My REVIEW-Graco Snugride and SafeSeat

After two kids, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on infant carseats. After all the research, trying out, buying returning and buying again, I have come to the conclusion that Graco Snugride and SafeSeat step one are two of my favorite infant carseats on the market.

The Graco SnugRide
(pictured top right) has comfortable, lightweight without the baby in it, has a high safety rating, and fits into most strollers (if it doesn't fit directly into the stroller you have or are thinking about buying you can buy an attachment part). Another thing that I really like about the snugride is that fact that the base is pretty easy to install using both the latch system and a regular car seat belt. There were only two small issues I had with the snugride, the first being the weight restriction. Both of my girls gained weight like crazy as infants and Eve (who was in a snugride) grew out of her's at 5 months. This wasn't really an issue for us since I had stopped lugging her around in the carseat anyways...it just wasn't practical to carry her in it while trying to carry or hold Ellie's hand. My second small issue was the fact that some models need to be adjusted from the back, which really isn't practical. Pay attention to the model you are getting and make sure that the straps can by adjucted from the front and you will be fine. Note that Graco has jsut recently come out with a Snugride 32 which goes up to 32lbs and 32"!

The Graco SafeSeat (pictured bottom right) is another favorite of mine, and was the carseat I bought for Ellie. This carseat lasted until we turned her around and put her in her convertible carseat at age 1. It was comfortable for her, lightweight when she wasn't in it, came in some neat patterns, and had high safety ratings. Again it fits into most strollers and you can buy the adapter that makes it fit into almost any stroller out there. I must say that this carseat base was the easiest to install at least using a regular car safety belt. It has a little snap down latch, so you just tighten the seatbelt and then just snap the latch down and are good to go.

My one and only major problem with Graco is the fact that some of the patterns that I LOVE are only available when you buy a travel system (carseat and stroller combined). I am hoping that sooner or later they will come to the realization that people with muliple children shouldn't have to buy a stroller they don't need to get the carseat they want.

THE ELLIE AND EVE SEAL OF APPROVAL