In several ways, the Chicco KeyFit 35 is an even better infant car seat than its close relative, the Chicco KeyFit 30, our runner-up pick. But the KeyFit 35 has the added safety feature of an anti-rebound base, a European belt path (especially important for families that use their seat frequently without the base), and a convenient no-rethread harness. This seat is half a pound heavier than the KeyFit 30, though, and it’s slightly more expensive. Christina Szalinski, the current author of this guide, is a science writer with a PhD in cell biology whose reporting on health has appeared in Scientific American, Undark, and more.
The portable car seat is equipped with a silent shade canopy that you can adjust with a single hand. It features the InRight latch system that allows you to install the seat quickly, making it a trusted choice among parents. You can also easily customize this dad- and mom-approved car seat for toddlers to fit your vehicle with its four-position adjustable base. The well-designed three-in-one toddler car seat can be used as a rear-facing harness, a forward-facing harness, and a high-back booster seat.
For around $40 more than our pick, the SnugRide SnugFit 35 Elite has the same padding, plus fancier-looking fabric and a removable all-weather boot (aka partial cover). The Premier SnugRide SnugFit 35 XT provides all of the features of the SnugRide SnugFit 35 DLX, as well as a see-through peek-a-boo window in the extendable sun canopy and fancier fabric, for around $100 more. Finally, the Graco Premier SnugRide SnugFit 35 XT featuring Load Leg Technology has the same features as the XT plus a load leg, which may give added safety and stability in a crash. Extend2Fit convertible car seat’s well-built, steel-reinforced body grows well with your child from a rear-facing harness to a forward-facing harness.
Although tether anchors have been required in vehicles since 2001, there is no standard position for them—they can be located on the ceiling, the back hatch, the back of the rear seat, the cargo floor area, behind the headrest, or on the rear filler panel. And it’s easy to mistake other parts of the vehicle, like cargo hooks, for them, but cargo hooks don’t have the same load-bearing capacity. We think the trade-offs and inconveniences of keeping your child rear-facing for as long as possible—ideally until your child reaches their seat’s rear-facing height or weight limit—are worth it for the added safety and security.
We didn’t have a dozing infant to test it out on, and truth be told, in the past we’ve never noticed a canopy being loud enough to ruin a nap. Graco claims that it’s possible to do the base install, with either LATCH or the seat belt, in less than a minute. In our experience, that wasn’t far off; the first time I tried it myself, the process took about two minutes.
Still no lock-off or color coding on the forward-facing installation of the Extend2Fit. While the seat has some varying colors, it doesn’t appear that they mean anything, and you’ll need your manual nearby to reference. Installing the Extend2Fit graco convertible car seat is relatively easy using LATCH, earning an above-average result for this group, with only a handful of seats earning higher. There is no lock-off, a bubble indicator on one side (Rear-facing use only), and push-connectors on a flexible strap.
But all of these Graco models offer the same easy install, so choosing comes down to prioritizing which features matter most to your family and deciding how much you want to spend. The SnugRide SnugFit 35, for example, has a four-position base, versus the five positions of our pick, the DLX; more base positions may allow the base to fit more easily into a wider range of vehicles. The handle on the SnugRide SnugFit 35 requires two hands to operate, and that model has less head padding than on our pick. We wouldn’t consider any of those things to be dealbreakers, so if you’re looking to save about $60, the SnugRide SnugFit 35 is a good alternative to our pick. The SnugRide SnugFit 35 LX, meanwhile, provides the one-handed adjustable handle and the five-position base but has less head and body padding than our pick, the DLX. However, the LX usually costs around $30 less than the DLX, so it’s another strong option.
Fret not—the car seat reportedly went through rigorous crash tests to ensure that it held up in frontal, side, rear and rollover accidents, per the brand. Its steel-reinforced frame is also said to be incredibly durable for up to ten years of use, which means you can use it for more than one kid (of course, checking for expiration dates and recalls). To avoid confusing tether anchors with other hardware such as luggage tie-downs, be sure to read your vehicle’s owner manual carefully to find out where they are located in your particular vehicle. The lower anchors are found in a minimum of two rear seating positions in a vehicle. Each lower-anchor-equipped seating position has two small horizontal bars found in the space between the vehicle seat’s back and bottom cushion (the “seat bight”).