Official Modern Graco CarSeat Review

Being a new dad in the baby world brings many challenges that I never expected. While my wife was still pregnant we were inundated with literally hundreds of decisions that would affect our newborn’s life. Of course one of those questions that we struggled with was, What brand and type of car seat should we buy? Well, there was no easy answer and it took several weeks to finally make a decision. In retrospect, the time and energy we devoted to this task was excessive considering modern car seats are very similar in nature and functionality. But, we were new parents and we wanted to ensure our baby’s safety in the car. 

My wife and I narrowed our search to car seats that could withhold the most weight. Believe it or not, I had no idea car seats had weight limits. I mean, I figured eventually my baby would be too big to ride in it, but I didn’t realize that if we chose the wrong seat, we would be buying a new one within several months! We chose the seats that had weight limits of 25 pounds which seemed to be best for what we could afford. Our search continued to narrow as we looked at features and made the decision to spend time researching harnesses. After more discussion, we decided to go with the 3 point harness and then we focused on styles and colors. We wanted a seat that was easy to clean off messes, had earth tone colors and was easy to get in and out of the car, carry around and use in a stroller.

These decisions led us to two systems to consider. One was a Graco all in one and the other was an Eddie Bauer System. Let me be the first to say I wasn’t all that excited to see Eddie Bauer making car seats, but my wife was interested in the system, so we had a look. We took yet another trip over to Target to make a final decision and my wife and I actually got into a huge argument in the middle of the store debating back and forth! I had made my decision on a completely different system that we never even originally discussed and my wife wanted the Graco Car Seat. Well, her arguments for the Graco beat mine, plus the car seat I selected was more expensive and only had a weight limit of 20 pounds. Had we bought that one, we would have had to purchase a new car seat before Ethan was 9 months old! The Graco model was on clearance at a great price, had a weight limit of 25 pounds, had a great stroller that the seat fit easily into, and had the 5 point harness. I don’t know what I was thinking. I think I just wanted to make things difficult.

After I came to my senses and we bought the car seat, we took it home and attempted to figure out how to use it by using stuffed animals. I know, I know, how strange that is, but it makes sense to learn how to use the seat before the baby comes. The last thing you want to try and figure out right after the baby is born is how the car seat works, plus it makes you feel more confident placing your baby inside when you know how to use it properly. We also received great help from our nurse at the hospital after Ethan was born to show us how to install the car seat in the car. She was a huge help!

We love the car seat and it travels pretty easily. It snaps into the base perfectly and remains sturdy. It’s easy to get out of the car and place in the stroller which is a nice feature. The straps can be adjusted to match your baby’s height as he/she grows. The harness is not too restrictive but keeps your baby in place. There is also a level on the side that tells you if the seat is level or needs to be adjusted. The base is very easy to work with and includes a very large plastic tightening type screw to keep it from shifting. Overall I am very happy and Ethan likes it too. He spent the first month sleeping in it at night because it was so snug and made him feel like he was protected otherwise someone would have to hold him all night because he was only used to the enclosed womb. He still falls asleep in it at 10 months old and will sleep in it for hours if we let him. We don’t because he's more comfortable in his crib. Plus the fabric does not lend itself to airflow. I would definitely recommend any of Graco’s Car Seat Systems, and I would suggest getting the full system. It makes things much easier and you can rest assured everything fits perfectly together.