is the Snugride still a good carseat?

[nicknack]

I'm just doing some research for my sister, we had one for both kids and it was great but that was a few years back, so just checking. She had the Peg Perego on her registry but really, is it worth $250!??!?! Seems like a lot for something they'll outgrow after a little while...

Thanks!

[Joolsplus2]

The Graco Safeseat Step 1 (SS1) is much easier to install than the Snugride, and typically lasts kids 6-12 months longer than the Snugride, so it's probably a much better buy. The Chicco Key Fit is THE easiest base to install, probably THE easiest seat to use properly, and fits newborns really well. The Peg is probably great, but it has to be the 30/30 model...and I'm not sure it's worth the price when the other two seats I mentioned are really awesome and much cheaper (biggest Peg drawback? the handle has to be down when driving! Chicco and Graco allow handles up when driving nowadays) :). Snugride is ok if it's installed with LATCH...but if you are using a lap/shoulderbelt (as many newer cars have in the center, and they don't allow LATCH in the center), then it's really a pain (generally requires a locking clip).

Anyway, that's my 2.5 cents :)

[nicknack]

Thanks! Right after I posted, I dug around and saw all your posts about the Chicco and how great it is, so I think she's going for that one. Plus, you can't go wrong with orange! Thanks again.

By the way, it's amazing how much longer they can stay in these infant ones now! And it's not even like my youngest is super old, she's 2, but I swear in the old Snugride it was the whole 20 lbs/26 inches thing, wasn't it? That's why I'm always amazed that people are carting babies around in them past like 5-6 months since that's when we switched.

[Joolsplus2]

I know, they are WAY better for bigger babies! I think it was those teeny snugrides and peg primo viaggios that spurred the government to make it an actual law that seats MUST pass testing with the 22 pound/29 inch dummy at least (previously it was the 9 month old 'sandbag' dummy, believe it or not! that's why seats were just so tiny...parents wanted light seats and seat makers could fool new parents into buying anything, no matter how short it fit :p )

:)

[codex57]

I'd pick a SnugRide over a Peg. Mainly cuz Gracos fit on pretty much every other accessory (like strollers, swings, etc.).

I'm still laughing at how our friend's neighbor has like $1500 worth of strollers now. It all basically started cuz she got the Peg instead of the Graco. We have another friend who's just starting to look at strollers and she's running into the same problem cuz she already has the Peg.

[wellyes]

I bought a Snugride on sale at Target last week for $65. It has the EPS foam, which is the one thing that the Baby Bargains book warned that (older) inexpensive versions of the seat lacked.

If I had any reason to believe that the Peg was safer, I'd shell out cash for it gladly. But for something that's essentially the same? I'd much rather spend less & use the difference to start a 529 account.

[Joolsplus2]

Does the model that you bought have a Front harness adjuster? If so, that's great. Even the rear adjusters are fine, just a lot lot harder to use properly. No one seat is really safer than another (with the exception of Evenflo infant seats..I simply cannot trust them given the huge number of repeat recalls they have, personally), they are just easier or harder to use properly (proper use is the most important factor in safety, yet 99% of parents are doing something wrong on any given trip, so I advocate for the easiest to use seat, but there's no reason you can't read the manual, ask questions, and be extra vigilant and save yourself $30-$100 bucks on a seat purchase! :) )

[MontrealMum]

There's a lot of good advice here, but just a note about the Peg Perego. When we went to our reunion for our birthing class about half the parents had the Peg, and the other half had one of the two Gracos (mostly the Snugride though). We have a Snugride only because of the previous less than steller review in BB, and it barely fits in our cars as it is. Every single parent who had the Peg complained about how heavy it was. They all wandered around picking up our Gracos and making comparisons. If you have a car with a roomier backseat I'd get the Safeseat since it's good for so long. I only wish DS wasn't growing out of his infant carrier so soon.

[AtomicLush]

I really loved our SnugRide and make recommendations about it whenever I can. It was honestly one of my "best buys" that I would definitely get a second time around. I paid a bit more for mine with the Gracopedic memory foam back in 2006...I don't think there was EPS foam back when I was looking. The newer models of this particular seat now has BOTH Gracopedic memory foam AND EPS foam. Anyway, they had just raised the limits for the Snugride to 22 lbs and 29 inches back in 2005/2006, so I was able to use it up to when DS was almost 1 years old. (I think the old limits were 20 lbs and 26 inches.) I *loved* being able to carry the entire seat whenever he fell asleep in the car (which was almost always because the seat was so soft and comfy), so I wouldn't wake him up unstrapping him and taking him in/out of the seat. The only problem with the memory foam was that it could get pretty hot on his back, especially in the summer, but he didn't seem to mind too much. After he turned a year old and outgrew the 22/29 limit, I moved him into the Britax Decathlon. He rarely sleeps in the Decathlon because it's definitely not as soft. But I haven't really found any convertible carseat that was as snuggly as the SnugRide. And it really did fit on everything. I have a Peg P3 stroller and a Jeep stroller and it fit on both just fine with the stroller strap.

Edited to Add: The current models with the Gracopedic memory foam are: 8649MTR3 Metropolitan, 8649LOT3 Lotus, 8F12MIN3 Milan, 8F12PTI3 Platinum, and 8F12TRF3 in Truffle. I had the Central Park from 2006, which is now available only as a SafeSeat pattern instead. I like the idea of the Safeseat, but they are HEAVY.

[lrg]

The Graco Safeseat Step 1 (SS1) is much easier to install than the Snugride, and typically lasts kids 6-12 months longer than the Snugride, so it's probably a much better buy. The Chicco Key Fit is THE easiest base to install, probably THE easiest seat to use properly, and fits newborns really well. The Peg is probably great, but it has to be the 30/30 model...and I'm not sure it's worth the price when the other two seats I mentioned are really awesome and much cheaper (biggest Peg drawback? the handle has to be down when driving! Chicco and Graco allow handles up when driving nowadays) :). Snugride is ok if it's installed with LATCH...but if you are using a lap/shoulderbelt (as many newer cars have in the center, and they don't allow LATCH in the center), then it's really a pain (generally requires a locking clip).

Anyway, that's my 2.5 cents :)

Hi! I just saw this post and have a question about your response. When you say "they" don't allow LATCH in the center....who are you referring to? We have an '07 CRV and there are 5 LATCH spots across the back to allow us to maneuver a little. We have the Graco carrier's base in the center with the MA behind the driver. Should I not be using LATCH there? What's the reason behind this change in newer cars?

(It's my plan that as soon as we get the Blvd I ordered and we're ready to move the baby out of the carrier, I was going to switch their positioning due to what you told me a while back. I guess I just felt more comfortable with the baby outboard if we had the side impact protection since it's so close to the door...assuming it'll fit, anyway)

Which, as always, leads me to another question - when I put my son in his MA (and whatever we get next, probably the Radian) in the center, it's that kind of seatbelt that you have to clip to the ceiling. I assume I do not clip it, but just use as a lap belt...or does that not work? (yes, he's over 40 lbs)

[Joolsplus2]

Well... 'they' being cars from between 02 and now of which 'many' don't have LATCH in the center. If yours DOES have LATCH in the center (pictures of the seat installed in the manual in the middle with LATCH is the most obvious indicator), then you are A-OK :).

There's a couple of those types of seatbelts...one with a lapbelt that has a shoulderbelt that comes from the ceiling and hooks to the latchplate OR the kind that just pulls from the ceiling and buckles into a regular buckle and a small buckle (one on each side)... if it's the two-belt kind, yeah, you can just use the lapbelt, and if it's the one belt with two buckles, you have to do both buckles.