First are rear-facing baby car seats (suitable from birth to age 2 years), which are placed in the rear seat with your baby facing the back of the car. Next are forward-facing toddler car seats (ages 2 to 4 years, and no more than 40 lb.), which are similar to rear-facing seats, except positioned facing the front of the car. Finally, belt-positioning boosters are available in high-back or backless (ages 4 to 8 years, or up to 4’9”), which elevate your child on a higher seat while using the standard seat belt. This slow, but secure progression helps your baby gradually grow into a seatbelt safely. For meeting all these stages, try a car seat that transitions from one step to another, such as a convertible car seat. This allows the car seat to grow with your little one, which creates a smoother transition and is more cost effective.
The Poplar S also includes a rebound stability bar for use when rear-facing, which helps limit movement in a crash. The Poplar costs $300 and the Poplar S costs $350, the same price as our current runner-up pick, the Britax Boulevard ClickTight. Britax is phasing out the Boulevard ClickTight and Marathon ClickTight, though they are available to buy while supplies last. Clek is a Canadian car seat manufacturer graco convertible car seat best known for its high-end convertible car seats, which have a reputation for weighing a ton and being built like tanks. The company came out with its first infant car seat, the Clek Liing, in 2019, and it has yet to appear on some people’s radar. But during our recent round of testing, we were—at the risk of gushing—blown away by the Liing’s functionality, engineering, safety features, and overall design.
After the impact of a crash, a car seat can surge forward in the car and then rebound back, potentially sending a baby face-first into the vehicle seat back; the anti-rebound bar can limit that rebound effect. (For more information, see Understanding optional safety features.) Regardless of whether you consider this feature to be important, it’s pretty uncommon on a seat that costs around $200. After careful consideration and consultation with experts, we decided that field testing graco convertible car seat alone, without crash testing, should dictate our picks in this guide. If anything, our research has confirmed that caregivers can take comfort in knowing that most car seats do their job very well. “Five-point harness child restraint seats are highly effective in reducing the chances of injury and death,” Maltese said. So the most effective strategy for keeping your kids safe on the road is to choose a car seat that works well for your family, and for you to use it correctly.
Their install methods are identical, and many of their features are the same. The Marathon has the least padding of the three, and it typically costs about $50 less than the Boulevard. The Boulevard and the Advocate both offer the Click & Safe Snug Harness, which gives an audible click when the harness is properly tensioned, whereas the Marathon has a standard harness. graco car seat The Marathon was previously the top pick in this guide, and we still think it’s a solid choice. But ultimately we opted for the Boulevard because we thought the headrest’s cushiness would be more conducive to naps. Also, the inclusion of a seat belt lock-off would have made installing the Extend2Fit Convertible with the seat belt method easier and more appealing.
Graco’s goal is to give every family the chance to thrive through the One Family Project, which has supported families in need across the nation by donating over $1M in baby gear since 2010. Your child’s safety could be in jeopardy if your car seat is not installed correctly. Before you install your car seat, make sure you’re familiar with vehicle and car seat parts used in the installation process and these important installation safety tips. The Boulevard weighs about 29 pounds—more than many similar seats, but significantly less than our 38-pound also-great pick, the Clek Foonf.
For more than 65 years, Graco has built high quality products that parents can trust, including car seats, strollers, travel systems, swings, highchairs, playards and nursery care essentials. Graco is part of Newell Brands Inc., a leading global consumer products company, with its products available globally through a variety of retail partners. One of the key differences between the Extend2Fit 3-in-1 and the Extend2Fit Convertible is that the 3-in-1’s maximum shoulder-harness height is over an inch shorter than the Convertible’s. If a child is tall, they could reach that harness limit, and you’d have to switch them over to booster mode—possibly before you would have ordinarily put them in a booster. A five-point harness provides more protection than a booster; also, some kids who are physically large enough for a booster aren’t mature enough developmentally to ride in one, since they must be able to sit without slouching or leaning forward.
This is a problem because this recline requirement makes it impossible to safely install the seat sometimes, usually because the bottom of the car seat hangs too far off the vehicle seat. And, in vehicles with non-removable headrests, this awkward recline can make it difficult to raise the headrest high enough for a proper harness fit, too. Graco, the manufacturer of our top-pick convertible, the Graco Extend2Fit Convertible, makes a lot of convertible car seats, including the Graco Contender 65 and the Graco Admiral 65. We opted not to test these seats because they’re less widely available than the Extend2Fit Convertible and have lower rear-facing weight limits. We additionally dismissed seats that were not as well suited for extended rear-facing as the Extend2Fit Convertible, which has the extension panel for added rear-facing legroom. One of our favorite things about the Extend2Fit Convertible is how exceptionally well it facilitates extended rear-facing riding, with a 50-pound rear-facing weight limit.