Anything that helps us parents make life easier, especially spending less time bending over and hurting our backs, is very welcome, so I was disappointed to find that the seat did not rotate. My little girl is currently 6.6kg so she has a way to go, but looking at the space available (and considering she is already a tall baby), I’m not sure she will comfortably last the duration. A familiar brand in the parenting world, Graco has produced a sturdy car seat that feels like a reliable addition to any family car for many years to come.
The Nuna Rava was one of the easiest seats to install of those we tested. It has panels that you route the seat belt through; when you close them, the seat belt automatically tightens, so there’s little effort required. The seat has a no-rethread harness, which makes it easy to adjust the harness height as kids grow. It also has a nifty mechanism for sliding the crotch buckle (video) between one of two possible positions, depending on the size of your child. (Although that’s not an adjustment you’ll have to make often, doing it on the Rava is far more pleasant than on most seats.) However, the Rava has a few flaws. For one, though the system enables you to get a secure seat belt install without breaking a sweat, it doesn’t have a seat belt lock-off, so the seat belt can continually slide through the router.
And, like the Convertible, it allows for convenient snacking with two built-in cupholders. The seat has low sides, which make it easy to get your child in and out (similar to the Convertible). All Clek seats last nine years from the date of manufacture before they graco convertible car seat expire, and they have a three-year warranty, if you register the seat within 90 days (one year if you don’t register it). The Foonf performed well (PDF) in the NHTSA’s front-impact crash testing, with good Head Injury Criterion (HIC) and chest acceleration scores.
If you want something less expensive or with better crash test results, then the Graco 4Ever DLX is a great choice. While it lacks some of the quality and comfort of the Nuna, it has one of the best crash test results in the group and will cost significantly less. Overall, the Nuna is a quality seat with impressive scores in most metrics, and for families where budget is less of a concern and ease of use is number one, the Nuna is one for your list of contenders.
It can also be very expensive as you add up the price of all the necessary gear. Given this, it makes sense that items that can grow with your child are invaluable to new parents. One such item is the Graco 4Ever 4-in-1 Convertible Car Seat, which is immensely popular for keeping children safe and comfortable. To see if the car seat lived up to its excellent reviews, we took it home and had our two young sons, ages 1 and 3, use it. Afterward, we evaluated its various features, from its design and durability to its overall value.
It comes in several color combinations—mostly subdued variations on gray, black, and white, but turquoise and pink make an appearance, too. The seat padding doesn’t feel quite as cushiony to the touch as padding on our other, more expensive picks (which add more foam between your child’s tush and the hard seat). We knew from our expert interviews that proper installation is generally a far bigger problem (PDF) than actual seat safety. So we also considered the NHTSA ease-of-use ratings, which score seats on a scale of one to five stars, based on factors like how simple the seats are to install and the clarity of their instructions.