List Price: $189.99
Sale Price: $129.95
Today's Bonus: 32% Off
I did research for seriously 4 months now. Looked absolutely everywhere. Consumer based as well as from Car Seat Technicians, Consumer Reports etc.
I also did several check-outs of the skeletons of all these seats below.
**If you get anything from this review, just get that you need to check underneath the padding on any car seat you buy and look for protection from a crash. And make sure it is not cracked in half like my babytrend was for who knows how long.
These came up as the safest best reviewed infant car seats:
Graco Snugride 35 $139
Chicco Keyfit 30 $179 can find for 139
Safety First Air OnBoard 35 $159 can find for 139
Baby Trend Flex Lock $99129
Use your babies r us coupon to get 20% off, I got this seat for 137 after tax. (was 159) it is worth it to pay 37 more bucks. trust me. when your baby hates the car seat and screams constantly while you are driving because they are uncomfortable 37 dollars is nothing. See below at bottom about this coupon
I had bought a baby trend with my son in 09. It was small, portable, and the base is what makes this seat so safe. There is EPS foam ALL THE WAY down the back, not just halfway. Well guess what. That foam split in half somehow, it may have even been shipped that way, and I didnt notice till it was too late (past tiny 90 day warranty) Plus my son was very uncomfortable in this seat, head flopped everywhere and there was no padding. So screw babytrend, even though I have 8 bases.
Graco SnugrideMost popular, well trusted, good reviews. Well guess what. The EPS foam and nice soft extra foam only go down to like the baby's shoulders, or on a newborn dont even touch the back. If you wrecked, dont you want to know your baby's fragile body is hitting enery absorbing foam instead of hard plastic?????? Also complaints of fabric being too hot in summer.
Chicco Keyfitexcellent reviews mixed in with people hating this seat because of weird features. Let me say the EPS foam goes all the way down the back and I almsot bought this seat. The only thing is that it wont go to thirty pounds because your baby will get too tall for it, way too fast. expensive bases too.
FINALLY THE AIR ON BOARD BY SAFETY FIRST
The padding is comfortable and breathable and the premmie insert is just perfect!! EPS foam all the way down the back. It is by far the most padded and comfortable car seat you can buy for your little baby. All the standard features of the above seats too. I liked the buckle as well. This is a new seat, however, and so not much extra info is out there like on Gracos. It also seemed less wide than some of the other seats and fit well in the back of my small FJ cruiser beside a convertible car seat.
Let me add this. I did reseach on convertible car seats too, have a Britax boulevard which my son went into at about 9 months or so, and will probably try the First Years True Fit on this one.
Anytime you go to babies r us usually they will give you a small 4inch or so coupon booklet even if you just buy some snacks. You cant use it for two weeks so go do this and plan on coming back and use the coupon to get 20 percent off any one itemmeaning your car seat. It is usually a good chunk. Also get a rewards card (not credit card or anything) but you can get cash back on it and they will send the equivalent of babies r us cash in the mail after purchases. Like I am also getting 10 percent back which is almost 16 dollars I will get in the form of a babies r us cash thing. It is pretty awesome.
HOPE THIS HELPS NEW PARENTS!!! THIS CAR SEAT CRAP IS OVERWHELMING!!!
good luck and enjoy your little bundle, it goes by so fast!
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
Our son was tiny when we brought him home and he fit perfectly in this car seat. I love that this will grow with him for a good while so it does not feel like a waste of money jumping from an infant carrier to larger carrier.The headrest for newborns works wonders and always kept my son's head in place, and unlike some Chicco brands, this car seat does not make my son sweaty in 100* temperatures here in Texas.
I know I've read some reviews that the level was too noisy for their child because instead of liquid, there is a small pellet that rolls around...it really was not noticeable for my son or for us. At first I thought it was going to be a problem but once my son was here, he never woke up because of the pellet. And the only time it should roll around is when you pull the car seat out of your car and if the motion of that doesn't wake your baby, the pellet really shouldn't either.
It's been 4 months since we've used this carrier and ours has just started pilling a bit. It's really not that bad. I've seen some pictures of this car seat in use for shorter amounts of time with worse pilling and I really don't understand why. Our son doesn't wear shoes and I've never seen him rubbing his feet against the seat so there is a minimal amount of pilling. Not a huge issue for us personally; however, for the price I'm sure it may bother others.
It is a larger car seat and we couldn't use it and sit comfortably in my Scion Xa so we are using our Civic for the family car and there is more than enough room for all 3 of us to sit comfortably. Because of its size, the car seat does eventually get heavy. (It was a piece of cake when my son was a newborn) Now that my son has reached 14 lbs, it is tougher to carry him around in it. However, I am trying to lose those extra postpartum lbs so lifting something a little heavy is really not a big deal. Also, he's already 4 months and able to hold his head and body up so we just take him out of the car seat and leave it in the car. It has just worked out easier that way for our family.
All in all, I love this car seat. My son does not complain about being in his car seat and I love the safety ratings it has received. Heaven forbid we would actually have to test out it's safety features, but I am confident that this car seat will protect our precious bundle with its full potential.
Best Deals for Safety 1st On Board 35 Air Infant Car Seat, Silverleaf
I've had mine for 7 months now. My son is a little big and long for his age 95 percentile. When he was first born he looked like the seat was eating him. Now that he is so big he still looks like the car seat is eating him :). I put him in my sisters Greco and his foot was hanging off the side and his head was at the top of the seat in 2 more lb he would be out of that seat and there is no airbags. Thankfully I got the air ride he will be in a rear facing for 12 more lb and I don't need to worry as much about an accident.Ya its heavy but you can leve it in the car or get a shoping cart or do what I still do get a Comfy Baby Sling Carrier these are the best two things I got for Jacob
