown the Clek Oobr with its high full back booster seat.

Features of the Clek Olli

As the Clek Olli is a backless booster seat, we’re assuming that your older kid no longer feels the need to take a nap in the car every time they take a ride. So what can you expect from it?

• Users. The Olli is designed for children at least 4 years old, although it’s more likely to fit children from 6 to 12 years old. It’s meant for kids who measure 40 to 57 inches in height, and who weigh 40 to 120 pounds. And this is a quite wide range making this high quality car seat very resilient to many age groups.

• Dimensions. The height of the seat at the rear is 4 inches (to improve the fit of the vehicle’s shoulder belt), while the front is 5 inches high. The width of the seat is 12.75 inches while the depth from front to back is 13.25 inches long. The width is actually one of the widest in the booster seat industry today, so that it can easily accommodate even the kids nearing the 120-pound limit.

It comes with armrests at the sides, and there’s also an attachable cup holder (which is dishwasher safe). And surprisingly it only weighs 5 pounds.

• Portable. Because of the light weight, the Olli is very portable. Not only can you easily transfer it from one car to another, but you can bring it with you when you travel with your kids through airports. You can comfortably latch it on any rental car or even the taxi. A carrying strap is included in the package for your convenience.

We also have to mention that there really is no assembly required for the Olli. It’s ready to be attached right out of the box. That of course greatly adds to its easy portability.

• LATCH. The Olli is secured with the LATCH system, which is an anchorage system that’s standard in all vehicles manufactured since 2003 and later (although some cars made a year or two earlier already featured it). This latch locks the seat into place even when the seat isn’t occupied, and when you secure it you’ll hear a click to confirm that’s you’ve locked it in properly.

The LATCH attachments are easy to connect and disconnect although they’re very secure. Securing the seat takes all of 10 seconds in most vehicles. Uninstalling it is just as easy with its quick release system.

It makes the seat very stable indeed. And that means you won’t need to remember to buckle the booster when it’s not occupied. Without the LATCH, failure to buckle the seat in makes it a potential hazard as a projectile if there’s a collision. This LATCH attachment complies with all the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, as well as with the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

• Comfort. Most run of the mill backless booster seats are basically a hard plastic seat covered by a thin fabric. That’s truly not the case with the Olli. Its construction design (called Comfort-cube) is meant to prevent the resulting discomfort to your kid’s bum and legs when they’re forced to sit on a hard surface for an extended period of time.

At the very bottom of the Comfort-cube is the metal substructure foundation. This is the structure that provides the overall stability and safety for your child. It’s covered by a protective fabric on the underside so it doesn’t snag on or scratch your vehicle seats.

On top of it is the expanded polypropylene base. Its purpose is to act as shock absorbers so your kid isn’t bothered by all those bumps on the road.

Finally, at the very top is the padding, made from molded polyurethane foam. This is quite comfortable, yet it’s also durable enough maintain its shape over the years.

• Appearance. This may seem like such an irrelevant topic, but your kids will probably disagree. Fortunately, the seat cover is detachable, and its benefit goes beyond making it easier for you to clean. You can buy several different designs for the seat cover so that it matches your kid’s preference. It can feature bright or sedate colors, cartoon figures, or interesting prints. The fabric of these covers is easy to clean and also resistant to stains, bacteria, and moisture.

To Cap… the Pros and Cons of the Clek Olli

The Clek Olli has a lot going for it. It’s very safe, which is of course the most important feature. But it is also very comfy for your kids, as many parents have reported that their kids say it’s the most comfortable booster seat they’ve ever sat on. Such comfort may prevent those annoying “Are we there yet” questions we’ve learned to dread as parents.

It’s also comfy for us parents. It saves us the trouble of having to buckle in the booster seat because of the LATCH attachment, which in itself is very easy to install and release. It’s easy to clean too.

And finally, you can also customize its look to keep older children from complaining about having to sit in such a “babyish” contraption.

Of course, for some parents the higher than average price may be a drawback, but it’s a good investment. Some may also want to make sure their bigger kids can fit into the width of the seat. Others may also wonder about its lack of thigh support, but for most kids this is not an issue at all.

Conclusion

We can confidently say that the Clek Olli is one of the most popular and most highly regarded booster seats today, and as you can see there are excellent reasons for that. If you’re looking for a backless booster seat for your older kids, we can confidently say that this one is a very solid choice.