Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat in Darius
From Graco
Top rated for safety and ease of use by leading consumer magazines, it's no wonder that the SnugRide is America's favorite infant car seat. Equipped with a 5-point harness, an ergonomic carrying handle, a stay-in-car base, a canopy and an infant head rest for added comfort and support, this SnugRide infant car seat will serve you and your baby well.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #26659 in Baby Product
- Color: Darius
- Brand: Graco
- Dimensions: 28.00" h x 17.00" w x 17.00" l, 15.40 pounds
Like Canadian elections - Choosing from the mediocre
I am a first time father. Having spent many hours looking in stores and reading reviews on infant car seats, my wife and I chose this one. Here is why:
Pros - it's light, the base attachment is similar to most others
- it fits into shopping carts; the Graco swing and the Graco strollers
- it has a Winnie the Pooh cover, it also cost only $80 (or $140 in Canada)
- it has the same safety rating as all the rest etc.
- the seat can used in another car without the base and attaches nicely
Cons
- The seat belt safety clip is stored under the babies right thigh. (yes, we couldn't believe it either, so we bought some high impact foam to fix it so it was more even and soft)
- The straps tightens from the rear of the seat
- The chest harness is hard to open for a mans fingers because they are to small and for a woman's fingers because it is stiff
- The plastic shell is bulky and a little cheap feeling
- The handle is not well designed like that of the Baby Trend or Evenflo
My wife and I wondered why some many of the seats looked and felt so similar and seems to have many of the same problems. Interestingly we noticed that even though there appear to be many different brands to choose from, there are in fact only two or three different manufacturing parent companies and the brands are kept to create the impression that a healthly competitive market exist. If you take the cover off most seats and infant seats you will find most of the same plastic shells. For example Eddie Bauer, Maxi-Cosi, Quinny, Cosco, and Safety 1st are all produced by the Dorel Juvenile Group.
- The comfiest seat we found was the Chicco (and they have one that goes up to 30lbs like the Graco SafeSeat only have the weight), but it doesn't fit into a shopping cart or the Graco swing we liked. Chicco's strollers feel very solid too. Much more than Graco, Eveflo, etc.
- The easiest one to carry was the Baby Trend triangular handle, but it did not fit into things too well either and it was a little heavier.
- The more expensive brands like Peg Perego etc. have nice features but are similar to the Chicco and Baby Trend quality so the price is not justifiable.
- Evenflo has a great handle designed but their seats and strollers seem rather flimsy
I hope this helps. God bless. Paul and Flavia Beriault, Toronto, Canada
very comfortable infant carseat
i bought this carseat in the color 'lotus' (crimson and black) and my daughter loved riding in it. the double infant head support cushion was key during the first couple of weeks - i've talked with other people who've had difficulty using infant carseats with just a single head support, as the newborn's head bobbles around. excellent safety ratings and not TOO heavy, although not the lightest carseat out there. installation of the base into our car (prius) was fairly easy, although it required aggressive tightening (i.e. my brother-in-law getting on top of it and yanking really hard on the straps) to be really secure. getting the carseat in and out of the car was easy, and carrying was fine. the baby fell asleep in it a lot, but also just relaxed and enjoyed being rocked in it when we had it on the floor. nice padding. my only complaint: she outgrew it in 16 weeks.
Comfortable, reasonably priced and safe!
I did quite a bit of research before purchasing this car seat. This car seat consistently receives high safety ratings and is reviewed very favorably on Consumer Reports. It's light and easy to snap in and out of the base. You can purchase Graco's inexpensive Snugrider stroller frame to avoid even having to take the baby out of the seat. There are also adaptors for just about every stroller to snap this seat into it. The only con I have (that didn't warrant downgrading its rating) is that the fabric is very hot ... but then again all car seats are hot by nature of their design. It's not a huge issue, we just dress the baby a little lighter when he'll be in the seat for a long period of time.
All in all, this is a great buy for a high quality infant seat!
