Not all infant car seats are made equally. The best infant carrier car seat seats have features that improve the performance of crash tests. For example, load legs are shock-absorbing components that are attached to the base or seat and help to reduce movement in a collision.
A favorite with CPST instructors is the Chicco KeyFit, which has a large rear-facing weight limit and height limit as well as bubble level indicator and a spring-loaded reclining foot that allows for easy installation.
Graco Mesa Max
The Graco Mesa Max is one of the top-rated infant car seats due to its user-friendliness. It has an easy design and excellent fabrics. It also comes with an innovative feature that allows you to connect the harness of your child directly to the headrest. It comes with a large canopy that can be put away to keep your child shaded when traveling. The only drawback is that it is a bit heavier than normal this could be a problem if are planning to transport it or if you want to pair it with your UPPAbaby stroller that has won awards.
The Mesa Max’s impressive crash test results reflect its commitment to top-quality safety. It scored well in both the frontal and side impact tests, meaning that your baby will be safe from the two sides of a collision.
Another notable safety feature is the Graco’s anti-rebound panel which reduces rebound forces during an accident and safeguards your child’s head. This feature is unique among infant car seats and makes the Mesa Max standout among its rivals.
Graco Mesa Max can easily and securely be installed in your vehicle with LATCH used with the base included. The load leg, recline angle adjustment as well as the indicator of tightness help ensure a fast, accurate installation. The base weighs 12.6 pounds which is slightly heavier than the typical car seat for infants but not enough to be an issue.
Like its predecessor, UPPAbaby Mesa V2, the Mesa Max uses dual-knit fabric that’s free of fire-retardant chemicals. It also comes with an infinitely adjustable headrest and a robust infant insert that helps improve the body’s fit and positioning for infants weighing between 4-11 pounds. The fabrics are GREENGUARD gold certified, which ensures low chemical emissions and low VOCs.
The Mesa Max from UPPAbaby is more expensive than some other options, but it comes with top features and modern security technologies to provide the best travel experience. The included base and a variety of fashionable colorways enhance the value proposition. Its thoughtful features and robust design provide parents with peace of mind on every excursion.
Britax Boulevard ClickTight
The Britax Blvd ClickTight is a great choice for parents looking for a car seat they can grow with. Its rear-facing weight limit is 40 pounds which is higher than other infant car seats. It can also be used forward-facing until your child weighs 65 pounds.
The ClickTight Installation System is its biggest selling point. It is the most secure, easiest and most secure system on the market. It allows you to tighten the seat belt by pressing a red release button and pulling the harness strap and not having to loosen it and then re-thread it. This reduces the risk of not tightening the correct belt which is the most common cause of car seat failure.
The EZ-Buckle Pad is another safety feature that holds the buckle away when you put your child in the car seat. This feature, as well as beltpath cutouts that run along the sides of the seat, make it easy to get them in and out of the vehicle.
The three ClickTight convertible seat models (Boulevard CT, Marathon CT, Advocate CT) share the similar features. ClickTight Installation System is one of them. Also included are an impact-absorbing frame that can accommodate 7 recline positions.
It’s a heavy seat, so it might be worth looking at a lighter alternative in case you plan to use it for frequent car swaps or traveling. The seat is large and could not fit in smaller cars.
If you’re looking for a low-cost seat that is of similar quality, the Graco 4Ever DLX is a great choice. This seat has lower crash tests scores than the Boulevard but is still an excellent choice for your child.
The Graco also has push-on LATCH connectors which make it much easier to take the seat off. The Boulevard’s LATCH connectors feature an additional release mechanism, which requires you to press a grey button and pull on the webbing to loosen it. This can be difficult if your webbing is tense. This seat has a convenient storage compartment for belt straps.
Clek Liing
Clek Liing is the infant car seat to choose to have it all in terms of style, safety and comfort. This rear-facing car seat is simple to install, comes with an excellent crash test rating and a range of features.
The Liing is made with features that go beyond US and Canadian safety regulations. It’s designed for a simple, secure installation – at any seating position. It’s packed with safety features that are advanced such as an energy-absorbing metal load leg as well as two-piece shells lined with EPP foam for enhanced side-impact protection. The base has 7 recline positions, as well as an indicator bubble that informs you that the seat is just the right angle for your baby.
The Liing is loved by parents for its modern and sleek design, and its unique safety features like rigid lower anchors that are easier to attach than standard hook-and-loop connectors. The Liing also has a convenient one-handed quick release that makes it simple to take it off the base and to use with a variety of strollers compatible with it. It’s also slim enough to fit three-across several vehicles, and it fits well into many convertible car seats for a travel boost.
This infant seat is rated as 1st for its unique rigid-LATCH installation system. The lower anchors of the Liing snap into the lower seat belt slots of the vehicle and the top tether strap snaps on to the vehicle headrest. This ensures a tight snug, secure fit that reduces the risk that the child could be thrown around during an accident.
The base weighs 9lbs and the seat weighs 10.5 lbs. Some other rear-facing only seats are much heavier in weight however, if you plan on taking this car seat and its base everywhere it won’t be too noticeable (especially when you add a child to the equation! ).
Parents love the Liing’s built-in canopy and 100+spf of protection from the sun’s rays by a mesh peekaboo. Caregivers love the blanket made of merino that keeps the baby warm and the capacity of the handle to pivot away from the canopy. This allows parents to reach for the seat whenever they need it.
Graco Trio Grow SnugLock LX
The Graco Trio SnugLock is a 3-in-1 seat that can be converted from a rear-facing infant to a forward-facing harness, and then to a highback booster. It comes with the SnugLock installation system which allows for a smooth and easy installation using either a vehicle seat belts or lower anchors. It is possible to install it using the top tether when in booster mode. (We recommend always using the lower anchors to provide extra security.)
We like that this seat can be used by children of different ages. It comes with an infant insert for younger babies that helps support their backs and necks. As they grow older, the insert can be removed and the seat is used as a regular car seat for toddlers. This is one of the only car seats that allows the top tether to be used in booster mode. We recommend it.
Its base is quite compact front to back and it shouldn’t be hard to find a spot for it in most vehicles. The headrest must be raised to allow for the lower anchor webbing to pass through. Thankfully, there’s a handy headrest adjustment knob that can easily accomplish this, and you’ll be able to observe the position of the headrest in the display window.
The SnugLock system is one of the coolest features about this seat. It’s a bar that’s within the belt path. Installing this car seat using lower anchors is simple and almost as simple as using the vehicle’s seat belt.
The manual also provides an excellent diagram of how to correctly guide the lower anchor connectors while routing them through the new belt path which can be a bit difficult initially. It’s important to keep them out of the crotch buckle loop and away from the chest clip, so that they don’t hinder the buckle system.
The Graco Trio Grow belongs to the Protect Plus Engineered Family, which means that it has been subjected to some of the most rigorous testing in the industry. This includes rear facing infant car seat, side and rollover crashes, as well the frontal impact tests.