Top Rated Infant Car Seats
Not all infant car seats are made equally. The most effective ones have features that enhance the performance of crash tests, such as load legs, which are shock-absorbing parts on the base or car seat that reduce movement in a collision.
Chicco KeyFit is a favorite of CPST instructors. It comes with a rear-facing weight and height limit that is high and a bubble-level indicator and a spring-loaded reclined foot that makes it simple to set up.
Graco Mesa Max
The Graco Mesa Max is one of the top-rated infant car seats due to its ease of use. It features a simple design and great fabrics. It also has an excellent feature that lets you attach the child's harness directly to the headrest. It comes with a large canopy that can be put away to keep your child shaded while traveling. portable infant car seat pushchairsandprams 's a bit heavier than the average stroller, which is problematic if you intend to transport it around or use it with your award-winning UPPAbaby.
Mesa Max's impressive crash test results reflect its commitment to safety at the highest level. It scored a high mark in the frontal impact test and a high score in the side impact test, which means your baby is protected from both sides in the event of a collision.
The anti-rebound feature is a important safety feature. It reduces the forces of rebound in a crash and protects the child's head. This feature is unique in infant car seats and makes the Mesa Max standout among its peers.
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 higher than the typical infant car seats, but not enough to cause a problem.
Like its predecessor, 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 a robust insert for infants between 4 and 11 pounds. The fabrics are GREENGUARD Gold Certified, which tests for low VOCs and chemical emissions.
The Mesa Max from UPPAbaby is more expensive than other alternatives, however it comes with premium features and advanced safety technologies for an optimal travel experience. The base included and a variety of fashionable colorways enhance the value proposition. Its thoughtful design and robust features offer peace of mind for parents on their every trip.
Britax Boulevard ClickTight
The Britax Boulevard ClickTight is a fantastic choice for parents who want a car seat that will expand with their child. The rear-facing limit is 40 pounds, which is more than the majority of infant car seats. Additionally, it can be used as a forward-facing car seat until your child weighs 65 pounds.
The ClickTight Installation System is its major selling feature. It is the most secure, most simple and secure system on the market. The seat belt can be tightened by pressing a red release and pulling the strap. This eliminates the need to loosen and rethread the seatbelt. This reduces the risk of not tightening the correct belt which is the main cause of car seat failure.
Another safety feature is the EZ-Buckle Pad, which keeps the buckle out of the way when you're putting your child in the car seat. This feature, along with beltpath cutouts on the sides of the seat, makes it easy to get your child in and out of the car.
All three of the ClickTight convertible seats (Boulevard, Marathon CT, and Advocate CT) have the identical features. ClickTight Installation System is one of them. Also included is an impact-absorbing frame that has 7 recline positions.
It is a heavy seat, so it may be worth looking at an alternative that is lighter if you intend to use it for frequent car swaps or for travel. The seat is also large, which means it might not be a good fit in smaller vehicles, especially when it's rear-facing.
If you're looking to find a budget seat with similar quality the Graco 4Ever is a great choice. This seat has lower crash tests scores than the Boulevard but is a great option for your child.
The Graco also comes with LATCH connectors with push-on connections which make it much easier to uninstall 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 can be difficult if the webbing is tense. This seat has an easy compartment to store the belt straps.
Clek Liing
Clek Liing is the ideal infant car seat to choose to have it all: style, safety and convenience. This rear-facing only car seat has a high crash test score, an impressive variety of features, and is easy to put in within most vehicles.
The Liing is designed to protect infants with features that meet or exceed both US and Canadian safety standards. It's designed for a simple, secure installation in any seat position. It's loaded with advanced safety features such as an energy-absorbing metal load leg and an outer shell that is lined with EPP foam to provide greater side-impact protection. The base features 7 recline positions and a trusty bubble indicator to let you know when the seat is at the proper angle for your baby.
Parents love the Liing's sleek and modern design, and also its innovative safety features like rigid lower anchors that are much easier to attach than hook-and-loop connectors. The Liing also comes with a convenient quick release with a single-handed button that makes it easy to remove from the base or to use with a variety of compatible strollers. And at less than 17 inches in width it's just narrow enough for 3-across in most vehicles and is a good fit in many convertible car seats to act as a travel booster.
This infant seat is an impressive 1st place in terms of ease of installation with its unique rigid-LATCH system. The lower anchors of the Liing snap into the seat belt slots in the vehicle and the top tether strap snaps on to the vehicle headrest. This ensures a tight snug, secure fit that eliminates the chance that the child will be thrown around during a crash.
The base weighs 9lbs, and the carrier weighs 10.5 lbs. Other rear-facing seats weigh more, however, the difference isn't significant if you plan to transport the car seat and base around. ).
Parents love the Liing's built-in canopy and 100+spf of protection from the sun's rays with mesh peekaboo. Caregivers appreciate the merino blanket that keeps the baby warm and the capability of the handle to pivot away from the canopy. This allows parents to reach for the seat if they need to.
Graco Trio Grow SnugLock LX
The Graco Trio Grow SnugLock LX is a 3-in-1 car seat that converts from rear-facing infant, to forward-facing harness, and finally to highback booster. It features the SnugLock system which allows for an easy and smooth installation using either lower anchors or car seat belts. It has the option of using the top tether in booster mode. (We recommend using the lower anchors for additional security.)
We like that this seat does so much for children of different ages. For infants it comes with an infant insert which helps to support their backs and necks. The insert can be removed when the child is older, and the seat can be used as a regular car seat for toddlers. This is the only car seats that allows the top tether to be used in booster mode. We highly recommend it.
Its base is fairly compact from front to rear and it shouldn't be hard to find a spot for it in the majority of vehicles. It is required for the headrest to be raised however, to allow an easy route for the lower anchor webbing. Thankfully, there's a handy headrest adjustment knob that allows you to do this, and you can view the position of your headrest in the display window.
The SnugLock system is one of the most exciting features of this seat. It's a bar that is in the belt path. This makes installing this car seat with the lower anchors a breeze, and it's similar to using the car seat belt.
The manual has a great illustration of how to run the lower anchor connectors properly through the belt path which may initially be confusing. It's important to keep them out of the crotch buckle loop and away from the chest clip, so they don't interfere with the buckling system.
The Graco Trio Grow is part of the Protect Plus Engineered family, which means it's been subjected to some of the most rigorous crash tests in the industry. This includes rear, side and rollover crashes, as well as frontal impact tests.