We found that the harness straps could be difficult to tighten with a toddler in the seat, and the crotch buckle was hard to undonot ideal for caregivers who didnt have good hand dexterity. The forward-facing LATCH limit for the Extend2Fit 3-in-1 is the same as it is for the Extend2Fit Convertible: 45 pounds. Additionally, it is recommended to follow the height and weight limits for each stage of the seat to ensure maximum safety for your child. But we think it could be difficult, in practice, to actually keep a kid rear-facing in the Boulevard for that long. And its a heavier seat, at 23 pounds, versus the 3-in-1s 19 pounds. Once the lid of the seat is off, you can position the Foonf on the vehicle seat at the correct angletheres a diagram on the side of the seat to guide you, based on your childs age and weight. Since many convertible car seats are optimized for slightly older babies to children of around five years, buying an infant carrier is usually a better option for the first few weeks or months. The results were factored into our final recommendations. As the name implies, a convertible car seat is designed to evolve as your child grows. We evaluate all convertible car seats on these weighted metrics: For partnership inquiries please reach out to us at The Super Cinch strap makes installation using the LATCH system easy (no tug-of-war with straps and seats), and bubble levels indicate when youve nailed the correct seat angle in rear-facing and forward-facing modes. So we think most families will be happier going with an infant seat, then a convertible seat, and then a booster seat. The seat does a standout job of encouraging extended rear-facing usethe safest position for a young child. We believe you should always know the source of the information you're reading. And its irritating that if you do decide to shell out half a grand on a Foonf, youd still have to buy a cupholder. So depending on the vehicle, the Boulevard may not be suitable for a three-seats-across situation. The Stratos was particularly well padded and had a sensor to audibly remind you not to forget your kid in the back seat when you turned off the car. User-friendly. We were joined by Wirecutter senior editor Courtney Schley, who has four kidsthe youngest just aging into his first convertible seat. Depending on the model, convertible car seats can fit children up to 65 pounds in the forward-facing setting. According to The Car Seat Ladys Baer, that could pose a safety issue if a child rides with their feet tucked under the bar and then is in a crash. Check out our guide on how to get rid of a used car seat. Improper cleaning can compromise the integrity of the seat. Other great features include a six-position recline, 10-position no-rethread harness (and harness storage areas) and two attached cup holders. The Max model features 25% more legroom than standard NextFit models (not a safety issue, but a comfort one) and a higher rear-facing weight limit, two huge pluses. The Extend2Fit Convertibles harness is easy to tighten around your childyou just pull on the strap located at the front end of the seat, so a snug fit can be achieved without a struggle. It does not feature a no-rethread harness and the seat fabric isnt removable for washing. After adjusting the pitch of the seat to the appropriate angle for your child, you pull the LATCH connectors out from the base of the seat, align them with the cars LATCH anchors, and click them into place. And its prone to stainingthe material was not as easy to casually wipe clean as that of the Britax or the Clek. A convertible car seat is designed to accommodate children throughout their development. It was an inexpensive, light seat that weighed just 9.1 pounds, making it easily portable. Installation is undoubtedly the biggest potential source of frustration when it comes to car seats. Theres no getting around the fact that the Foonf is a beast; its not a seat youre going to want to be taking in and out of your car a lot. So in a crash, a forward-facing toddler would endure far more force to their neck, relatively speaking, than an adult would under the same circumstances. Its slim profile is also a nice-to-have if you are trying to fit multiple car seats into the same row. After extensive research and field testing, we found that the Graco SnugRide SnugFit 35 DLX is the best infant car seat for most families. If the seat is dirty, be sure to strictly follow the manufacturers cleaning rules order to maintain the seats safety and integrity. (My almost-3-year-olds legs were scrunched up, even with the Ravas footrest extended.) BrigittEarleyis a freelance writer and editor based in New Jersey. (As explained in detail in our guide to the best booster seats, once your child is in a booster, the vehicle seat belt is working as the sole means of restraint, so the use of LATCH becomes totally optional.) Convertible car seats also usually have greater weight and height limits for the rear-facing setting than infant car seats do, so your baby can ride rear-facing for longer. Babylist is a free, all-in-one baby registry that lets you add any item from any store, as well as things like help, favors and cash funds. A few models make it so easy to make adjustments, you can do it with one hand. And we found that it can be difficult to get a child in and out of the NextFits deep, egg-shaped seat. Additionally, we found it difficult to maneuver a child into the seat, which is perched higher than average. And unlike our main picks, which have a forward-facing weight limit of 65 pounds, the Scenera Nexts weight limit is 40 pounds in both forward- and rear-facing mode, which means you cant use it for nearly as long. Its not confusingand Clek has good videos online for how to install the seat (though we found the owners manual to be sufficient). Convertible car seats come with an expiration date. The seats fabric cover can also be removed completely, hand-washed, and drip-dried. Some higher-end units also become booster seats, either with or without a back. Tightening the LATCH straps can take some force; this is true for just about every seat, with the exception of the Britax Boulevard ClickTight (our runner-up pick) and the other Britax ClickTight seats. Look for a label with this statement from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Marathon has the same easy ClickTight installation system that we love in the Boulevard. Many large toddlers and preschoolers struggle to stay rear-facing in their car seats because at a certain point they start to feel squashed. It has three recline positions, two cup holders and a seat pad that snaps on and off for when you need to throw it in the wash, a really nice feature for a convertible car seat at this price point. Clek discovered that it was possible for kids to place their fingers through the crotch buckle opening and pick at the foam seat cushion beneath. For the 2022 edition of this guide, I personally installed 12 different convertible and all-in-one seats in the second row of my Honda Odyssey minivan. As previously described, the Foonfs rear-facing install takes more effort than the rear-facing install of our other picks. Any parent knows just how, frankly, icky car seats can get and thats even if you dont have a child prone to car sickness. There are a few lightweight convertible seats that work well for travel, but the inconvenient reality is that once your little one outgrows their infant seat youll lose the ability to easily transfer their seat from the car directly onto your stroller. But my sons scrunched-up legs did make it difficult for me to get him buckled in, because I didnt have much room to operate. Also note that this seat isnt approved for airline travel. The impact made my car spin 180 degrees. LATCH (lower anchors and tethers for children):The LATCH system allows you to attach the car seat directly to your vehicle's frame with anchors and tethers, which is safer and more foolproof than using a seat belt to secure it. If keeping your child rear-facing for as long as possible is the number-one priority, then we think youd be better served by our other picks. So theres a good chance youll be able to use the LATCH install for the full life of the Extend2Fit Convertible, if you choose. The term convertible refers to the fact that this type of car seat can be installed either rear-facing or forward-facing, whereas infant seats are meant to be installed facing the rear only. This seat also is on the bulkier side and may not be the right choice for smaller cars. Both the NHTSA and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that a child ride rear-facing until they reach the height and weight limits of the seatand we wanted those limits to be generous. Weighing in at about 10 pounds, its super easy to sling over your shoulder while youre walking through an airport and to install either in an airplane seat or a ride share. The seat comes with a removable body pillow to help newborns fit snugly in the seat. The Extend2Fit 3-in-1 comes in two versions: one with an anti-rebound bar and one without. After considering the advice of multiple experts, we concluded that although we could certainly conduct a series of crash tests that would generate plenty of data, it was unlikely that data would be meaningful or serve its intended purposethat is, to provide us with information that would help us zero in on the best options among a small group of high-quality seats. We have a Nuna Rava for my 4-year-old, and he loves it. At 29.4 pounds, the Britax is a bit bulkier and heavier than many seats out there. The 2018 version of this guide was written by Rebecca Gale, a Washington, DCbased reporter whose articles on policy and parenting have appeared in outlets including The New York Times, Slate, and The Washington Post. Its not the car seats fault that it is a little too big for our cars, so overall we are very happy and would buy this again, but want to let other parents and would-be buyers know that its a tight fit in a normal sedan when rear-facing. -Grateful Dad. But theres no doubt that it takes strength to lift and lug this seat. We commissioned Calspan, an independent lab in Buffalo, New York, to conduct the tests. This is because convertible car seats arent nearly as portable or as light as infant seats. This seat is genuinely versatile, well-made product and can last even longer than some of other seats on this list, but the slim design does have drawbacks: it can be a tight fit for some kids and it doesnt come cheap. These rules apply no matter what type of seat you get. This can be because its easier to see them or hand them things from the front seat when theyre facing forward, because caregivers are hoping to reduce car sickness, or because their child simply prefers it. The cover is a polyester blend thats available in dark colors (black and dark gray) with lighter accents. Also, the higher sides on the Rava made it difficult to get a large, almost-3-year-old into the seat and buckled. Being able to convert the seat from rear-facing to forward-facing means you can use the same model from the day your baby is born until shes ready for a booster seat. The Marathon has the least padding of the three, and it typically costs about $30 less than the Boulevard. In many states, the law requires that children be at least four feet, nine inches tall to ride in a car with only the seat belt. But weve found that each individual type of seat tends to do a far better job at its dedicated purpose than an all-in-one seat can. 1997-2023 BabyCenter, LLC, a Ziff Davis company. Car seat experts say it can be tough to get a good fit for newborns. All Clek seats last nine years from the date of manufacture before they expire, and they have a three-year warranty, if you register the seat within 90 days (one year if you dont register it). The super soft and breathable fabric cover is safe to both machine-wash and -dry, and comes on and off the seat struggle-free. Some can even be turned into a booster seat for older kids. Theres also an extendable calf rest that adds two extra inches of legroom for extra comfort. Much to our surprise, the more we learned about independent crash testing, the less certain we became that it made sense in our particular circumstances. As the name implies, a convertible car seat is designed to evolve as your child grows. What to Expect supports Group Black Opens a new window and its mission to increase greater diversity in media voices and media ownership. Like the Extend2Fit Convertible, the 3-in-1 has a no-rethread harness thats linked to the headrest; its smooth and simple to adjust. Typically, infant car seats can fit babies up to around 35 pounds or 35 inches long. Here's what parents need to know about both infant and convertible car seats, plus how to decide which one is right for your newborn. The fact that the cover is machine-washable helps on that front, and its unlikely that the lingering peanut butter stains we failed to vanquish wouldve been visible had our seat cover been black rather than light gray. Find advice, support and good company (and some stuff just for fun). Some parents find that the straps are hard to tighten. Installation of the 4Ever DLX 4-in-1 is similar to that of the Extend2Fit 3-in-1. An all-in-one car seat is meant to be a utility player: It can be used as a rear-facing infant seat, a rear-facing toddler seat, a forward-facing toddler and big kid seat, and finally a booster seat. There is a Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit 4-in-1 model, which has the same extension panel for added legroom as the Extend2Fit 3-in-1 (and the Extend2Fit Convertible); we did not test this one, but its not available with the SnugLock feature. To help you pick the best convertible car seat, BabyGearLab spends tens of thousands of dollars crash testing car seats at the same certified testing lab the US Government uses for its safety certification testing. If you plan to travel with your convertible seat regularly or to move it around frequently, this seat probably isnt the ideal one for you (unless youre Popeye). The Extend2Fit Convertible addresses that problem by adding an extension panel to the seat that pulls out to provide 5 inches of extra legroom in rear-facing mode. We looked for seats that could be installed easily in the rear-facing position and the forward-facing position, using either the vehicles seat belt or the LATCH system. (The Graco Extend2Fit Convertible has the highest maximum rear-facing LATCH weight weve come across, at 45 pounds. Convertible car seats generally have a longer lifespan than infant seats; nine to 10 years is typical, instead of six or seven. Its ease-of-use rating from the NHTSA is four out of five stars. And after a few months of use, the 3-in-1 looked cleaner, though I doubt it had any less grime on it. The bottom portion of the cover can be removed separately by undoing two snaps (by contrast, the standard seat cover on the Extend2Fit Convertible is one piece, which you remove by undoing little elastic loops all around the seats edges). One of the major downsides about convertible car seats is that they can be heavy and hard to install especially if you want to use them in multiple cars or travel often. The freshest in parenting this week, delivered to your inbox. Despite this unique design, the seat is easy to install and has plenty of additional safety features to love think energy-absorbing foam, a steel-reinforced frame, an anti-rebound base, and Evenflo's LockStrong bar that helps tighten your seat's installation without a lot of tugging. Eventually, my 4-year-old would go on to declare that he liked this seat the best out of any that we testedand I dont think this was merely because his little brother was still coveting it. The sleek seat is covered in a performance fabric that not only keeps baby comfortable, but is also super stylish it comes in 11 color combinations that range from the standard black or gray to a more vibrant peach or violet. Before purchasing or registering for a convertible car seat, check the seats specifications and compare them to the dimensions and features of your vehicles back seat. Car seat size: If you have a small car or need to fit three car seats across a row, you'll need a smaller or more narrow car seat. The term convertible refers to the fact that this type of car seat can be installed either rear-facing or forward-facing, whereas infant seats are meant to be installed facing the rear only. When Do You Need a Convertible Car Seat? And its easy to mistake other parts of the vehicle, like cargo hooks, for them, but cargo hooks dont have the same load-bearing capacity. A kid can no longer sit rear-facing when their head is less than an inch from the top of the seats shell height. Get a good fit. LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children. Convertible Car Seats Transition from rear-facing to front-facing with one adaptable product that stays in your car. Really quickly: Lets go oversafety basics for newborn car seats. All convertible car seats are equipped with a top tether strap and lower anchor connectors, but the manufacturer may recommend not using the top tether strap in the rear-facing position, so check the manual. In fact, the rapid-remove seat cover is easier to remove for washing than the standard cover; our potty-training almost-3-year-old had an accident in this seat, and it took minimal effort to wash the rapid-remove cover and get it back on the next day. We found installing the seat to be quick and intuitive, particularly when using LATCH (which stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children, a system that lets you attach a pair of metal hooks on the seat to a set of anchors built into the car). (You can also use LATCH to install the Boulevard, but Britax recommends the seat belt method, and we agree.) Different car seats require different cleaning methods; the particulars are spelled out clearly in your owners manual, and they should be heeded. And while the Scenera NEXT isnt hard to install, it does take some practice to get comfortable with the process and to get a secure fit. Also, the inclusion of a seat belt lock-off would have made installing the Extend2Fit Convertible with the seat belt method easier and more appealing. During testing, the 4Ever DLX 4-in-1 also appeared to take up more room in the car front to back than the 3-in-1 (when appropriately reclined). The Crypton Super Fabric comes in marshmallow (off-white fabric, black sides), pitch black (black fabric, black sides), thunder (gray fabric, black sides), aura (purple fabric, white sides), cloud (gray fabric, white sides), snow (off-white fabric, white sides), snowberry (pink fabric, white sides), and ten-year blue (blue fabric, white sides). Or you could consider hiring an expert to come to your home to do an installation and training on one or more seats; just be sure that the person you choose is a trained CPST. While some people dont find this to be an issue, others do, especially older caregivers who may not have the strength to lift a child easily in and out of the seat. The NextFit Zip is available in two other variations, the Chicco NextFit Max ClearTex and the Chicco NextFit Max Zip Air, which have different fabrics. (With all of our main picks, Ive had this less-than-fun experience more times than I care to admit, and I found it the most challenging with this seat.). So some bigger kids may do fine in the Boulevard. ), The 4Ever doesnt fit newborns very well, and Child Passenger Safety techs (AKA car seat experts) will tell you that this seat is very tricky to install correctly, so be sure to read your manual thoroughly and get your seat double-checked by an expert if possible. With many car seats, getting a tight install relies on human force or skill. It would certainly be more environmentally friendly if you could actually manage to purchase a single seat rather than multiples. Enter the Clek Foonf, which combines both a narrow footprint and top-of-the-line features. Dispose of your seat properly. The Britax Boulevard ClickTight is part of the companys ClickTight family, which also includes the Britax Marathon ClickTight (our former top pick in this guide) and the top-of-the-line Britax Advocate ClickTight. Like the Extend2Fit Convertible, the Foonf can accommodate rear-facing children up to 50 pounds and forward-facing kids up to 65 pounds or 49 inches. Check your vehicle manual to confirm the location of the tether anchors. When youre installing the Extend2Fit 3-in-1 rear-facing with LATCH, keep in mind that you can only use that method for kids who weigh up to 40 pounds; once they reach that limit, youll have to switch over to a seat belt install if you want to keep the seat in the rear-facing position. It comes in a number of fabric colors and options: the StayClean and CleanComfort (Nanotex) fabrics, which are stain-, moisture-, and odor-resistant synthetic blends; the Cool N Dry and Cool Wash fabrics, which claim to wick away moisture and promote ventilation, to keep kids cooler; and the most recently added (as of May 2022) line of SafeWash fabrics, which are made without added flame retardant chemicals. (Its our preferred method of installation for this seat.). Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Plus, the Foonfs lower sides make it easy to get a rear-facing child into the seat and buckled. Although the Foonf feels roomy to its passengers, this is one of the narrowest car seats on the market, at only 16.9 inches wide, making it a good candidate for families that need to fit three seats across. Thats because you can never be sure of a car seats past. BabyCenter selects products based on the research of our editors and the wisdom of parents in the BabyCenter Community. The LATCH system is a safety system designed to secure child car seats in vehicles. I had a bad car accident back in January this year and my son was with me. Group Black's collective includes Essence Opens a new window, The Shade Room Opens a new window and Naturally Curly Opens a new window. Over time, we found that because the seat belt wasnt locked off, the car seat didnt stay totally in place; it started to rotate, and we needed to reinstall it to make it straight again. Thats a lot of car seats, and the cost of each one and the time spent making sure its installed safely adds up. It features Britaxs innovative ClickTight installation system: You thread the vehicles seat belt through a path beneath the Boulevards seat cushion and close the seat cushion, and then a built-in mechanism tightens everything securely into placeno grunting, sweating, or swearing required. A few cars, like the. While the thought of three little ones across the back seat of your car may feel very far away at this point, if youre planning on a larger family, its probably something you should consider as you shop for car seatsespecially convertible seats, which tend to run quite wide. *At the time of publishing, the price was $440. However, if you have a petite child, neither the 3-in-1s rear-facing LATCH limit nor its harness limit are likely to become an issue. Your baby will be ready for this larger, five-point safety harness seat once theyve outgrown their infant seats height and weight limits (usually around 30 inches or 30 pounds); this will likely happen at any point between 6 months and 2 years of age. But since theyre not portable, we dont think theyre especially well suited for the task.). And we can see how an all-in-one seat might also make a lot of sense if youre in the market for an ancillary car seatsay, to keep at a grandparents house or as a spare for the babysitter. BMW 8 Series. (10%), -$10.00 Then, we vetted each to make sure it met the standards outlined by CPSTs, as well as groups like the AAP and NHTSA. The Foonf does require more assembly than its counterparts, with a separate headrest, an anti-rebound bar, a base for rear-facing install, and manually threading harness straps. As safe as possible. The company also tends to have some of the highest safety ratings out there, and it even publishes its own crash-testing results; as far as were aware, Clek is alone among its peers in doing so. *At the time of publishing, the price was $400. We were won over by its solid construction, painless forward-facing install, cushy seat bed, and stain-evading fabric. Though we didnt rule out any seats on the basis of their being brand new, whenever possible we chose to test models that had been available for at least a year, in order to give us a more solid track record of user reviews. We independently review everything we recommend. This seat comes with a one-year warranty and has a lifespan of 10 years. While safety and convenience are undoubtedly the most important aspects of convertible car seats, sometimes the icing on the cake is a car seat thats pretty to look at. Read our full reviews of the best convertible car seats. Additional reporting by Ingela Ratledge Amundson and Rebecca Gale. If youre planning on using a convertible car seat from day one, you need to be sure the seat you choose fits your infant correctly. Keeping a child rear-facing until theyre 4 years old is an ambitious and oft-cited benchmark; that would mean an average of about 35 inches tall and 40 pounds. We have three! -Val. Weve also had to wash the cover after a carsick incident and they came off and went back on easily, which is a huge plus. What you might not realize is its one of the slimmest convertible car seats on the market. They dont have carrying handles like infant car seats, and theyre not designed to be quickly taken out of the car once theyre installed. (My kids like to bring their water bottles with them on outings.) Though the process is fairly intuitive, it does require some force and coordination to get those tabs closed. (Seats that dont have a no-rethread harnesslike our also-great pick, the Clek Foonfrequire you to manually remove the straps and then rethread them into higher slots as a child grows taller, which can be tedious.) We think the trade-offs and inconveniences of keeping your child rear-facing for as long as possibleideally until your child reaches their seats rear-facing height or weight limitare worth it for the added safety and security. To make our picks, we analyzed bestseller lists and threads in the BabyCenter Community to discover parents most-recommended convertible car seats. Also, when the seat is in forward-facing mode, the depth of the seat seems to make a kids legs point straight out, rather than hang down, which can encourage the kid to (annoyingly) kick the seat in front of them. The Foonf also comes with an added safety feature: an anti-rebound bar, which is a steel support piece that, in the case of a crash, can help to reduce the rebound motion of the seat. Always follow the manufacturers instructions when installing a convertible car seat using the LATCH system to ensure maximum safety.
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