Car Seats

The Britax Grow with You ClickTight is a top-rated seat with excellent overall performance combining ease of use, booster fit, and fit-to-vehicle. The ClickTight technology is easy to use to help provide secure installations. It is a heavy and bulky seat, however, that may not be best if you’re moving it between vehicles often.

The Evenflo Maestro Sport is a top performing seat at a value price. It has a lower, 50-lb. harnessed weight capacity, meaning the transition from harness to booster is required sooner than most other combination seats. LATCH use is allowed for the full harness weight range and installation with LATCH is excellent.

The Chicco OneFit LX is an all-in-one car seat for children 5 to 100 pounds that transitions from harnessed mode to booster mode as your child grows. In CR’s tests, the Chicco OneFit LX provides excellent crash protection and secure installation in both rear-facing and forward-facing positions and with either LATCH or seat belt installations. Adjusting the harness is simple, but adjusting the crotch strap means you’ll need to first remove the seat pads, cup holders, and buckle cover, which is not as ideal. 

CR’s testers note that the seat is bulky and fairly heavy at 26 pounds. The seat’s weight has some drawbacks beyond making it harder to move the seat between cars, too: because the seat is on the heavier side, your child will only be able to use the seat inLATCH install mode up to 35 pounds in the rear-facing position, since the LATCH system has a weight limit that includes the weight of the car seat and the child rider. 

This seat may be a good choice for: 

• Families who want to purchase an all-in-one car seat (as opposed to using an infant seat for the first year and then switching to a convertible seat) 
• Families who don’t need to move their car seat between multiple cars
• Anyone who needs a simple and straightforward installation, thanks to the push-on LATCH connectors and seat belt lockoff 
   

The Turn2Me’s rotation feature is limited to rear-facing mode only, and doesn’t simplify vehicle installation to one installation. The seat needs to be reinstalled when changing orientation. Additionally, when in rear-facing mode, the recline may be too upright for small babies. CR strongly recommends using the “optional” body pillows for small babies to ensure the recline is sufficient.
 

The Graco TrioGrow SnugLock all-in-one car seat accommodates children weighing 5 to 100 lbs., and transitions from rear-facing harnessed mode all the way to front-facing highback booster mode as your child grows. This all-in-one car seat also performs very well in CR’s  ease-of-use and vehicle installation tests. But it’s worth noting that the external side-impact features may limit its compatibility in certain vehicle seats, depending on whether there are deep vehicle seatback bolsters. They may also impact the comfort of adjacent passengers if seated next to the car seat.

It’s also important to note that, the Graco TrioGrow SnugLock’s performance in CR’s independent crash testing limits its overall score in our ratings. Based on CR’s crash test results and the seat’s rear-facing lower anchor weight limit, CR recommends installing the TrioGrow with the lower LATCH anchors (as opposed to a seat belt installation) when in the rear-facing position. Our recommendation is not to use the seat belt for installation until you’re ready to turn the car seat around to the forward-facing position at 40 lbs. 

This seat may be a good choice for: 

• Families who want to purchase an all-in-one car seat (as opposed to using an infant seat for the first year and then switching to a convertible seat)
• Anyone who needs a simple and straightforward installation process, thanks to the easy-to-use SnugLock tensioner
• Families who need a seat that’s easy to move between multiple cars
• Cars with a small back seat
   

The Joie Saffron SI all-in-one car seat is well-labeled and easy to use, and offers excellent crash protection in CR’s tests. It can accommodate children from 4 to 120 lbs. and transitions from rear-facing harnessed car seat all the way to forward-facing backless booster seat as your child grows. But CR’s testers found that there are many additional layers of pads for parents to keep track of (and to trap crumbs and snacks in), and many of the removable pads are required for different stages of the seat’s use. The Joie Saffron’s side-impact feature design may also limit which seating positions it can be installed in, if your car has vehicle seatback bolsters that are on the larger side (in fact, our testers think that back seat passengers seated next to the Joie Saffron are likely to bump into the side-impact features on this car seat). On the plus side, this seat is lighter than many other all-in-one car seats, which makes it easy to move between vehicles as needed, and it features push-on LATCH connectors and a seat belt tensioner to help make a secure installation easier.

This seat may be a good choice for: 

• Families who want to purchase an all-in-one car seat (as opposed to using an infant seat for the first year and then switching to a convertible seat)
• Anyone who needs a simple and straightforward installation process, thanks to clear labeling on the seat itself
• Cars with a small back seat
• Parents of preemies over 4 lbs
   

The Graco Extend2Fit all-in-one car seat is designed for all stages of use, converting from a rear-facing harnessed infant seat to a forward-facing harnessed seat and highback booster, and accommodating children from 4 lbs. to 100 lbs. This all-in-one car seat provides excellent crash protection in CR’s tests. One notable feature on the Graco Extend2Fit is its leg extension panel, which slides out from under the seat to provide additional legroom in rear-facing mode. Combined with this car seat’s higher weight limit, this feature may encourage riding in rear-facing mode for longer, which is the safest way for young children to ride. Harness storage pockets on the side panels of the Extend2Fit can make it easier to get your child into the seat without having to move straps out of the way. When forward-facing, the Graco Extend2Fit is easy to secure with either the vehicle seat belt or the lower anchors. However, when rear-facing, you may need to use a rolled towel wedged underneath the car seat to achieve the proper recline for a newborn to 3-month-old on some vehicle seats. 

This seat may be a good choice for: 

• Families who want to purchase an all-in-one car seat (as opposed to using an infant seat for the first year and then switching to a convertible seat)
• Anyone who needs a simple and straightforward installation process, thanks to the push-on LATCH connectors 
• Families who need a seat that’s easy to move between cars
• Cars with a small back seat
   

A seat that performs well all-around. The City Turn’s rotation feature is limited to rear-facing mode only, and doesn’t simplify vehicle installation to one installation. The seat needs to be reinstalled when changing orientation. This seat allows for extended rear-facing to 50 lbs. 
 

A seat that includes features that help achieve a secure installation either rear- or forward-facing and using either the LATCH system or the vehicle belts. Nuna’s True Tension doors help secure the seat without having to use a lot of muscle, particularly with seat belt installations. The Rava’s price may be a deterrent for some, but at least it has performance that may warrant the price.