unanimously felt this car seat should receive the Today’s Parent Approved seal—and we agree. four to 120 pounds, has a 10-year expiration date, and in our lab and parent testing, we found it to be a quality seat with lots of plush padding—so your little one will be comfy wherever the day takes you. Install with the belt, and then a second latch and you are done. Adjustments to the seat height and belt length are done with the seat in place using the top knobs and then a button found below and between the legs. A general rule of thumb is once your child has reached the height or weight limitations set by the manufacturer in rear-facing, you can safely move them to the forward-facing option. “This 4-in-1 car seat does it all, starting as a rear-facing seat and adapting to a forward-facing seat and two different boosters.”
Just be sure the vehicle seat is moved as far back away from the dashboard as possible. This is a very common concern of parents, but it should cause them no worry. Children are very flexible and can always easily find a comfortable position in a rear-facing seat. Injuries to the legs are very rare for children facing the rear.
While this design is interesting, we think it makes the clip’s operation significantly more challenging. The Cybex Sirona M with SensorSafe 2.0 also has a unique chest clip that includes SensorSafe technology that relays various information to a device connected to the car and your smartphone. While also an intriguing device, it emits EMF, and each parent will need to decide if this feature is compelling enough to expose your child to EMF.
However, we feel it deserves a nod and is a worthwhile option that can save you money. Most vehicles and car seats are equipped to use the LATCH system for installation, in which the seat attaches to the steel frame of your vehicle via under-seat anchors that are designed specifically for this purpose. This signal that the seat was secure gave us instant peace of mind. And when we needed to remove the car seat for cleaning, disconnecting it was just as simple—all we had to do was push down on the red button and pull out the LATCH tethers.
As a result of the innovative ClickTight and strap tightening system, this Britax practically installs itself with only a little help from you. We love the non-rethread harness height adjustment with ten levels, seamless soft fabric, closed outer shell, and three layers of padding for comfort. Our children spend a lot of time in the graco booster seat car, so a comfortable car seat is a must-have. The Graco 4Ever 4-in-1’s cushions are made with plush fabric that doesn’t scratch delicate skin. It also has a special harness system , plus six-position reclining and a 10-position headrest. The harness is easy to use and makes us feel confident that our kids are safely buckled.
Check your manual to see if you need to use a specific harness slot. Adjust the reclining position of the seat, so your child can sit in an upright position. The anchors in the LATCH system built into cars are designed for a maximum of 65 pounds, including your child and the car seat. If your 5-year-old rides in a car seat with an extended weight limit and nears this maximum, switch to using the car’s seat belt to secure the seat instead of the LATCH anchors.
We love that we won’t have to buy another car seat or booster seat in the future. Purchased for my granddaughter do the family wouldn’t have to keep buying car seats as she grew. I like the way you can position it-forwards or about face and you can hide the harness straps. There’s a reason theCosco Scenera NEXTis so affordable — there are few bells and whistles on this convertible car seat. While some parents complain that it’s a little tough to get a tight fit, others rave about the advantages the streamlined and wallet-friendly design provides.
The Evenflo Tribute is also only 17 inches wide, but it is the lightest seat in the review at just over 9 lbs. The Evenflo, Clek fllo, and the Clek Foonf are the narrowest options in our tests. Unfortunately, the Evenflo required a towel in our rear-facing tests in at least one of our test vehicles, so you’ll need to bring something to use as a bolster depending on the car when traveling . Most of the top seats are more substantial, presumably due to increased padding and steel frames. The widest option in the group is the Maxi-Cosi Pria 70, and we think it will be impossible to use it with more than two car seats in a row in the majority of vehicles.