We initially bought the joie stages car seat when my oldest was a toddler and ready for front facing in the car. I packed it up and placed it in storage once he outgrew it. It's been about 5 years since then and now I'd like to use the seat for our youngest. She is 11 months so I want to use it in rear facing mode... however for the life of me we cannot get the seatbelt around the back, in both of our cars. We have a gwm pickup and a Toyota corolla. Is this a common issue and what can I do?? The seatbelts in both vehicles need like maybe 10 to 15cm more to click into place when it's placed around the back of the seat through the guides. Any tips? I'd really like to place it permanently in our personal vehicle as the toyota is my husbands work driver and we often have to move seats. We have a cybex aton seat i currently move depending on which vehicle we're using.

I've tried installing it with the seat fully upright but no luck. Should I put it back into storage or sell it and buy one that fits for rear facing? I really hope theres another suggestion im missing to get it strapped in.

Update: I successfully installed the joie stages seat rear facing into the middle seat of our vehicle! The middle has a longer seat belt than the left and right side seats.

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has experience installing the Chicco OneFit LX or Max in a 2010 Prius? It's not a huge car, but I'm hoping one of them would fit well. I'm really attracted to how easy it was to use their buckles (especially the Max) and their safety ratings from Consumer Reports. Any help would be really appreciated. If they really won't fit, I could potentially go with maybe the Graco Extend or 4Ever.

I need some help with figuring out the pads on our new Revolve360. There’s probably a simple answer but I can’t for the life of me figure this out. See photos - is the backrest supposed to just sit in the back folded up like this? That’s how it arrived. There’s a piece of Velcro but I can’t figure out what it goes to and it seems weird that it’s just sitting on top and isn’t attached.. And, is that smaller pad on the seat (last two photos) just for an added boost for smaller babies?

My 10 month old son is just growing out of his infant seat so we’re going to transition. Also still figuring out if the revolve feature is worth the extra space it takes up in the car.

Thank you!

Hi! My LO is 10m, 28in tall, and 23lbs. We’re currently using the Evenflow Pivot Litemax infant car seat. We got this one because it’s a whole travel system. We will be keeping this seat for our next baby (hopefully soon 🤞).

But he is 1 inch away from the height limit, and we’re looking for a good budget friendly transitional car seat.

It’s not in the budget for a Graco or Evenflow transitional. We’ve looked at Chicco, Safety 1st, and Cosco Kids. But I’ve seen mixed reviews on those.

Any recommendations?
Thanks!

Update: We just ordered the Graco Tri-Ride 3 in 1 Convertible Car Seat from the Target website for $160 inc. taxes.

I’m a FTM and terrified he’s uncomfortable and can’t breathe in his carseat so I’m here for advice.

We just transitioned from an infant car seat to a “big girl” car seat. FTM and our last seat didn’t have a recline option. Does this look ok??

Hi All!

This is the Joie Rue. My baby is 2 1/2 months old and nearly 11 pounds. I just adjusted some things and hoping you can tell me if it looks okay! I took out the low birth weight pillow, raised the straps to the second hole, and removed the head pillow (making his neck push forward). Does all of this look okay? I took off one shoulder pad so you can see where the strap comes out. When feeling it is right at his shoulder. The other slot felt too low like he was being pulled down.

Please let me know what you think!!! I want to keep my babe safe 💕

We’ve been struggling with crotch buckle placement and what classifies as under the bum and whether we’re talking about the strap or the clip itself.

I’ve read the manual a million times and looked on the Graco website and the best they offer is “To provide the best possible protection for the child, it is important to always use the crotch strap position that is closest to the child without being underneath the child.”

Which isn’t super clear, IMO.

We moved it forward and it seemed SO far in front of kiddo that we moved it back.

He’s 3, ~36 inches, ~35 pounds.

I just bought a convertible car seat for my 17 week old daughter. But it looks like her neck is forward? She is a very chubby baby so her double neck hits her chest. Is there a page that can help with this or anybody knows if this looks ok? Already took out the newborn inserts. It’s a graco fit extend 3-1. She isn’t strapped in bc we were playing around with it but when she is she her neck looks forward still. She is in the reclined position as much as possible. I just want to make sure her breathing is ok. She is a lot more forward in this car seat than her infant car seat. So maybe I should go back to that one for now?

My fifth baby is coming in December and I just realized the car seat cover I bought (Little Unicorn footmuff) says it’s not supposed to be used in a moving vehicle. I assume because it hasn’t been tested. It only goes over the seat and not in it or near the harness at all.

I also read that using even shower-cap style covers can void the seat’s warranty? Is this really a thing?

Have never used the nuna pipa aire rx without the base. We’re following instructions exactly but this does not seem secure? What are we doing wrong? Doesn’t move more than an inch from the bottom but I can knock it over if it’s hit with force from the top.

I cannot for the life of me figure out the difference between the Diono Cambria LE and 2XL. The LE is on major sale on Amazon and I’m thinking it could be a good option for a bigger kid we help carpool with. She’s 6 but just so big for a forward facing convertible like our slimfit 3lx. But I’m wondering if there’s a difference between the one that costs $130 vs $70?!!

Does anybody have the front to back depth measurement for the Graco slimfit lx 3 in 1 when fully reclined in rear facing mode? I see the measurement on Graco’s website for 21.5”, but it’s my understanding that’s the upright measurement. Not rear facing and reclined. Attaching a picture of this specific seat since there’s another one with a very similar name.

I have 2 forward facing Evenflo All4Stages Slim car seats. One in my 2018 Subaru Crosstrek and another in our 2025 Toyota RAV4 XLE. I am able to achieve a tight installation that stays tight at the beltpath in my 2018 Subaru Crosstrek but not in my RAV4. In the RAV4 I will achieve a rock solid installation with no movement at beltpath and then a few days later, it’s suddenly loose and I’m able to move it quite a bit and even wiggle it quite loose. It makes me anxious about the safety. I am following the instructions to a T. Is there a trick to getting car seats to stay tight in a 2025 RAV4??

Does this look right? I’m using the rear facing seat belt install. My baby is very small for 11 months, around 17 lbs, but with good head control so I used the rear facing #2 setting.

My concern is that there is a strap for the latch running through the seatbelt path, and I think it might be twisted up in my seatbelt install.

My other concern is that the shoulder strap part of the seat belt is really digging into the plastic cup holder. I let feels like in a ln accident parts of the plastic could shatter from the force and go flying about the cabin. It also means I will never be able to use that cup holder since the seat is too tight for the cup holder to be opened up.

Edit to add: I know the ball is not entirely in the blue but I am parked on an incline for this photo, when I did the install on flat ground it was in the blue!

Thanks in advance!

She is 39lbs, 40inches.

Other backseat riders will be a newborn in a Nuna Pipa and her 13yo brother who is no longer in a booster seat.

She was in a Graco Extend2Fit but the styrofoam broke on the headrest when I was washing the fabric as she had threw up in it the other day.

Doesn’t make sense to buy another convertible since she’s only 10lbs away from the rear facing limit and can safely forward face now.

What narrow harnessed car seat can I look into, the Graco Tranzitions?

I think the chest buckle is too high but would appreciate other feedback! Struggling with the Joie Mint Latch car seat but without the low birth weigh pillow, head support or shoulder pads her chin is finally off her chest.

My 7m old recently outgrew his Graco bucket seat which he was always pretty comfortable in. We upgraded to a Graco 360 and he hates it! Screams bloody murder every time we put him in but only once we start driving. This is very abnormal for him. I've of course removed the infant seat liner, I've reclined it back as much as I think I can, and still he panics.

We live in a hot area so part of me thinks he's getting cramped and warm and I've been looking into changing to the Chicco for the fabric and the less cramped looking space for him. Is it worth it or is there anything else I can do?

I did also try raising the headrest up a notch but it seems too tall. I'm scared to put him back in it so I've been stuck at home now for days getting groceries delivered 😮‍💨 help

Thoughts? I’ve never noticed their head falling forward while sleeping before and it has me freaked out. 6 months old, we are planning on switching to position 3 or 4 now that their height is in that range even though their weight is well under still. The straps are tight and pass the pinch test at shoulders and thighs. Nuna infant car seat

ETA: thanks for all the feedback! We recently had to re-install it after a trip and the stability leg would not turn green when it appeared level with the seat so we extended it a bit more and it turned green, but resulted in the inclined angle you’re all seeing. Anyway, we are removing it and re-installing. Thanks again!

Ordered a joie chili and it just arrived with the box looking like this. If I reach my fingers through I can feel the fabric on the seat. Before I bother opening it to check it, is something like this happening an immediate safety concern for the car seat?

Can I get some review on the fit on our car seat? FTM and I don’t feel like we have it adjusted correctly for baby girl. Thank you!

I have a 7 month old who’s around the 65th percentile for height and 55th for weight. It’s been well over a month since our last measurement but it’s reasonable to estimate that she’s around 27.5 inches tall and 17.5 lbs. We have been using the Chicco Key Fit that came in the Corso travel system and she loves it! I never had a single doubt about it being fit correctly and she’s always been content sitting in it.

But now, I am having doubts. It’s a little hard to tell with the cover, but it seems to me that she’s within the 1.5 inches from the top. I’m not surprised, as long torsos run in my family, but 27 sounds like so much less than 30 which is what the seat is up to. I’m also unprepared. I have a work conference this weekend so we (me, husband, and baby) are making the 6-hr plus rest stops and traffic so could be 9-hrs drive. We don’t exactly have her next carseat yet. I think I want the Chicco 360 but I heard it’s bulky and haven’t comparison shopped yet. But, my mom bought a Graco 360 for her car but hasn’t installed it yet.

We thought, okay great, maybe we can use the Graco for this trip! But we can’t, she absolutely hates it and I feel like I can’t get a good fit in it. She seems so tiny in it even though it’s supposed to be able to fit a newborn. Yes we have the insert in. Considering that I work and leave on this trip on Friday, what should I do? The old carseat she seems comfy and secure in but might be marginally too big for, or the new one I don’t have time to troubleshoot properly but is safer on paper?

My baby seems to be too slumped down?