Your baby will be ready for this larger, five-point safety harness seat once they’ve outgrown their infant seat’s height and weight limits (usually around 30 inches or 30 pounds); this will likely happen at any point between 6 months and 2 years of age. Once you transition to the convertible seat, you’ll start out with a baby or toddler sitting in it rear-facing and eventually end up with a much bigger kid riding in it forward-facing. Getting the hang of convertible seats can be daunting—what with their various installation modes and positions, multiple seat belt paths, and safety tethers—which is why we set out to find the models that are the simplest and safest to install and use.
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 graco car seat 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.
And unlike the Graco SnugRide SnugFit 35 DLX and the Chicco KeyFit 30, the Clek Liing is also easy to install snugly if you’re using it without the base. This is because, like the Chicco KeyFit 35, it has a European belt-path configuration, which provides a more secure fit than the American configuration. The Liing comes with the added safety feature of a load leg, a metal support rod that sits between the car seat and the vehicle floor; in an accident, the load leg absorbs some of the initial impact of the crash and limits the amount that the seat can move. The seat has the same height and weight allowances (32 inches and 35 pounds) as the SnugRide SnugFit 35 DLX and the KeyFit 35, and it comes in a range of stylish, high-end fabric options.
Lower anchors have weight limits set by the vehicle and car seat manufacturers. You can determine the lower anchor weight limit by checking the warning label or installation diagrams located on the side of the car seat. If your car seat does not have a label, you can determine the maximum allowable child weight for lower anchor use by subtracting the weight of the car seat (usually available in the car seat’s instruction manual) from 65 pounds. The booster car seat keeps your child protected and safe while traveling and grows with them from front-facing to high-back and backless boosters. Its simple and secure harness system allows you to adjust the headrest and harness in one quick motion.
Like our top-pick seat from Graco, the Chicco KeyFit 30 is tricky to install tightly without its base, since it uses an American belt-path configuration. We wish that weren’t the case, and if no-base installs are a priority for your family, the KeyFit 30 probably isn’t your graco turbobooster ideal seat. To secure the base using LATCH (see this video for a demonstration), you click the push-button LATCH hooks into the car’s anchors. And then to tighten, you pull up on a single strap located at the center of the base (labeled with the words “Pull Strap Storage”).