Choosing the Best Infant Car Seat is a crucial decision for new parents. Safety, ease of use, and comfort are paramount when selecting a car seat to protect your precious little one. With numerous options on the market, it can be overwhelming to navigate the features, brands, and price points. This guide offers a detailed look at some of the leading infant car seats available in 2024, based on recent testing and evaluations. We aim to help you find the best infant car seat to meet your family’s needs, ensuring both safety and convenience on the road.
Graco Premier SnugRide SnugFit 35 XT: Top-Tier Features at a Premium Price
The Graco Premier SnugRide SnugFit 35 XT represents the high-end version of the acclaimed SnugRide SnugFit 35 DLX. This model boasts additional features like a privacy drape, a canopy window, and crucially, load leg technology. Load legs are designed to enhance safety and stability during a collision by reducing rotation and forward movement of the car seat.
In 2024 tests, the SnugRide SnugFit 35 XT impressed with its straightforward installation process, mirroring the ease of use found in the top-pick DLX model. However, the $350 price tag raises questions about value. While offering enhanced safety features, its overall aesthetic doesn’t quite match the premium feel of competitors like the Uppababy Aria, despite costing roughly the same.
Britax Willow S Series: New Lineup with ClickTight Challenges
Britax has introduced a new series of infant car seats – the Willow S, Willow SC, and Cypress – replacing the older B-Safe models. The Willow S, tested in 2024, serves as the base model, with the Willow SC and Cypress offering upgrades like a one-hand adjustable carry handle and an enhanced canopy, respectively. All models in the Willow and Cypress series include a European belt path and an anti-rebound base, features aimed at improving safety.
A key feature of these new Britax seats is the ClickTight installation mechanism, intended to simplify seat belt and LATCH strap tightening. While ClickTight is favored in Britax’s convertible car seats for its ease of use, testers found it challenging and less secure in these infant car seat bases. Even with significant force applied to close the mechanism, the base’s stability remained questionable, raising concerns about installation security.
Chicco Fit2: Hybrid Design for Extended Use
The Chicco Fit2 stands out as a hybrid infant-and-toddler car seat, accommodating children up to 35 pounds or 35 inches in height – the highest height limit among the reviewed infant car seats. Designed for children up to approximately 2 years old, the Fit2 appeals to parents looking to delay the transition to a convertible car seat. It features an extendable headrest and a removable canopy, along with an anti-rebound base similar to the well-regarded Chicco KeyFit 35.
Installation of the Fit2 base is reported to be straightforward. However, the seat itself, without the base, weighs 11 pounds, potentially limiting its portability as the child grows. Despite incorporating a European belt path, the Fit2’s wider and longer design may pose challenges with standard seat belt lengths, as experienced in tests with a Honda Odyssey. For improved breathability, Chicco offers a Fit2 Adapt version with enhanced fabric.
Clek Liingo: Base-less Portability with Trade-offs
The Clek Liingo is designed as a no-base infant car seat, offering portability and convenience, especially for urban parents or those frequently using taxis. While sharing a similar aesthetic with the Clek Liing, the Liingo forgoes a base and consequently, the load leg safety feature present in the Liing. This reduction in features results in a lower price point for the Liingo, typically around $150 less than the Liing.
Installation flexibility is offered through either a vehicle’s seat belt (utilizing a European belt-path configuration) or LATCH hooks, which are stored in a compartment on the seat’s back. However, the Liingo’s LATCH system, unlike the rigid LATCH of the Liing, uses straps attached to the top belt path, proving less secure in tests compared to the European belt-path method. Neither installation method matched the secure feel of the Liing with its base. Despite these compromises, the Liingo’s 9-pound weight (without LATCH bin and newborn insert) enhances its appeal for portability. For primary car seat use, the Clek Liing, with its base providing a more secure installation, is recommended despite the higher cost.
Uppababy Mesa V2: Easy Installation with Minor Drawbacks
The Uppababy Mesa V2 features a European belt path and the same user-friendly self-ratcheting LATCH installation system as the Uppababy Aria. Its compatibility with Uppababy strollers adds to its appeal for parents already invested in the brand. Testing of both the original Mesa and Mesa V2 in 2022 revealed that while the V2 offers a higher height and weight limit (35 pounds and 32 inches) compared to the Aria, the Aria’s lighter weight and load leg were considered more valuable, justifying the extra $20 in cost.
Cybex Aton 2: Recalled Model with Handling Issues
The Cybex Aton 2, tested in 2018, was noted for its difficulty in clicking into and out of its base, requiring a complex two-finger release panel operation. Handle adjustments were also reported as cumbersome, causing strain during maneuvering. A notable feature of the Aton 2 is its steel load leg, designed to enhance safety by absorbing crash impact and limiting motion.
However, in February 2023, Cybex issued a recall for Aton 2 and Cloud Q car seats manufactured between June 2017 and November 2020 due to a potential harness adjuster strap fraying issue. Owners of affected models are advised to contact Cybex for a remedy kit.
Cybex Aton G Series: Budget Options and Recall Concerns
The Cybex Aton G is positioned as a more budget-friendly alternative to the Aton 2, lacking a load leg and featuring a smaller canopy. The Aton G Swivel variant includes a rotating feature to ease baby loading, a feature considered less necessary in infant seats which are already designed for easy removal. Neither the G nor G Swivel models have been tested in evaluations.
In February 2025, Cybex initiated a voluntary recall for Aton G and Aton G Swivel seats produced between February 2023 and May 2024. This recall addresses a potential issue with the harness anchor pin dislodging when the seat is not in use. A free product update kit is expected to be available in April 2025, and owners can contact Cybex for information and interim usage guidance.
Cybex Cloud T & Cloud G Lux: Reclining Feature and Load Leg
The Cybex Cloud T represents a newer iteration of the high-end, now discontinued Cybex Cloud Q. A key feature carried over from the Cloud Q is the full recline capability when the seat is used outside of a vehicle. (It is important to remember that babies should always sleep on firm, flat surfaces for extended periods). The Cloud T also includes a sensor in the chest clip to monitor the baby’s temperature and safety, and it is equipped with a load leg. However, its larger size and 12-pound weight may detract from its convenience as a portable infant seat. The Cloud G Lux is another model in this series, also featuring a load leg and the SensorSafe chest clip, but it has not been tested.
Nuna Infant Seat Lineup: Lightweight and Stylish with Base Design Flaws
Nuna’s infant car seat range, including the Pipa Rx, Pipa Aire, and Pipa Aire Rx, are recognized for their ease of use, light weight, and stylish designs. Nuna offers two base options for these seats, both incorporating load leg technology. The more economical Pipa-series base, standard with the Pipa Aire, was found to have a design flaw in 2021 testing. Its rigid LATCH hooks, intended to rotate for easier installation, are paired with a vehicle seat back contact point that is too short. This design flaw can cause the base to rotate and the load leg to adjust when the bucket seat is lifted for removal, potentially altering the base angle unnoticed, and raising concerns about safety during routine use and crash scenarios.
The Relx base, compatible with Pipa Rx and Pipa Aire Rx models, presents a better design, though at a higher cost. Like the Pipa base, it includes a load leg and rotating rigid LATCH hooks, but its taller vehicle seat contact section ensures greater stability and prevents base rotation during seat removal, enhancing overall security. For those considering a Nuna infant seat, models paired with the Relx base are recommended. However, at a similar price point, the Uppababy Aria is presented as a superior alternative.
Nuna’s Pipa Urbn travel car seat, requiring purchase with a stroller, offers a baseless design using rigid LATCH for quick car anchor attachment but has not been individually tested.
Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 Series & Romer Juni: Untested Newer Models
The Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 was previously tested in 2018, but newer versions like the Primo Viaggio 4-35 Nido (with load leg) and 4-35 K have not been evaluated. The Romer Juni, a new seat by Britax, appears to be a premium version of the Britax Willow S series, sharing the same foundational car seat shell design and base installation mechanism, with the Juni base adding a load leg. Given the installation issues noted with the Britax Willow S, the Romer Juni is not recommended without testing.
Conclusion: Choosing the Right Infant Car Seat for Your Family
Selecting the best infant car seat involves balancing safety features, ease of use, and budget. While premium models offer advanced safety technologies like load legs and anti-rebound bases, proper installation and consistent use are crucial for any car seat to perform effectively. Consider your lifestyle, vehicle type, and budget when making your choice, and always refer to the manufacturer’s instructions for installation and usage guidelines to ensure your child’s safety on every journey.
