Top Rated Infant Car Seats
Not all infant car seats are created in the same way. The most effective seats come with features that increase the performance of crash tests. For instance load legs -- shock-absorbing components that are attached to the base or seat and reduce the movement of the seat during an accident.
A favorite with CPST instructors is the Chicco KeyFit, which has a weight limit that is high for rear-facing and height limit and a bubble level indicator, and the reclining foot is spring-loaded, which allows for easy installation.
Graco Mesa Max
The Graco Mesa Max ranks as one of the easiest infant car seats to use. It features an easy-to-use design and top fabrics. It also comes with a handy feature that allows you to connect the harness of your child directly to the headrest. It comes with a large canopy that can be hidden away to keep your child sheltered when traveling. It is a bit heavier than the average stroller, which can be a problem if you want to carry it around or use it with your award-winning UPPAbaby.
Mesa Max's remarkable results in crash tests show its commitment to safety. It scored highly in both the frontal and side impact tests, meaning that your child will be safe from both sides of a collision.
Another important safety feature is the Graco's anti-rebound panel that helps to reduce rebound forces during the event of a crash, and also ensures that your child's head is protected. This feature is not common in infant car seats and makes the Mesa Max stand out among its rivals.
Graco Mesa Max can easily and securely be mounted in your vehicle with LATCH when used with the base included. The load leg, recline angle adjustment, and tightness indicator all help to ensure a quick, precise installation. The base weighs 12.6 It is a little more than the average car seat for infants but not enough to cause any issues.
Similar to its predecessor, the UPPAbaby Mesa V2, the Mesa Max uses dual-knit fabric that's free of fire-retardant chemicals. It comes with an infinitely adjustable backrest as well as an extremely durable insert for infants who weigh between 4 and 11 lbs. The fabric is GREENGUARD Gold Certified, which ensures low chemical emissions and VOCs.
The Mesa Max from UPPAbaby is more expensive than some other models, but it has top features and modern safety technologies for an optimal travel experience. best car seat infant is included and is available in a variety of stylish colors. This adds to the value proposition. Its thoughtful features and sturdy design offer parents peace of mind for every journey.
Britax Boulevard ClickTight
The Britax Boulevard ClickTight is a great choice for parents who want a car seat that can grow with their child. Its rear-facing limit is 40 pounds, which is more than the majority of infant car seats. Furthermore, it can also be used as a forward-facing child seat until your child is 65 pounds.
The ClickTight Installation System is its most popular selling point. It is the most secure, easiest and most secure system available. It allows you to tighten the belt by pressing a red release button and pulling on the harness strap without the need to untie it, then re-thread. This decreases the risk of a mistake when tightening the belt, which is the most common reason for car seat failure.
The EZ-Buckle Pad is another security feature that keeps the buckle in place when you put your child in the car seat. This feature, along with beltpath cutouts that run along the sides of the seat, make it easy to get them into and out of the car.
All three of the ClickTight convertible seats (Boulevard, Marathon CT, and Advocate CT) have the identical features. These include the ClickTight Installation System, an impact-absorbing base, with seven recline positions as well as a rip-stitch energy absorbing harness pad, a HUGS tether, a steel-reinforced frame, and EPP energy-absorbing foam.
It's a heavy seat, so it may be worth looking at an alternative that is lighter when you are planning to use it frequently for car swaps or traveling. The seat is large, so it might not fit in smaller cars.
If you want a more budget-friendly option with similar quality, check out the Graco 4Ever DLX. It has lower crash test scores than the Boulevard but is an excellent option for your child.
The Graco also has push-on connectors for LATCH, which makes it easier to remove the seat. The Boulevard's LATCH connectors have a different release mechanism which requires you to press a gray button and then pull on the webbing to loosen it. This isn't easy if the webbing is tense. However the seat comes with a storage cubby to store the belt straps when they are not in use.
Clek Liing
If you're in search of a child car seat that offers it all -style, safety convenience, and luxuryyou'll be delighted with the Clek Liing. This rear-facing car seat comes with a great crash test score, a great variety of features, and is easy to install in most vehicles.
The Liing is designed with features that exceed US and Canadian safety standards. It is designed for easy installation and security in any seating position. It also features advanced safety features like an energy-absorbing metal leg and two pieces of shell lined with EPP for increased side impact protection. The base has 7 recline positions, and an indicator bubble that informs you when the seat is at just the right angle for your baby.
Parents love the Liing's modern and sleek design and also its innovative safety features such as the rigid lower anchors that are much easier to attach than standard hook-and-loop connectors. The Liing also has a convenient one-handed release that makes it simple to take it off the base or to use with a variety of strollers that are compatible with it. It's also small enough to fit three across in many automobiles, and it fits well into many convertible car seats for an added travel aid.
This infant seat is rated 1st for its unique rigid-LATCH installation system. The lower anchors of the Liing click right into the vehicle's lower seat belt slots, and the top tether strap snaps into the headrest of the vehicle, creating an extremely secure, tight fit that eliminates the possibility of the child being thrown around during a crash.
The base weighs 9 pounds and the seat weighs 10.5 lbs. Other rear-facing seats have a much heavier weight, but if you're planning on schlepping this car seat and its base everywhere it won't be noticeable (especially once you add a child to the mix! ).
Parents love the Liing's built-in canopy and 100+spf of protection from the sun's rays with mesh peekaboo. Caregivers love the blanket made of merino, which keeps the baby warm, and the capability of the handle to pivot past the canopy. This allows parents to grab the seat whenever they need it.
Graco Trio Grow SnugLock LX
The Graco Trio SnugLock is a 3-in-1 seat that can be converted from a rear-facing infant into a forward-facing harness and then to the highback booster. It features the SnugLock system which allows for an easy and smooth installation using lower anchors or vehicle seat belts. It also offers the option to use the top tether when in booster mode (although we recommend using the lower anchors at all times for added security).
We love that this seat is suitable for children of all ages. It comes with an infant insert for younger infants that can support their backs and necks. The insert can be removed once the child is older and the seat can be used as a normal car seat for toddlers. This is one of the few car seats that allows the top tether to be used in booster mode. We highly recommend it.
Its base is quite compact front to back, so it shouldn't be a problem to find a space for it in the majority of vehicles. The headrest needs to be raised to allow for the lower anchor webbing to pass through. Fortunately, there's a headrest adjustment knob that can easily do this, and also observe the position of the headrest in the display window.
One of the coolest things about this seat is the SnugLock installation system that is a bar that is located within the belt path. Installing this car seat with lower anchors is simple, and is almost as easy as putting it on the car's seat belt.
The manual has a great illustration of how to guide the lower anchor connectors correctly through the new belt pathway which may initially be confusing. Keep them from the chest clip and the crotch loop to prevent interference with the buckle system.
The Graco Trio Grow belongs to the Protect Plus Engineered Family, which means it has been subjected to some of the most rigorous tests in the industry. This includes side, rear and rollover crashes, as in frontal impact tests.