Now Is a Great Time to Buy a New Car Seat

A big reason we recommend taking advantage of Target’s car seat trade-in event is that you can get our favorite infant, convertible, and booster picks at a guaranteed discount with the 20% coupon.

Still, Ingela Ratledge Amundson, one of the editors of our guide to infant carseats, points out that, even at their regular retail prices, these Graco seats are an excellent value. In particular, the Graco SnugRide SnugFit 35 DLX infant seat and the Graco Extend2Fit Convertible Car Seat offer outstanding bang for their buck. “In our testing, we were particularly impressed by how easy these seats were to install and how many thoughtful, premium-feeling features they offered. They out-performed a lot of other seats that were far pricier,” Ingela said.

This seat does a superior job of keeping a child rear-facing for longer—and it’s straightforward to install and use.

We first chose the Graco SnugRide SnugFit 35 DLX as our infant car-seat top pick in May 2022 after our testing determined that it “provides the total package of user-friendliness, quality, and value.” It’s easy to install and comes with “some bells and whistles usually reserved for pricier models, such as a removable seat pad for quicker cleanup, harness straps that you don’t have to undo and rethread to adjust, and one-handed handle adjustment.” While all car seats, no matter the price, must meet the same federal safety standards, the Graco SnugRide SnugFit 35 DLX has the added safety feature of an anti-rebound base, which “can help limit the amount the seat rotates (or rebounds) after the initial impact of a crash.”

This seat does a superior job of keeping a child rear-facing for longer—and it’s straightforward to install and use.

If your child has outgrown an infant car seat we recommend our top-pick convertible seat, the Graco Extend2Fit Convertible Car Seat. During testing, the Extend2Fit stood out from the pack for its “pretty easy installation and thoughtful features.”

We’re bullish on starting with an infant car seat before moving on to a convertible seat, and we note in our convertible car-seat guide that “we’ve found that each individual type of seat tends to do a far better job of its dedicated purpose than an all-in-one seat can.” But if you’re set on a seat that’s a one-and-done purchase, the Graco Extend2Fit 3-in-1, which “can be used as a rear-facing infant seat, a rear-facing toddler seat, a forward-facing toddler seat, a big-kid seat, and finally a booster seat may be worth considering.

This attractive booster is safe, easy to use, and comfortable. It’s a hit with caregivers and kids alike.

For bigger kids who are ready to ride in a booster seat, the Chicco KidFit ClearTex Plus is the top pick in our booster-seat guide; it converts from a high-back seat to a backless one, comes with two cup holders, and was deemed cushy and comfortable by our kid testers.

This article was edited by Annemarie Conte and Ingela Ratledge Amundson.