What can anyone tell me about Graco Comfort Sport Seats?

[mommyofone]

Hi-
I am looking at getting a Graco Comfort Sport Seat. I already have an infant car seat, and i've heard this is a great next step up after the infant. What can anyone tell me about them? I've heard fairly good reviews, but i am just curious what y'all think. Thanks!

Lauri
first daughter due 3-26!

[o_mom]

Turning on the brutal honesty here :-) .... They suck. It was the worst $80 I ever spent kid-wise. Here is why:

The straps twist - they become baling twine in a matter of days.

The straps are uneven - the two sides are really one long strap that runs under the seat. You cannot even them up when the child is sitting on them.

The seat is short and the top slots are low. DS1 outgrew the seat at 24 mos. He is not tall or heavy - 15% ht and wt at his 2 yr visit (33 in) - but his shoulders were over the top slots.

The recline is awful - it will need at least 1 and probably 3 pool noodles to get the proper recline.

The harness adjuster is inaccessible when rear-facing.

The cover wore a hole in it after just 18 months, and this was our backup seat used 1-2 times per month. I can't even imagine if we had used it every day.


Having said all that, if you are still reading, here is my advice:

If you get a ComfortSport for $80, you will have to buy another harnessed seat after that. A Graco Cargo will run around $100, so you will have spent $180. That would have bought a Fisher Price Safe Voyage EX which will last until around age 5 and will be much easier to use during that time. Or, you could put that money toward a Britax Marathon ($220-260) which will be even nicer.

If you can't bring yourself to spend the money up front, get a Cosco Scenera. They are $40 and solve many of the problems I listed above. I sold my ComfortSport and bought a Scenera and while it is not as nice as a Britax, it is loads better than the Comfort Sport. There is supposed to be a fancier version of the 5pt Scenera coming to BRU with more padding, so that would be another option. You will probably still need another harnessed seat after the Scenera, but you can see at that point if you will need a higher-weight seat or just a 40lb combo seat.

So, there you have it! Hope this helps!

[sophie627]

Well, while I'd agree that this seat is no Britax, I don't mind it so much as the pp! Granted, I've only had it a few months, but I have not had problems w/twisty straps. My biggest complaint, as PP mentioned, is how difficult it is to adjust the straps when it's RF. It is almost impossible. But other than that, it seems comfy and I got a tight fit w/o too much trouble using the shoulder belt. I did use a noodle or two, but I have to do that w/every RF seat I've ever installed! Anyway, I don't think it's so bad. I thought the scenera just was too cheap feeling - icky fabric, straps, no padding, etc.
HTH,
Hannah

[kellyotn]

Its biggest drawback is how terribly short it is. Even very small children outgrow it WAY too soon. $80 for less than 2 years is pretty pricey. A MA that lasts 5-6 years is about $45 a year. ;)

We have a Scenera in DH's truck. Its is VERY tall. We have the black and tan one from Walmart. I liked it the best colorwise. My tall-ish 3.5 year old rides in a Marathon (super plush and padded) most of the time, yet has not once complained about the comfort of the Scenera. She'll ride for 3+ hours happily, sleep like a champ too. For $40, its amazing!

[o_mom]

Hee, hee, hee... can you tell I hated the seat? :-)

I do agree that almost all non-tethered seats will probably need a noodle, but we had to use 3 (max allowed) on the ComfortSport just to get a 30 deg recline in our car. We could not get close to a 45 deg recline. With the Scenera it is around 40 deg recline with just one noodle in the same car.

I also agree the Scenera padding is pretty skimpy. Kids don't seem to mind, though, and hopefully the new model at BRU will help this out.

ETA: I also thought the ComfortSport wasn't so bad and was willing to live with all the other faults until DS outgrew it just 18 mos after we got it. That put me over the edge. I actually refused to give it to my sister who wanted it when I sold it because I knew that she would never bother to untwist the straps, never tighten the harness because she couldn't reach it, etc. and that my niece would go forward-facing as soon as possible to avoid all the problems.

[noahsmommy]

Well, we use the seat for our DH as a second carseat, (we have a RA for our main one) so maybe that's why we don't mind it as much as the pp's! We also use it forward facing so, it's much easier to adjust the straps and such. My DH is light and short, so we don't have a height issue. I'm not familiar with the Scenera, so I couldn't give a side by side comparison. Personally, for the $80, I thought it was a good price for safety, decent padding, ease to use. But you can't beat the long term cost of the MA as mention in the pp! Our straps have gotten twisted in both the RA and Graco CS, but it was just a matter of making sure the straps were lined up correctly throughout the entire carset, then, they would just stay flat from then on.

If there is one noticeable difference is that the RA is much easier to tighten and loosen the straps than the CS, and you have occasionally readjust the angle of recline on the CS to make sure the ball indicator remains in the correct space.




http://b2.lilypie.com/9BPpm5/.png[/img][/url]

http://bd.lilypie.com/qQVzm5/.png[/img][/url]

[bubbaray]

Do NOT get me started on the CS. We HATE ours! Seriously, it is probably the one piece of baby gear that we got that we just hate -- DH even more than me and he's usually pretty neutral in his baby stuff opinions.

The top slots are too short, the straps twist, the straps are hard to adjust, its a PITA to install. The twisty straps didn't start until we had used the seat for about 6m.

Honestly, I would never purchase that seat again. DD will be out if very soon (she's almost 23m). Her "main" seat is a Britax Marathon, which we (and she) love! Soooooo easy to install, wonderfully smooth harness, nice padding, etc..

HTH

Melissa

Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]