Please ignore the reviewer who rated the seat one star due to the rebound issue. I am a certified child passenger safety technician and this is NOT a safety concern. Almost all rear facing seats will rebound in a crash. The only ones that won't are infant seats with rigid LATCH (the only one currently available in the US is the Baby Trend Latch-Loc with rigid LATCH) or one with an anti-rebound bar like the Britax Companion and convertible seats that tether rear facing (all Britax convertible seats, Sunshine Kids Radian, etc). As long as your seat moves less than an inch in any direction AT THE BELT PATH (i.e. on an infant seat with a base, right at the seat crack where the other poster said it was tight) it is safe. The Chicco KeyFit is a very good seat. It is without a doubt one of the best on the market currently. It installs like a dream and fits small babies very well. As a tech of seven years, I would not hesitate to recommend this seat or use it for my own child.

I bought the Chicco Keyfit 30 carseat for my daughter who was born last August. Out of all the seats at Babies R Us, this seat got my attention b/c it's such a great looking seat and it had more padding than any of the other ones. It was super easy to install using latch and my daughter fit into it well. At first, it seemed worth the hefty price.... Then, after only a few weeks, I started noticing a chemical smell in my car. I finally discovered it was this carseat and replaced it with a spare seat I had on hand. I immediately called the company to inquire about the toxic smell. The customer service rep. agreed to send another seat out to me and said that sometimes the fire retardants used in manufacturing can cause the smell. I decided I didn't want another Chicco seat and was able to return it to BRU for a refund. The covering on the Chicco Keyfit is more "plasticky" and not cotton fabric like the Snugride I used with my son 3 years ago. I know some people prefer that type of fabric for easy clean up etc... but in my opinion, cotton is much safer. I'm not sure what the deal was with my particular seat, maybe the heat in the car caused the off-gassing of the chemicals.. Toxic fumes, whether from the fire retardants or the plastic materials can be very toxic and hazardous for infants especially. You all should research what's in conventional crib mattresses too and you'd be surprised. Everything else about this carseat was great...but not worth the risk b/c of the chemical smell.

I spent my entire pregnancy trying to decide which car seat to purchase; I made the right choice. The seat is light enough that even with a C-section and a 9 lb baby I don't have trouble carrying her around, the straps loosen and tighten easily so we can get her out even when she is sleeping and perhaps the best thing about this seat is that it easily and QUIETLY snaps into and out of the base in our vehicle. We can get the baby in and out of the car without waking her! With our first child our infant carrier was nearly impossible to attach to/remove from the base and were constantly waking the baby because of the difficulty getting the carrier off/on the base.
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br /The cover material leaves a little to be desired (it is kind of rough) but it seems to clean up well.
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br /Overall, I would absolutely recommend this car seat.

br /Great product, we bought it 5 months ago, color orange @ Babys R Us, $169.
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br /Our baby is quite happy with it, the position is just right, baby is not sitting or in an upright position like in Peg Perego's case.
br /Sturdy, looks great and super easy to attach/detach from the base.
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br /Con: it's a bit heavy. You can carry it around but it I've seen lighter car seats out there.
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br /Go for it, you won't regret it.
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This is the best car seat and stroller! I had to get a new set for our 3rd baby and love this! The color is not as light as pictured, but is still very nice, darker. The strap release/tightening mechanism is very easy and smooth, unlike our previous car seats. I am extremely happy with this seat. I just got the stroller last night, but am pretty certain I will love it as well.

I love this car seat. My baby likes to sleep in it, it's so easy to take in and out of the base, and it lasts much longer than it's smaller -to 22 lb- counterparts. It's suitable from birth because it comes with its own newborn insert. It also ranks high in safety ratings, which explains why its a little heavier than most. If I had to improve it, I would give it a bigger sunshade and make the synthetic fabric more breathable, as my baby gets a bit hot and sweaty when he sits in it. All things considered, I would recommend it to a friend.

When my son was born last December this car seat was hard to find then so we borrowed one from my sister-in-law. She had a Graco car seat that was one year old, plus I have used other infant car seats for my two older children, a Graco and an Evenflo. When I got the Chicco I immediately noticed a difference in quality. The seat sets in the base easier, the handle to release the seat from the base uses less force, the straps have not once gotten folded over or creased, this is a big plus for me, I hate it when the straps get mangled, which happened with my other seats. One plus for me, though it is a small feature is the little storage compartment in the base, I throw a few diapers in there, just in case! I wish I had had this car seat 12 years ago for my oldest son! I highly recommend this seat, it can be used for longer than the conventional car seat, which is safer for baby.

I did a lot of research on infant and convertible car seats before my daughter was born. We have a small two-door car, so I needed a narrow car seat that wasn't going to take up a huge amount of space. The Chicco Key Fit 30 fit the bill! (Although I did purchase the Extreme pattern, not the Adventure) It is a wonderful car seat, easily comes in and out of our small back seat and my daughter loves it. She is also a tall and slender baby, so the 30" height limit is great, as she would have grown out of other infant car seats already (at 6 months she's 25 inches and just 14 lbs). We were also involved in a car accident just a few weeks ago and the car seat kept my baby amazingly safe. While the rest of us were in pain from the accident, my baby was all smiles. Sadly we have to replace the original seat, but will be buying the exact seat again. If you have a small car and want a well made, safe car seat, the Chicco Key Fit 30 is the one for you!

We've gone through a Graco and a lesser model of Chicco, but this seat wins all around. Works great in the car; and the baby loves to sleep in it when it's parked in the house.
br /Wish there were attachments to attach the seat to other brands of stroller.

I'll tell you, I have the Peg Perego and the Maxi Cosi Micro and this seat is much better.
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br /I installed this in less than 5min. Highway patrol tried installing the Maxi Cosi for over 1 hour and it never had a sung fit in my SUV (Acura MDX). The Peg Perego was too big next to my son's Britax car seat and was the worst fitting in the car.
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br /It is more comfortable too. I hated trying to buckle my baby up in the Maxi Cosi.
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br /The only reason why it didn't get 5 stars... the baby sweats a lot, but all the car seats made him sweat. I just got a sheepskin cover and that works like a dream!

I love the ease of use with this carseat. I am a first time mom, and that was important to me. I am in and out of the car a lot, so I wanted something that was easy to use. We all know that the easier something is to use, the more likely we are to use it correctly. I feel that my baby is as safe as could be in the carseat. In the summer time, she would get very, very hot. When I would take her out her whole back would be sweaty. That would be my only complaint. I have heard that complaint about other carseats, though, so maybe it is just how they are. It does get heavy, but we don't carry the whole thing anymore. I leave it in the car and just take her out. I am glad we got the "30" because my 5 month old is already over 20 pounds. It is helpful that it can go right into the carriage if baby is sleeping.

The material on this carseat is very uncomfortable for my newborn and it's hard to ride more than 30 minutes in the car without her overheating. I have considered returning this carseat because I think she'd do much better with a cotton material. Given the questionable safety ratings by another review (in California), if I had to do it all over again, I would probably purchase the Britax Roundabout.

We bought this in preparation of our baby... no baby yet, but the car seat is perfect. Easy to attach to latch system, nice thick fabric with head support for infants. Easy to adjust straps, nice carrying bar and I like the colors. It fits very snug in our Joovy lightweight sit and stand stroller... can't wait for baby!

I chose this seat for my 3rd child, he loves it. The baby is very comfortable in the seat and will sleep for quite awhile in it. It is a little heavier than most carseats and does take up quite a bit of room in the backseat. Well worth the trade-off though in comfort. The previous seat we tried made the baby lean forward and had no cushion for comfort. Well worth the money.

I am so disappointed with this car seat; yes, I consider myself a well informed consumer. I was choosing between this and the Peg Perego infant seat; perhaps would not have been happy with either one. As you often hear, my son is "big"; he quickly outgrew the pads...and to be honest, I do not feel like he is as safe without them. The lower (hip/leg) pad came out first; his fat little thighs were being pinched by the buckle and he could not get comfy. The head pad came out next when we had to move the shoulder strap up to the highest point at 2 months of age. Unfortunately when the head pad is removed, there is a decorative ribbing material that is bulky for their heads to rest on. On top of everything else, it is hard to get into and out of (straps get in the way), and he sweats like a beast in it! Now at 13 weeks we are moving to the Britax Marathon.

The seat is easy to use, looks great and it has a great safety rating. However, after a couple of months in it, my infant broke out into raw, red, oozing painful sores wherever his skin touched the carseat. Apparently, contact dermatitis to the flame-resistant chemicals they use in some carseats is a growing problem.
br /As soon as I put a cover in the carseat, my baby's horrible rash cleared up immediately.
br /When I contacted the company to let them know, they got back to me (a week later) and offered me a new set of soft goods -- the exact same thing that hurt my baby the first time. Not impressed.

I bought this car seat for my new born son. This is the best car seat i have seen so far. Initially i was reluctant to go for it because of the hi price, but once i fit it in my car and carried my son around, i loved it. Using the seat is a breeze. Very simple, yet effective mechanisms. I dont regret a bit for the price paid. Well made.

Our daughter and son-in-law are absolutely thrilled with their new car seat. The colors were exactly what they were looking for.

I purchased this seat on the recommendation of Consumer Reports, expecting the safest seat on the market. In order to make certain it was installed perfectly, I visited a local California police department and had a trained and certified car seat inspector install it.
br /Where the LATCH system attaches (or along the belt path if not using LATCH) the seat is very secure. Won't budge an inch. HOWEVER, the back of the seat and base remain completely untethered and will lift up at least seven inches off the seat. My installer said this is incredibly unsafe in the event of being rear ended at moderate to high speeds.
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br /I spoke with Chicco's car seat safety person who said it isn't a concern because most accidents are head on collisions. She also mentioned that in the past month they have received at least eight other complaints from the California Highway Patrol about this issue.
br /I've been looking into this issue extensively and have learned that all infant seats with bases are designed this way and have the same problem. It's so common it has a name: Rebound.
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br /So, unless you are certain that you will not be rear-ended avoid this and all infant seats designed to pop out of a base at all costs. They are not safe. Yes, being able to easily remove your child from the car is a great feature, but it IS NOT worth risking the safety of your child. My local certified police installer deems this seat and others of the same style unsafe. And from the mouth of Chicco's own representative, so does the California Highway Patrol.
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br /Britax Roundabout, Britax Roundabout Advantage, Britax Galaxy and the Britax Marathon are all convertible seats that are VERY safe and have been tested using a tether in a rear facing position that removes this 'rebound' issue.
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br /For the sake of your child, bypass convenience and go with safety.

Received the car seat even sooner than expected and was able to track its shipment all the way! Thanks for the great service! I'll be shopping here again!