Child safety at home. Our Child Passenger Safety Technician swiftly installed the UPPAbaby Mesa using LATCH. Even if the seat seems fine, the energy-absorbing foam may be compromised, and the entire seat should be discarded. The bottom line is that at some point, you will need to purchase a new car seat; whether that happens at 9 months or 18 largely depends on your baby's growth rate, not the car seat limits. The side seat is more convenient for loading baby in and out of the vehicle, is often the only option for multiple kids, and for those driving vehicles built after 2002. The Clek Oobr has the best crash test score based on the best-combined sensor data from our crash test dummy. On top of the foam and standard seat padding, there might be extra padding that can be anything from an infant insert piece that helps position small infants properly to padding on the harness to help keep baby's head positioned and/or avoid rubbing on the straps. The Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 has impressive scores for crash test results, installation, and comfort/quality that helps earn it a top spot in this competition with stiff competitors. This adjustable knob moves the recline foot up and down on the Graco SnugRide Click Connect 35, Many of the seats we reviewed offered a belt lock off to help secure the base of the seat to the vehicle seat belt. Our commissioned crash tests and hands-on use provides the information you need to help you choose the best safety seat for your baby. While many parents would consider crash test performance the most important factor, we feel that given that over 80% of parents improperly use or install the car seat, that you first consider installation and ease-of-use. The Fit2 is an award winner and has lots of reasons to add it to your shortlist of options, but we want to caution you to put the 2-year claim out of your head and focus on the growth of your child instead. To pass the Federal safety requirements, all of the seats must achieve a score less than 60 for the Chest (g) Clip (once again, lower numbers are better). More stars mean safer cars. The Britax Boulevard connectors (above right) are a clip style of LATCH that we feel is more challenging; the clip itself is harder to remove and requires twisting to remove them. The Aton 2 has a HIC score of 340 using the load leg and 521 without the leg (a lower number is better); these results indicate a higher margin of protection when using the leg with the Aton 2. We combined our test data with crash test data obtained from NHTSA's own tests to create a comprehensive analysis of each seat. Theoretically, studies indicate that easy installation can translate to a potentially safer experience in an accident as injuries from real-world crashes are often related to installation mistakes or harness use errors. Our Senior Review Editor, Wendy Schmitz, mother of two, has been leading the analysis of our infant car seat test results since 2014. We believe this matters and deserves to be a factor parents consider when deciding which seat to purchase. Some of the seats also offer padding or "head wings" around the head area. With the rethread style we worry parents will put off adjusting the harness when it needs it because it requires an empty seat and takes more effort. The former typically requires an empty carrier and can be challenging to thread and adjust depending on the straps, the slots, or padding. For those who decide to place the infant seat on one of the two side seat locations with LATCH, which is what we recommend due to the increased simplicity and more reliable installation process using LATCH, the quality options are more extensive. When you click on links to buy products we may earn money to support. This lack of agreed-upon definition requires further research to determine how each company chooses to define the term and claims to have tested their design, if they are claiming it has undergone tests at all. Most vehicles do not offer LATCH anchors in the center location. For this reason, we recommend using the LATCH method whenever possible to increase the chances installing a seat correctly. We suggest considering the 2nd place finishers for ease of use because they also ranked well overall. But, it is worth noting that most parents (61%) place the infant car seat on one of the side seats, most often the right rear passenger side which allows the driver to see the baby more easily. To evaluate the crash tests of each seat in this review we analyzed their crash test results to compare how well each seat did in relation to the required minimum score, as well as how each product performed compared to the competition. This information can help keep you on the right track and ensure that you understand what you are reading so you can interpret the information as easily as possible. This test is often called the "pinch test. The Cybex Aton 2 comes standard with a load leg. For us, it feels good to honor a seat that provides an additional margin of safety that almost everyone can afford. While the seat weight is potentially not as critical as the carrier weight of an infant seat, it can be important if you regularly travel or need to use public transportation (like Uber or Lyft). This seat is not that easy to install, but it does offer higher than average crash test results. They can operate from the front or back, depending on the design. These inserts can be on top of the fabric or under the padding and cover. G Good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests; Advanced Superior Advanced or superior rating for available front crash prevention — vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations A G Acceptable or good headlights standard For each crash test, there are sensors in the head and chest of a crash test dummy buckled into a car seat and placed on the "sled." The higher the bar, the better the margin of protection. Given that some seats perform better in crash tests than others, we gave higher scores to those seats that provide an extra margin of protection in crash test results. With so many potential safety seats on the market, the one thing we can all agree on is there isn't one product that can meet the needs of every family. If you look in the crease of your car's back seat, you should find little metal bars like those shown above. This change happens when the baby reaches somewhere between 9-12 months of age, depending on your particular car seat and how fast your baby grows. The more convoluted design includes removing the shoulder straps from a splitter plate on the back and physically moving the straps from one slot height on the seat back to thread them through different slots (above right). We’ve said it before: every car seat sold in the U.S. meets the minimum Federal safety standards. The Nuna Rava has similar sensor results earning an 8 of 10. It does have a little lip on one side to help deter little ones from playing with it, You will know that the harness is tight enough when you are unable to pinch any harness fabric between your fingers. We will cover the features and performance metrics commonly considered when looking at different seats. The taller the bar, the better the margin of protection. We prefer products that didn't require body weight to tighten or struggling to complete a secure attachment, including the Nuna Pipa and Chicco Fit2. We developed a comprehensive set of tests based on our infant car seat testing process. The trick will be remembering to remove it when the baby outgrows it. ", The Evenflo isn't the easiest to install with LATCH or with the vehicle belt, The LATCH storage are hard plastic pockets on the each side of the Chicco seat base. However, the Clek Foonf (above left) is one of the narrowest options at only 17 inches, which means you might be able to use three safety seats across your back seat or two and an adult. Price: £300 | Buy now from Argos. Given that injuries can occur when a harness is not fitted properly, we prefer non-rethread assemblies. This product saw a better head and chest sensor result using the leg than without it. The height adjustment on the Fit2 is non-rethread and includes moving the headrest up and down with the pull of a tab on the top of the assembly. The least useful storage type are clip attachments on the seatback (above right) that leave straps dangling and accessible to children. If you use the seatbelt instead of the LATCH connectors to install the base, good LATCH storage is essential, so the straps and connectors don't get in the way when attaching the carrier onto the base. The argument made by the petitioner was that consumers were entitled to know what was safest and that it would drive other companies to create safer car seats. However, surprisingly, about a third of the options are easier to install using the vehicle belt not the LATCH. While the jury is out on the efficacy of the anti-rebound bar offering additional protection, general physics seems to support the claim that it does. We perform comprehensive testing that we use in combination with Crash Test data to determine how each product's performance regarding measured forces of impact during crash tests. Weight is important because you might be carrying baby and seat from place to place, or will need to lift baby higher than your waist for some SUVs and trucks. Given that many of the products have a weight limit of 50-80 lbs, it is clear that most children will utilize the vehicle belt at some point. We believe the Doona fills a niche in a way no other car seat can. Also, the term is filled with ambiguity. We installed each seat in 3-4 different vehicles of varying sizes and manufacturers ranging from a compact car to a passenger pick-up truck. Above you see the Phil and Teds Alpha seat on the test sled with a 12 month old crash test dummy strapped in. For the time being, we think it is a potentially useful addition to an otherwise high-scoring seat, like the bars found on the Clek Foonf, Britax Boulevard ClickTight ARB, Britax Marathon ClickTight ARB, and the Britax Advocate ClickTight ARB. Both methods of installation are possible whether the seat configuration is rear-facing or front-facing. So, if you are going to place the seat in the center, it usually means you are going to need to master the relatively tricky process of anchoring the base using the seat belt. Unfortunately, the Evenflo required a towel in our rear-facing tests in at least one of our test vehicles, so you'll need to bring something to use a bolster depending on the car when traveling (see the user manual). The seat weights were ranked from the heaviest to the lightest, and they are scored appropriately. The age of your car seat for your baby grows bigger, or a random guess base and the Perego! 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