Car Seats

The Graco Nautilus SnugLock Grow is a top performer. The SnugLock belt tensioner removes slack from the seat belt or LATCH strap with minimal effort from the user, making it one of the easier seats to install with either method. Belt fit in booster mode is excellent. An additional benefit of the SnugLock Grow is that the torso wings widen as the headrest position moves higher, to accommodate your ever-growing child in all directions. 

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 NextFit Zip builds on the solid design and performance of the original NextFit convertible with redesigned lockoffs that are a bit easier to use for seat belt installations. With push-on LATCH connectors and SuperCinch tensioning technology, the NextFit seat make LATCH installations easier to navigate. Zip versions of the NexFit make cover removal easier.

The NextFit MAX builds on the solid design and performance of the original NextFit convertible with extended rear-facing limits up to 50 lbs and extended legroom. Push-on LATCH connectors and SuperCinch tensioning technology make LATCH installations easier to navigate. The extra legroom may make it a tight fit in small cars or third rows.
 

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.

For such an expensive seat, the Nuna Revv has limited use. With its 40-lb harness capacity limit, most children will need another forward-facing harnessed seat before they can switch to a booster per best practice recommendations. LATCH installation is only available up to 30 lbs in both configurations. The Revv’s saving grace is its ability to get a secure installation in most vehicle types with either the lower anchors or seat belt in rear-facing and forward-facing configurations. Also, the seat’s swivel feature works well. Note that the top tether must be attached at all times, even when the Revv is installed rear-facing.

The TrioGrow SnugLock is an excellent choice for those considering an all-in-one seat.

The Chicco Fit4 is a high performer because of its ease of installation and booster belt fit. You’ll have to switch to a seat belt installation when rear-facing sooner but it’s still easy to secure with the vehicle belt.

The Extend2Fit is easy to secure with either the vehicle belt or the lower anchors when forward-facing. However when rear-facing, you may need to use a rolled towel to achieve the proper recline for a 0-3 month old on some vehicle seats that have a steep cushion angle. 

The Graco SlimFit performed well in our fit-to-vehicle, booster fit, and ease-of-use evaluations. See the additional information for how it performed in our crash testing. 

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.