The best car seat
September 17, 2017
I have the 2016 that I've used for the last 14 months for my 2 yr 8 month old and liked it so much I just bought the matching 2017 for my 1 year old. It is very heavy so not the seat to be moving in and out of the car. I recently moved and checked it on my airline and it came back to me unscathed. I have a Hummer and it fits well in it, even rear facing... but it does lean back pretty far in rear facing so I'm not sure how well it'd fit in a car without a roomy back seat. Forward facing is a different story. Right now I temporarily have it in a Honda CRV and it fits well. I don't think there's a vehicle it wouldn't fit in forward facing as it's not very wide. The child sits very high, nearly level with me and I'm above average height. So if it's installed in the center you won't be able to see out of the rear view mirror or window. My daughter loves it and now that she's forward facing I can even recline it while it's installed by a latch on the front which comes in handy when she falls asleep and I'm at a light because I can recline it from the drivers seat. The chest clip does not press into the chest in a restrictive way yet it's still secure... I love this because she doesn't seem claustrophobic in this seat. The upholstery is not removable which was the only downside for me before I actually ordered it but even though we've had accidents nothing seems to stick to this fabric. As a matter of fact I've only wiped it once and it came clean... everything else just disappears. Installation is extensive for rear facing, took me an hour and a half because there's a base and rebound bar that has to be attached and of course the latch system. It's a complicated seat at first so I read the directions thoroughly. But obviously it was worth it and I think anyone spending this amount of money on a car seat is doing it for the unparamounted safety it provides so a lengthy installation is not a con. Forward facing is much much easier and quicker to install with the ridged latch that just clicks in. There were a couple unclear parts of the directions, especially regarding leveling the seat to be horizontal to the ground as well as retracting the ridged latch system which is different than the rear facing latch belt. My first seat came with the ridged latch sticking out and I installed it rear facing that way because there was nothing stating that it retracts into a storage compartment in the seat! I figured it was supposed to be that way because it's kind of a futuristic looking seat haha. My husband randomly figured it out one day while I was switching it to forward facing because we were trying to pull it out and it wasn't pulling out.... well it was already out and not having ever seen ridged latch nor used it we had no clue and we're yanking and yanking when he finally pushed in and then it all became clear haha ... it was pretty frustrating and the directions just weren't clear and they should have been in the section for rear facing as well as forward facing. But nonetheless, it caused permanent indentations in the leather seat because that ridged latch was out and digging into the edge of the seat in rear facing for several months. All in all it's a fantastic seat. It's beautiful, safe, sturdy, comfortable and I intend on using this seat for all my children to come =-)
Pros
- Sturdy, sits high, comfortable, reclines in forward, beautiful looking
Cons
- Unclear directions
- Too heavy to easily travel with or take in and out of car