Graco Snugride 30 or 35?

[perfecttiming]

Which one is better: Graco Snugride 30 or 35?
It seems like by the time the baby is 30 lbs, you would probably switch over to a different car seat so why even get the 35 ...but maybe I'm wrong?
Any experience with this?
Thanks!

[lorinick]

The child will hit the height will likely never hit the weight in either seat. Which ever you like. The 30 and 35lb seats usually last 12 to 18 mts.

[perfecttiming]

That's what I thought - so it seems pointless to get the 35?

[Joolsplus2]

I think the 35 is a little nicer... the base is easier to install (especially with a seatbelt, since most cars don't have LATCH in the middle, you use the seatbelt, and the built-in lockoff makes that super easy...though both seats share the same extra base, so if you have that situation, you could just get one of those separately). The 30 is a little lighter and fits tiny newborns better, but it's also got a tall shell and a short handle and every time you put the handle down, it scrapes the canopy down with it in an annoying way. The extra 2 inches of height limit on the 35 mean it may last as long as 6 months longer, plus it's less cramped in the head area.
Some of us have situations where an infant seat till our child is walking is invaluable (my lazy kiddo didn't walk till 15 months, it was winter, and I park in the driveway), so being able to haul her average-weight bum of up to 23 pounds in her SR35 till she was 19 months old was awesome, while she would have been out of the SR30 at closer to only a year. If you park in a warm garage and always have an extra arm to carry a baby, then a smaller infant seat, even moving out of it to a convertible at a couple months old, may work better for you...it all just depends on your situation, really.

[AnnieW625]

I would go with the larger SR 35.

With DD1 we had a base model Graco Snugride 22, we used it with her until she was 7 mos. old. I didn't care for it much but it did it's job. I was going to use it with DD2 also (although I really really really wanted a Graco Snugride 35 in Laguna Bay (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4089529)), but a friend of mine ended up wanting to get rid of a Graco Safe Seat (this seat has now been renamed the Graco Snugride 35) and I am soo happy I took the seat off of her hands because DD2 is now just a few weeks shy of a year and is probably close to 30" and 20lbs. and still has oodles of headroom left in the seat. DH has now eaten his words because he wondered why I had gotten another carseat for DD2 before she was born and now he has zero problems leaving her in the infant seat until she outgrows it (estimating somewhere around August or September) because with two kids daycare drop off is just easier with the baby in the infant seat. DD1 also didn't walk until she was 16 mos. old and I have a feeling DD2 will be the same way. The seat with DD2 in it isn't lightweight, but I am really glad that I have it.