8 Best Infant Car Seats

Key Specs

• Convertible: Yes
• Rear-Facing Weight Range: 4 to 40 lb.
• Forward-Facing Weight Range: 22 to 65 lb.
• High-Back Booster Weight Range: 40 to 100 lb.
• Backless Booster Weight Range: 40 to 120 lb.
• Product Weight: 23 lb.

Welcome to the world of tanks disguising themselves as car seats. Regardless of whether you choose a convertible seat at birth, once your baby outgrows an infant seat, it’s time to put them in something that takes up most of the back seat.

This Graco model can take your kiddo from birth through college. We’re only sort of kidding. But it does cover all stages of car-seat use, from rear-facing to backless booster seat, and safely holds kids up to 120 pounds. A dear friend of mine bought six of these (or similar models)—two each for three cars. And she acknowledges it cost a small fortune, but it was better than having to play musical car seats.

Because of the size (like most convertible seats), if you need to fit three across, you’re going to need a bigger car.

The DLX model has a removable cover that comes off without having to take the seat out for easier washing.

Key Specs

• Convertible: Yes
• Rear-Facing Weight Range: 4 to 50 lb.
• Forward-Facing Weight Range: 22 to 65 lb.
• Product Weight: 19 lb.

When your kids hit certain milestones, there’s cause for celebration: She sits up, takes her first steps, tries a new food. But the AAP Council’s Hoffman warns against rushing the car seat milestone. “Just because your child reached the minimum requirement to turn the seat around at one year and 20 pounds, we don’t want families to turn kids around on their birthday,” he says. “In general, rear-facing does better than forward-facing or a booster seat in a crash.” He points to crash dynamics and physics to explain this.

For this reason, parents might like the Extend2Fit seat from Graco, which added 5 inches of height to let children ride rear-facing for longer. This model allows you to adjust the height of the headrest and harness in one motion—no more fiddling with various latches or handles.

And perhaps the harness-free storage pocket is over the top, but it holds the harness out of the way for getting your kiddo in and out more easily.