So I took my trusty tape measure to my local Target and found this Baby Trend seat right next to that Chicco Keyfit. I measured them and found that this one is actually narrower (only by half and inch, but that matters in a tiny backseat)! I took the seat down from the shelf and measured the base, too, and it was also very narrow. I fiddled with the adjustable back and am VERY excited to not have to rethread the straps as my baby grows. I played with the LATCH straps to see if I'd like them. I put the carseat in and out of the base a few times. I rocked the carseat on the floor, played with the sunshade, tested the front button for adjusting the straps, tested the fasteners.
Pros:
1. It's 16.5 inches across!
2. ADJUSTABLE BACK!! No more strap rethreading as my baby grows!
3. The strap length is easily adjustable from the front of the carseat. You can adjust the straps as you're putting your baby in, or after baby's already in, without having to turn the seat all around and do it from the back.
4. As long as you get the right model, it is rear-facing up to THIRTY POUNDS. My 2 1/2 year old daughter just hit thirty pounds, and to think of her still in an infant seat is laughable, but I do remember how sad I was when my first child outgrew his infant seat and we HAD to switch him to the convertible. Life did get more difficult b/c I could no longer just carry in his seat when he fell asleep in the car; I had to unbuckle him and pick him up, and he usually woke up and I had a hard time getting him back to sleep or dealing with him being grumpy for the rest of the day. I would much rather be able to switch to a convertible seat by choice instead of by necessity.
I did find that there were a couple of small things I didn't like:
1. The button to release the carseat from the base is in the front of the seat, not the back like I'm used to. When the carseat is installed in a car, it's a little difficult to get to that button. Whoever designed that must have never actually used a carseat...
2. The straps only fasten into the buckle when they're put together just right. Unlike most carseats, you can't fasten one side and then the other. Again, whoever designed this must have never been a parent! We've had a carseat like this before and I SWORE I would NEVER buy another one, b/c if my son didn't want to go into the carseat, it was darn near impossible to get him buckled. The only reason I did go ahead and buy this was because as a more experienced mom, I think I'll be able to handle the screaming-infant-doesn't-want-to-get-in-her-carseat better this time. Also, I think that if I just loosen the straps a lot, it'll be easier to get the infant buckled, then tighten them to a safe point, and this should be pretty simple with the easy adjustability of this seat.
3. The cover is not machine-washable. Again, designers didn't have children! It is at least removable; having to hand-wash a cover isn't really THAT big a deal when I'm already used to cloth diapers. (I machine-wash my kids' diapers, but I do have to scrape the poo out of them after they start solids.)
I hate it when people leave reviews for products they haven't actually used yet, but this is one I think I can safely review. I've used three different infant carseats between my first two babies so I feel like I know what I'm doing this time :D I also really wanted to let everyone know that there is a less expensive alternative to the Chicco Keyfit for narrow backseats!
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I never write reviews for products, but I HATE this seat with such a passion, I have to do it.There are two things I like about this seat. One: it's cute. Two: it snaps in and out of the base very easily.
That's it. Two things that I'm sure I can find on another car seat.
It is so DIFFICULT to get my daughter in and out of this seat. I bought it because it says it goes up to 30 lbs. What a laugh! My daughter will turn three months in two days (granted she's big for her age) and she has already outgrown this seat. She can barely move when she's in there and every time I pull her out she is just drenched in sweat. I have the straps as loose as they will go and they still pinch her legs. The snaps are also really difficult to do. I feel like I'm hurting her when I put her in this seat! I have purposely not left the house until my husband is home to watch her simply because I did not want to deal with the chore of strapping her into this seat.
Struggling to put her in this today, my husband remarked that whomever made this seat should be beaten. Today is the last day we will ever use this seat.
UPDATE:
I gave this seat to a friend to use until her son is old enough to use the toddler seat she has. Her son was much smaller when born than my daughter (he was less than 6lbs, mine was 9 lbs) and it's working well for him. He's now 3 months old, the age my daughter was when I gave up on this seat. Either way, just keep in mind this seat is SMALL! I still wouldn't recommend it as it doesn't give a lot of growing room.
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Some people seem to really hate this, but I bought this seat for my baby before she was born on the advice of multiple parents who'd used it and liked it. It's nice and small, but my daughter just turned one year old and is currently 22 lbs, almost 30", and she still fits in it. She's about to outgrow it length-wise, but we may keep her in it a little longer, since she's not uncomfortable in the slightest. I love the adjustable back--the knob is easy to turn to move the straps up and down. It goes down to 5 lbs, where some infant seats only go down to 8 lbs, and it goes up to 30 lbs, where some only go to 20 or 25. I liked this one in the store because it felt like the lightest seat to pick up by the handle, which is important to me as I'm small and I have one bad shoulder. A heavy seat could've been a dealbreaker in the beginning. The handle is also nicely ergonomic. We never intended to have a stroller but we bought the Baby Trend jogging stroller to go with this and let me tell you, we use it all the time. It handles like a dream. I don't know about the regular stroller, but if you want a stroller with this seat, you can't go wrong with the jogger.After one year of use, the seat looks surprisingly clean and not at all like the milk-and-Goldfish mess it should look like.
As far as some of the complaints, we have had the straps twist from time to time, and it's a bit difficult to untwist them. Other reviewers have indicated that other seats don't have this problem--I'll believe it when I see it. Regarding difficulties tightening it down, pulling the strap on the front does tend to tighten one shoulder strap more than the other, but you can grab the hip straps and pull on the tighter side to take up the slack from the looser side and then pull the front strap again. I've never found it to cause problems.
Installation is very easy, and, besides the fact that it has a 20-pound, squirming baby in it, I find that getting the seat on and off the base is also a cinch.
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