The 4Ever Extend2Fit has a fabulous harness storage compartment for booster mode. The crotch buckle and harness go into a compartment in the back of the seat, meaning that the harness doesn’t have to be removed or undone at all for high back booster mode. He’s able to remove the optional harness strap covers himself so his mom has left them off the graco car seat seat for now. He uses the bottom insert because without it, he slumps considerably. The crotch buckle is in the outer slot and leaves a decent sized gap, so his have to be mindful to put his bum far back and really pull up all the slack at his hips. As your child gets older and taller, there will be less friction and it will be easier to use.
There’s a handy spot at the back of the seat to store the metal splitter plate from the harness. The Extend2Fit is FAA-approved, but you will most likely need to raise the armrests on the airplane seat to get it to fit because of the cup holders. This is a feature-rich carseat and as such, there are several things to keep in mind when setting the Extend2Fit up for rear-facing. Graco Extend2Fit forward facing lower anchor and top tether installation. Graco has released the Extend2Fit to the Canadian market with the same rear and forward facing limits as the version sold in the United States version.
Most of the seats are some variation or combination of snaps, elastic loops, and tucking in of fabric. None are overly challenging, but certainly, some are graco car seat better than others. The easiest to remove include the Evenflo Tribute 5, Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Convertible, and the Safety 1st Grow and Go All-in-One.
Of course, that is one of the benefits of this seat over the other 50 pound rear facing seats on the market. The manual specifies that the panel must be extended when the seat is used with children who weigh over 40 pounds, however Graco has clarified to us that the panel doesn’t need to be out. If your family is larger, you may wonder how multiple 4Ever 4-in-1 car seats will fit into your vehicle. We drive a mid-size SUV and are able to fit two Graco seats and an infant car seat across the back row without any issues.
If you run into this issue, you can turn the child back rear-facing until they reach at least 40 pounds. Kids’ car seats undergo significant messes and require regular cleaning (whether you like it or not). For this reason, we test how challenging it is to remove the fabric covers for washing. We prefer machine-washable covers that are easy to remove and replace. We like handwashing methods over spot cleaning only, but because there is a high potential for throwup, spit-up, and poopy blowouts, it is ideal to have a machine-washable cover you can remove quickly.
The high back mode can accommodate a child with a torso height of up to 20.5″ if you remove the belt trainer and up to 19″ if you leave it in. The backless booster mode is very bulky and not our favorite of the modes. It’s very low profile and easy to carry around if they are carpooling. The cushions are flame resistant and contain no flame-retardant chemicals. It’s also Greenguard Gold certified, which means the materials have met some of the world’s most rigorous third-party chemical emissions standards and don’t contain any indoor air pollutants.