Who loves their car seat?

[Amygdala]

Hi everyone!

It'll be time for us to get a new baby car seat soon. We had the Maxi Cosi Pebble before but I never liked it because it's heavy and looks quite uncomfortable for baby. This time, I'd like one that's lighter and ideally has a 5 point harness system and still has excellent safety ratings. Can anyone recommend one they love?

Also, does anyone know which seats currently get top ratings in Which? Reports and the like?

Thank you!

 

[k4th]

I love our maxicosi cabriofix. I think lots of car seats are pretty light until you add baby (plus a post pregnancy body!!!).

Don't know about the current "best buys" though.

Hope you find one you love

 

[Amalee]

What type of car seat are you looking for - convertible or an infant seat? I love my current car seat. It's a Graco Snugride click connect 35. It is included in this travel system (which has been absolutely amazing for these past 14 months!):

https://www.gracobaby.com/products/pages/modes-click-connect-travel-system-antiquity.aspx

My son is just about maxing out the height limit in the seat though, so we're picking up a new one soon.

 

[Amygdala]

Sorry, I should have said I'm looking for an infant seat.
I actually really liked the look of the Graco Snugride. Are there different types though? We'd be going for the Isofix version but I'm assuming they're very similar at least. So you like yours? Does baby look comfortable? And how easy is it to carry?
I hated lugging around the Maxi Cosi Pebble and was shocked at how much easier my friend's seat was to carry.

 

[SpringCrane]

I was really happy with our Chicco Keyfit 30. Easy enough to carry around, popular so you can find a car seat adapter for most strollers, and little dude seemed comfortable. He outgrew it by height around 1, and he's been in the 90% for height his whole life. It comes with a nice infant insert so he was perfect straight from the hospital.

There are lighter car seats around, but they all had shorter height limits. (At least when I was shopping around in 2012.)

I like to use Consumer Reports for ratings. Safety wise, car seats have to meet pretty strict guidelines to be sold, so if it's available it's likely as safe as any other options. I'd look more at material (ease of cleaning, temperature regulation), min and max height/weight, car seat weight, and potential accessories if you need something. You should only use things designed for your particular car seat to ensure safety.

 

[Amalee]

Sorry, I should have said I'm looking for an infant seat.
I actually really liked the look of the Graco Snugride. Are there different types though? We'd be going for the Isofix version but I'm assuming they're very similar at least. So you like yours? Does baby look comfortable? And how easy is it to carry?
I hated lugging around the Maxi Cosi Pebble and was shocked at how much easier my friend's seat was to carry.

There are different types. There is click connect vs classic connect, and there are different weight limits. I haven't ever used a classic connect, but the click connect is super easy to take in and out of the base, or to connect/disconnect from the stroller frame. Baby looks super comfortable - maybe even too comfortable, he falls asleep all the time in it! The sides are nice and soft, but the material is smooth, so it doesn't scratch on his skin or anything. He has gotten some red marks around the neck from falling asleep and leaning into the strap. There are strap covers that you can put on though, and we haven't had an issue with that since we put the strap covers back on.

It's pretty easy to carry when babies are small. My son is a chunker, so I use two hands now and hold it in front of me as I walk if I need to. But I pretty much only carry him in it if he has fallen asleep and I don't want to disturb him. Otherwise, he's big enough now for me to take him out and let him walk. It only started feeling pretty heavy once he got to be 20-25 lbs. (Not sure when exactly). That's probably about a year old of easy carrying with most average weight babies.

 

[dinkery]

We love, love, love our Diono Rainier.
It's absolutely excellent and always top rated on every list.
Also it was recommended to us by local police and fire rescues, many of them use this seat for their children and told us that in all the accidents they've seen this seat protects the best and makes rescue the easiest.
It's expensive but when we took the above into consideration it made it worth the price.

 

[bdb84]

We have the Ingenuity InTrust 35 and I absolutely adore it. The head rest and harness straps adjust simultaneously.

ETA- My link doesn't seem to be working for me when I click on it.

https://www.toysrus.com/buy/car-seats/ingenuity-intrust-35-pro-infant-car-seat-larson-60275-38001666