Top Rated Infant Car Seats

A quality infant car seat is a safety necessity, and not all infant car seats are to be the same. The top seats come with features that improve crash test performance. For instance load legs are shock-absorbing elements that are affixed to the seat or base and reduce movement in the event of a collision.

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

Graco Mesa Max

The Graco Mesa Max ranks as one of the most simple infant car seats to use. It comes with great fabrics with a simple design and a handy feature that allows you to attach a child's harness to the headrest, making it easier to tighten. It has a large canopy that can be put away to keep your child protected when they travel. The only issue is that it is a little heavier than average and could be a problem if intend to carry it around or want to use it with your award-winning UPPAbaby stroller.

The Mesa Max's impressive crash test results show its commitment to safety at the highest level. It scored highly in both frontal and side impact tests, ensuring that your baby will be protected from both sides of a collision.

Another important safety feature is the Graco's anti-rebound panel, that helps to reduce the force of rebound during an accident and protects your child's head. This is a rare feature in car seats for infants and makes the Mesa Max stand out among its competitors.

Graco Mesa Max can easily and securely be installed in your vehicle using LATCH when used with the base included. The load leg as well as recline angle adjustment and tightness indicator ensure a quick and accurate installation. The base weighs 12.6 lbs, which is slightly heavier than an average infant car seat but not enough to be an issue.

Like its predecessor, the UPPAbaby Mesa V2, the Mesa Max uses dual-knit fabric that is free of chemicals that cause fire. It also has an adjustable headrest that can be adjusted infinitely and a robust infant insert that improves the fit and body position of babies approximately 4-11 lbs. The fabric is GREENGUARD gold certified, which means they test for low chemical emissions and low VOCs.

The Mesa Max from UPPAbaby is more expensive than other models, but it offers top-quality features and the latest security technologies to provide the best car seats travel experience. The base is included and is available in a variety of stylish 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 choice for parents who want an automobile seat that can grow with their child. Its rear-facing weight limit is 40 pounds which is higher than many infant car seats. It can also be used forward-facing until your child reaches 65 pounds.

The ClickTight Installation System is its major selling point. It is the safest most user-friendly and secure system available. The seat belt can be tightened by pressing a red release and pulling the strap. This makes it unnecessary to unwind and rethread the seatbelt. This minimizes the chance of a mistake when tightening a seat belt which is the most common cause of car seat inserts for newborns seat failure.

Another safety feature is the EZBuckle Pad, which keeps the buckle out of the way when you're placing 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. These include the ClickTight Installation System, an impact-absorbing base that has 7 recline positions as well as a rip-stitch energy absorbing harness pad, a tether that is HUGS, a steel-reinforced frame, and EPP energy-absorbing foam.

It's a hefty seat, so it may be worth looking at alternatives that are lighter in case you plan to use it for frequent car swaps or for travel. The seat is large and therefore may not fit in smaller vehicles.

If you want a more budget-friendly option with similar quality, check out the 4Ever DLX from Graco. The seat has lower scores in crash test analysis than the Boulevard, but it's still an excellent seat for your child.

The Graco also has connectors with push-on connectors for LATCH which makes it easier to remove the seat. The LATCH connectors on the Boulevard have a different release mechanism, which requires you to press a gray button and then pull on the webbing to loosen it. This can be difficult if the webbing is tight. However this seat comes with a handy storage cubby for the belt straps when not in use.

Clek Liing

If you're in search of a child car seat that offers all of it -style, safety as well as convenience and luxuryyou'll love the Clek Liing. This rear-facing car seat has a high crash test score, a wide range of features and is easy to install within most vehicles.

The Liing is designed to protect newborn darlings with features that meet or exceed both US and Canadian safety standards. It's designed for a simple, secure installation - at any seating position. It's equipped with the latest safety features like an energy-absorbing metal load leg and an outer shell that is lined with EPP foam for increased side-impact protection. The base has 7 recline positions and a bubble indicator that lets you know when the seat is at just the perfect angle for your child.

The Liing is loved by parents for its modern and sleek design and also its innovative safety features like rigid lower anchors that are much easier to attach than hook-and-loop connectors. The Liing features a one-handed release, making it easy to remove the base and use it with compatible strollers. With less than 17 inches in width it's just narrow enough for 3-across in the majority of vehicles. It also fits nicely into many convertible car seats to act as a travel booster.

The Liing infant seat is rated first for its unique rigid-LATCH system of installation. The Liing's lower anchors snap into the lower seat belt slots of the vehicle, and the top tether strap snaps onto the vehicle headrest. This ensures a tight and secure fit that reduces the risk that the child will be thrown around in a crash.

The seat is light, with the base weighting 9 lbs and the carrier itself weighing a manageable 10.5 lbs. Some other rear-facing only seats have a much heavier weight however if you're planning on schlepping the car seat and its base everywhere it won't be too obvious (especially when you add a baby into the equation! ).

Parents love the Liing's integrated canopy and 100+spf of protection from the sun's rays by a mesh peekaboo. Caregivers love the merino-covered cover that keeps lightweight baby car seat cozy and they also love the ability of the handle to pivot past the canopy which makes it easier for them to grab whenever they need.

Graco Trio Grow SnugLock LX

The Graco Trio 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 comes with the SnugLock installation system that allows for a smooth and easy installation using either the vehicle seat belts or lower anchors. It has the option of using the top tether in booster mode. (We recommend using the lower anchors for additional security.)

We love that this seat does so much for children of all ages. For babies who are just beginning to crawl, it has an infant insert that helps to help support their necks and backs. As they grow older, the insert can be removed and the seat used as a normal car seat for toddlers. This is the few car seats that allows the top rated baby car seats tether to be used in booster mode. We highly recommend it.

Its base is fairly compact from front to back and it shouldn't be hard to find a space for it in the majority of vehicles. It is required for the headrest to be raised, however, to give you an open route to the lower anchor webbing. Thankfully, there's a handy headrest adjustment knob that allows you to accomplish this, and you'll be able to view the position of your headrest in the display window.

The SnugLock system is among the most unique features of this seat. It's an anchor that is located in the belt path. This makes fitting this car seat using the lower anchors a breeze, and it's similar to using the car seat belt.

The manual has a great illustration of how to guide the lower anchor connectors properly through the belt path, which can initially be confusing. Keep them from the chest clip and crotch loop to prevent interference with the buckle system.

The Graco Trio Grow belongs to the Protect Plus Engineered Family, which means it has been put through some of the most rigorous testing in the field. This includes tests for rear, side and rollover accidents and frontal impact.