The car seat that saved my back!
February 1, 2022
The idea of having a rotating car seat was very exciting for me. I've struggled for over a year bending and twisting in all sorts of movements trying to get my daughter into her car seat. Thanks to Stellar Product Testing Panel, I've found the best car seat yet.
The setup was a bit tricky because of the layout of the instruction manual. I have installed 3 other car seats and they seemed more straight-forward than this one. I felt that the instructions missed a "step by step" guide, but that's likely because this car seat can be used rear-facing, forward-facing, or as a booster seat. I installed this as a rear-facing car seat. I was surprised to see that the recommended method of attachment is through the shoulder and lap belt, NOT the lower latches, also known as UAS. Unfortunately, because of my car, I had to use the lower latch system. This was relatively easy as well, and it felt ultra secure with both the latch lock system and the tether. I recommend watching the YouTube video on installation or making a video chat support appointment (which I sadly didn't know existed), as the written instructions just seemed so out of order to me, but the video installation was very straight forward.
I wish that the installation manual explained more about the extra headrest and body support pillows. I initially put my daughter with both those installed, even though she's over a year old. I realized that I had taken them out on her other car seat because those instructions gave a height and weight limit for those pads. This car seat does not.
I noticed after installing the car seat, the tilt needed to change based on my daughter's weight. I thought it would be able to be tilted in more positions, but there were only two.
At first, my favorite thing about this car seat was the un-removable shoulder pads. My daughter likes to dismantle everything, including Velcro shoulder pads, and throw them into the nooks and crannies of my car. This car seat's shoulder strap pads are permanently attached, which means she can't reign her terror over them. However, I did notice that depending on how she's sitting, the pads don't completely cover and protect her neck. I have to spend a little extra time placing the pads exactly under the strap, and even still, they sometimes splay out. She doesn't ever seem to mind, but the straps being permanent means you can't adjust them or move them to where you want them.
I absolutely love the rotation of this car seat. It's saved my back! I will always prefer this car seat over other traditional car seats because of this feature. My daughter loves going on a little "ride" every time she gets into and out of the car, and it's just so easy to operate. I also love that when she's able to go forward-facing, I will not need to remove the seat and reinstall - it's already done! All I'll need to adjust is the tilt. With the integrated booster seat, I definitely see our family using this car seat for many, many years to come.
The first few times we drove around, I noticed the right shoulder strap was sagging and not covering her. I realized I did not have the shoulder strap height set appropriately (you lift up on the center handle). After adjusting this to ensure the shoulder straps were very slightly below her shoulders, it has worked flawlessly. I think this was obviously user-error.
Overall, I love this car seat and you will, too!
This product review was collected by the manufacturer.