Which Infant Seat?

[beej210]

Having a hard time narrowing down which infant seat to buy. This site/book and others recommend the Graco Snugride and the Chicco. But when you go into stores, they are pushing the Britax, Peg Perego, and Cybex. They claim they are safter and that the Graco is really just an entry-level model.

Here's what I'm looking for:
1. Safety
2. Lightweight - we'll be carrying it around a lot
3. Compatibility/price... We really like the City Mini stroller, but the Britax B-Agile is virtually the same, so buying a Britax car seat would be the cheapest overall as I wouldn't have to buy an adapter

[Joolsplus2]

Nah, Graco is super safe. Don't be worried about the hype (The SR35 is as feature filled and easy to use as any fancy brand, easier to install than the Peg, for sure, and 'proper install and use' is what makes a seat safe, so the easier, the better!). The Snugride 30 is the lightest. But I would probably go for the B-Agile and B-Safe for the reasons you mentioned. Check the stroller board to see if the B-Agile is a really super good stroller for long use, I only know how much I love it in the store (it came out after my own babies were babies!)

[Jupiter]

I got the new graco click connect because it goes up to 40 lbs. it's only slightly heavier then the snug fit 30. And it's designed to change position as the child grows. It fit in both my rav4 and my husband's Saturn ion.

[LizLemon]

I have never had a Graco. But a friend of mine had a Graco, liked it fine, and then subsequently got a Chicco for her next baby. She said the difference was like night and day and the Chicco was infinitely better. Much more convenient, easier to install, easier to carry, just better overall. We also had a Chicco and loved it. We were undecided, then tried install various carseats and we were undecided no more. Chicco in a landslide. It was so simple to get a rock-solid install.

Our second-choice was a Cybex Aton, but they were very new at the time so I held off. They also are not compatible with as many strollers as the Chicco (or the Graco, for that matter, but I would take the Cybex oer the Graco - I liked the Cybex and wasn't that wild about the Graco).

[Multimama]

If I were buying I would get the Cybex Aton because it is a lovely little light carseat with lots of nice features, very easy to install (or so I'm told), and if you buy it with the City Mini the adaptors just click right into the sides and you don't end up with a bar going across like you do with some other adaptors. (I think there is a picture of this in a review on carseatblog.com.)

I am always hearing how difficult Peg Peregos are to install so I would stay far away from that one even though I have no personal experience. The only negative thing I can remember hearing about the Britax, since you're considering that one, is that some of their seats take up a lot of room front-to-back so make sure that it fits well in your car.

I agree with Jools that most of what you hear from sales reps is just hype. I have heard them say some truly ridiculous things and make a lot of unsubstantiated claims about safety. Graco makes very nice carseats and I wouldn't hesitate to use one. In fact, we love the MyRide here.

[LizLemon]

I am always hearing how difficult Peg Peregos are to install so I would stay far away from that one even though I have no personal experience. The only negative thing I can remember hearing about the Britax, since you're considering that one, is that some of their seats take up a lot of room front-to-back so make sure that it fits well in your car.

I agree with Jools that most of what you hear from sales reps is just hype. I have heard them say some truly ridiculous things and make a lot of unsubstantiated claims about safety. Graco makes very nice carseats and I wouldn't hesitate to use one. In fact, we love the MyRide here.

The Britax is very big. The Chaperone is huge. Even the smaller version, the B-safe, took up a lot of space in our car. The Aton and Chicco were a lot more compact.

[edurnemk]

I love our Cybex Aton because it's lighter than DS's old Snugride, but I think they are equally safe. The Aton is compatible with maxi cosi adapters, not sure if the BJCM has them.

[Snow mom]

Don't let people at BRU or BBB confuse you. All seats have to meet minimum testing guidelines and while some will claim additional safety, there is no standardized testing for this so it's really blowing smoke. A safe seat is a current, uncrashed seat that is used properly. The b-safe, which snaps right into the britax strollers, does take up more room front to back than either the graco seats or the chicco keyfit. I helped a friend install hers and wasn't that impressed with the ease of install (not that it was terrible, and they are very happy with the seat/stroller combo for their first child).

I went with a graco snugride35 for DC2 after looking at all of them. Both the 30 and 35 can use the same base which is very easy to install with a seatbelt (which is my preference). The snugride30 comes with a different base in box and I don't know if the install on it differs. I don't like the hook latch that is on the base of the graco but again, that's personal preference.

I chose the snugride 35 over the keyfit because the sunshade is much better on the sr30/35 (it rotates 180 degrees and is quite large). I haven't looked seriously at the original snugride22 recently and don't know how the install on it is but I think there is some confusion in that they are all called "snugride" so one person might be referencing the smaller model with back adjust harness and one might be referencing the 30 or 35, which are both very nice seats. I think the 22 with a front adjust is probably just fine and is certainly smaller and lighter--it all depends on your goals for a seat. We had a 22 with a back adjust for DD and did fine with that even--we didn't know what we were missing out on in terms of convenience.