Diono Hip high back booster car seat review

Nerys has always been big for her age.

She is most definitely going to be tall like her Daddy, and she’ll be taller than me by the time she’s 12 I think.  Since she was born she has been tracking somewhere along the 95th centile for both height and weight on the charts in her little red book.

All of which means, about a month ago, not long after she turned 3, she reached the upper weight limit for her group 1 car seat.

So we were really happy when Diono offered us a Hip high back booster seat to try out and review.

The Diono Hip seat is a group 2/3 high back booster, meaning it’s suitable for children who weigh between 15 and 36kg.  This will typically be children aged 4 to 12 years old, but as I said, Nerys is taller and heavier than your average 3 year old.

There are no colour options with the Hip seat, which is a bit of a shame as I love the blue of the seat Rhys has and really loved the pink of the seat Nerys has just outgrown.

The grey that Diono have picked for the Hip seat is classic though.

It looks really smart and, if this sort of thing matters to you, it would ‘go’ in pretty much any car.  I do like the little flashes of red which break things up, and the little patches of speckled fabric too which add a bit of interest.

From a practical point of view the seat cover is great because it’s removable, so you can pop it in the washing machine if it gets dirty.

Nerys was so excited when her new seat arrived, and has really been enjoying using it on the school run every day.

She seems to be nice and comfortable in it, and fits in it really well.

There are guides in the headrest that keep the seatbelt in the right place so it sits really nicely on her shoulder.  I’ve found this reassuring as, not only is it comfortable for Nerys, it feels safe and secure to me.

Another thing we both really like about the Hip seat is that it comes with 2 built in cup holders.  

Pretty much every day on the way home from school Rhys and Nerys will have a snack and a drink, and it’s really handy to have places in Nerys’ seat to keep them!  I think Nerys feels quite grown up too, being able to be in charge of her own things in her seat.

The Diono Hip doesn’t use isofix, but that’s not an issue for us as our current car doesn’t have it either.  Instead it secures to the car with the seatbelt.  This is really handy if you need to move the seat between cars on a regular basis as it’s really easy to put in and take out.  On this note, it’s also really light, so it’s no bother to carry it from one car to another.

What is really reassuring is that, despite being so lightweight, it is still really safe.

It has full body side impact protection, and a reinforced head support that has 6 different height settings so the seat can grow with your child.

The Hip has been designed and tested to not just meet, but actually exceed regulatory standards which is really good to know.

We’ve been using the Diono Hip seat for about a month now and are really happy with it.

Nerys tells me it’s really comfortable, and I’m happy that she is safe and secure in it.  Now I just have to make my peace with the fact that she looks so grown up sitting there in her big girl seat!

Disclosure – I was sent the Diono Hip for the purpose of this review, but all words and opinions are my own.