This is my third infant car seat. I've had an Evenflo handed down to me and a Graco Snugride as well. Since both of those seats "expired", I needed a new one for our third child. I really like this one, especially the fabric. It's a very heavy canvas, like a tent, but padded underneath so it still appears comfortable. It will be so easy to clean up any spills or spit ups as opposed to cotton or polyester fabrics like I've had before. I probably won't have to remove the fabric to wash it because stuff will wipe right off. There are added supports for baby's head and something I've never seen before, extra padding for the hips/crotch area. Since both my other kids were tiny and the hospital showed me how to roll up receiving blankets to stuff along the crotch area, this is a plus. And since the experts for our county health department, who install car seats for a living, say that parents should not purchase any one-size-fits-all extra padded head rests for their kids--they need to come with that particular car seat for optimum fit.
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br /The handle is a little stiff and so are the clips for the harness but I suspect these will loosen with time; after all, the other car seats I had were already broken in by my sister so it's hard to tell if this Safety First is stiffer than another brand. While not as easy to snap in as the Graco for the crotch area, the puzzle-like clip is much easier to figure out than a Cosco seat, which confused anyone and everyone who would try to help me buckle the kids into their toddler seats.
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br /I've read some reviews talking about how cute they think a particular car seat is, especially since they know they are having a girl/boy, and that the car seat will "match" their stroller. Really, I'm all about safety so the neutral color doesn't matter to me and I don't NEED it to be pretty. It's a car seat that will probably get used for 6 months at the most; my kids are always skinny but get long very fast.
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br /I could have invested in one of the newer, bigger, infant car seats like Graco, which have higher weight and length specs, but I especially like the fact that this car seat will fit into my older stroller which will take any brand's car seat with this style, Graco, Cosco, Safety First, Evenflo, etc. If I were looking to buy a whole travel system, I might not choose this one, but since I already have some of the equipment, I just wanted a standard car seat and this fits the bill.