Top Rated Infant Car Seats

Not all infant carrier seat car seats are created equally. The most effective ones have features that increase the performance of crash tests, such as load legs--shock absorbing parts on the base of the seat that help reduce movement during the event of a collision.

Chicco KeyFit is a favorite of CPST instructors. It comes with an upper-right rear-facing weight and a height limit that is high and a bubble-level indicator and a spring loaded reclined foot that makes it easy to put in.

Graco Mesa Max

The Graco Mesa Max ranks as one of the easiest infant car seats to use. It comes with great fabrics, a simple design, and a handy feature to connect the child's harness to the headrest, making it easier to tighten. It also has a large hideaway canopy that allows you to keep your baby cool while traveling. The only issue is that it's a little heavier than average this could be a problem if you are planning to transport it or if you want to pair it with your UPPAbaby stroller that has won awards.

Mesa Max's impressive crash test results demonstrate its commitment to top-quality safety. It scored highly in both the frontal and side impact tests, ensuring that your baby will be protected from the two sides of a collision.

The anti-rebound panel is another important safety feature. It helps reduce the force of a crash's rebound and ensures that the child's head is protected. This feature is not common in infant car seats and makes the Mesa Max stand out among its rivals.

If used with the base, the Graco Mesa Max can be installed quickly and safely in your vehicle with LATCH. The load leg, the recline angle adjustment and the indicator for tightness ensure a fast, accurate installation. The base weighs 12.6, which is slightly more than the average car seat for infants, but not enough to cause an issue.

The UPPAbaby Mesa V2 uses the same double-knit fabric that was used in its predecessor. It is free of chemicals that are fire retardant. It has an infinitely adjustable backrest, as well as a robust insert for infants who weigh between 4 and 11 pounds. The fabrics are GREENGUARD gold certified, which tests for low chemical emissions and low VOCs.

The Mesa Max from UPPAbaby is more expensive than the other alternatives, however it has top rated baby car seats-quality features and the latest safety technology to ensure a safe traveling experience. The base is included and comes in a range of attractive colors. This adds to the value proposition. Its thoughtful design and sturdy features offer peace of mind for parents on every trip.

Britax Boulevard ClickTight

The Britax Boulevard ClickTight is a great option for those looking for a car seat that will expand with their child. The weight limit for rear-facing is 40 pounds, which is higher than many infant car seats. It can be used forward-facing up to the point that your child reaches 65 pounds.

The ClickTight Installation System is its biggest selling point. It is the most secure most user-friendly and secure system on the market. It allows you to tighten the belt by pressing a red release button and pulling the harness strap without the need to untie it and then re-thread it. This reduces the risk of incorrectly tightening a seat belt, which is the leading cause of car seat failure.

The EZ-Buckle Pad is another safety feature that holds the buckle out the way when you put your child in the car seat. This feature, along with beltpath cutouts on both sides of the seat, makes it easy to get your child into and out of the car.

The three ClickTight convertible seat models (Boulevard CT, Marathon CT, Advocate CT) share the same features. ClickTight Installation System is one of them. Also included are an impact-absorbing frame with seven recline positions.

The seat is quite heavy, however, so you might want to consider a lighter option if are planning to make use of it for travel or frequent swaps of cars. The seat is large, so it might not fit in smaller vehicles.

If you're looking for a low-cost seat with similar quality the Graco 4Ever DLX is a great option. It has lower crash tests scores than the Boulevard but is still an excellent option for your child.

The Graco also has push-on LATCH connectors, which make it easier to take the seat off. The LATCH connectors on the Boulevard have a different release mechanism which requires you to press a grey button and pull the webbing to loosen it. It isn't easy to do this if the webbing is tight. This seat comes with a convenient storage compartment for belt straps.

Clek Liing

Clek Liing is the ideal infant car seat you should consider If you're looking for everything with style, safety, and comfort. This rear-facing car seat is easy to install, has an excellent crash test rating and a range of features.

The Liing is designed to protect newborn car seat darlings with features that meet or surpass both US and Canadian safety standards. It's designed to allow for a simple, secure installation - in every seat position. It's loaded with advanced safety features like an energy-absorbing steel load leg and a two-piece shell lined with EPP foam for enhanced side-impact protection. The base features 7 recline positions, as well as a dependable bubble indicator that lets you know when the seat is at the right angle for your baby.

The Liing is a sleek, modern stroller that parents love. It has innovative safety features such as rigid lower anchors that are more convenient to attach than hook-and-loop connectors. The Liing comes with a single-handed release, making it simple to remove the base and connect it to strollers that are compatible with it. It's also slim enough to fit three-across in several vehicles, and it fits well into many convertible car seat as a travel boost.

This infant seat scores a solid 1st place for ease of installation with its unique rigid-LATCH system. The lower anchors of the Liing click directly into the lower seat belt slots and the seat's top tether strap snaps into the headrest of the vehicle to create an extremely secure, tight fit that eliminates the risk of the child being thrown around in an accident.

The seat is light, with the base weighing 9 lbs, and the car itself weighing just 10.5 pounds. Other rear-facing only seats are heavier in weight however, if you plan on taking this car seat and its base everywhere, the slight difference won't be noticeable (especially when you add a baby to the equation! ).

Parents appreciate the Liing's built in canopy and 100+spf sun protection that comes with a mesh peekaboo window. Parents appreciate the merino blanket that keeps the baby warm and the capability of the handle to pivot past the canopy. This allows them to grab the seat if they need to.

Graco Trio Grow SnugLock LX

The Graco Trio GROW SnugLock is a 3-in-1 seat that can be converted from rear-facing infant to forward-facing harness, and then to an highback booster. It features the SnugLock installation system that allows for a smooth and easy installation using either a vehicle seat belt or lower anchors. It has the option of using the top tether in booster mode. (We recommend always using the lower anchors for extra security.)

This seat is ideal for children of all age groups. For younger babies it comes with an infant car seat newborn insert that helps to support their backs and necks. The insert can be removed once the child is older and the seat can be used as a regular car seat for toddlers. It is one of the few car seats that allow the top tether to be used as a booster. We highly recommend it.

Its base is compact from front to back, which means it shouldn't have a problem fitting into most vehicles. The headrest has to be raised in order for the lower anchor webbing to pass through. Fortunately, there's a headrest adjustment knob to easily do this, and also view the position of your headrest in the display window.

One of the most unique features about this seat is the SnugLock installation system that's a bar that is located within the belt path. Installing this car seat with lower anchors is simple and is almost as easy as using the vehicle's seat belt.

The manual has a great illustration of how to guide the lower anchor connectors correctly through the new belt path which at first can be confusing. It's crucial to keep them away from the crotch buckle loop, and away from the chest clip so they don't interfere with the buckling system.

The Graco Trio Grow belongs to the Protect Plus Engineered Family, which means that it has been subjected some of the most rigorous tests in the field. This includes rear, side and rollover crashes as well in frontal impact tests.