Customer Reviews

Baby Trend Galaxy Flex-Loc Infant Car Seat

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have had two kids use my Evenflo carseat. I HATED it. It was like they never even tried it out to see how well its features worked. I finally got so sick of it when my 2nd child was 4 months old that I ordered a Babytrend Flexloc. At first I was seduced by the high safety ratings, but even after that Consumer Reports article was rescinded, I still liked a lot of the features.

Pros:
-very comfy seat, good padding
-the canopy is twice as long as my Evenflo so it can cover baby almost completely
- the canopy stays in place; it doesn't fall forward or backward behind the seat
- the tightening mechanism under the baby's feet is easy to reach and VERY easy to adjust to make the straps tighter or looser depending on what baby is wearing
- the harness mechanism is very easy to adjust (the shoulder strap height). My Evenflo had to be rethreaded every few months and even my mechanically inclined husband said it was horrible. The Flexloc is just a dial on the back that you turn--it's a breeze.
- The seat can be transfered between cars without the base. It can be strapped directly to the car by using a seat belt on the car seat or by using the LATCH system if your car has it.
- the triangular handle has a nice grip and is easy to hold in any position
- this carseat is lighter than my Evenflo
- The cloth is very wipeable, not as absorbant of spills and stains as my Evenflo


Cons:
I found a few minor cons that definitely would not deter me from buying this carseat, and one that might (depending on how I can resolve it once I contact Babytrend).
- The release button to take the seat off its base is at the toes under the seat. It's a little harder to reach than the ones behind the head if the carseat is backward facing.
- As others have said, the buttons to move the handle are a bit stiff, but not horribly so. I was prepared for them to be way worse.
- The handle is thinner and doesn't FEEL as sturdy as my Evenflo when carrying baby around, but it hasn't had any problems
-This is the one BIG one that I have to check with Babytrend on: Twice when I have turned a corner sharply, the carseat has tipped to a 45 degree angle! I have tightened down the seatbelt as much as I could, putting my full weight on it and using the seatbelt retracting mechanism. But maybe I'm still not doing it right. The base is narrower than my Evenflo's was, so maybe that's why? So I need to contact Babytrend and see if they have any suggestions. Until then, I guess I'll take the corners slower!

Overall, I have felt like this seat was a MAJOR improvement over my Evenflo and even over the Graco Snugrides I checked out at the store. It was intelligently designed to be easy to use and adjust as baby grows. I would recommend it for sure. Just make sure you strap it in tightly or use the LATCH system if you have it.

I have been using this seat for a month now. I am mostly pleased with it. I was unsure I'd like the triangle handle but I find it as comfortable to use as any of the other styles, if not better.

I love the covering. It wipes clean pretty easy. It's not like the cloth covered seats where stains soak in.

Very nice sun hood. Almost covers the entire seat.

The few things I'd like changed would be the way you have to put the two strap sections togehter to get them to snap in. It's a little hard to do if the baby is really wiggly.

Also, the handle is pretty stiff to move back.

In all, it's my favorite infant seat we've had and we've had many in the past!

I love this car seat except for the fact that the one I have is defective. The crotch snap does not work properly. When I contacted Baby Trend, they advised that they do not exchange or repair their products free, even though mine was manufactured in October 2006 & I contacted them in December - less than a month after I bought it.

Otherwise, this is a wonderful seat. I love the triangular handle. I use it with the Snap & Go and have no trouble at all transferring her. If she falls asleep in it, it is easy to take her wherever I want without disturbing her. She seems very comfortable in it as well. She was born November 12, 2006.

The hood is such that it can block out the sun, no matter from which direction it is shining. And you can still see her face - if you are tall enough.

The product is great - if yours if fully functioning. I'm anxious for her to grow to 20 pounds so I can buy another seat. As it is, I try not to take her in the car any more than I have to because of the defective lock since I can't spring for another seat now. I will never buy another Baby Trend for that reason.

Where to begin? I guess my sentiments echo the other reviewer's 1-star ratings.

- The handle is difficult to move to any position that it locks into.
- The canopy interfers with the handle, and you must adjust it everytime you move the handle.
- LATCH does not work on vehicle designed for LATCH*.
- Seat belt guides are a pain (literally and figuratively).

I received this seat as a gift, but it will never be used for its intended purpose in my care. I attempted to install it first with the LATCH connectors, but was thwarted by the 'too-long' connectors. Yes, they did connnect, but the combination of the length of the connector + the position of the belt handle + the belt cutout position => is too great for the car's LATCH mount and the seat base fitting. This then leads to the base not being able to be 'tightened any more' and the base is free to move around side to side and back and forth. Tried installation on two cars - 2007 Subaru Impreza Wagon and 2005 Infiniti G35. Same problem with both cars,,, the base design would not allow proper attachment as recommended by car seat fitters (less than 1" of movement in any direction).

Anyway, the other short-comings of this seat put me off completely; as noted above. This is a poor product with an overall terrible design.

Instead of the Flex Loc, I will be using a Recaro Signo for my newborn instead, since purchasing another infant seat is out of the question at this time. If you want to buy a pretty decent infant seat, please consider either the Chicco KeyFit 30 [What I originally requested], or a Graco Snugride (original or 32).

We bought this seat rather blindly based on it's good safety rating on Consumer Reports. Bad idea...

Not that this seat won't do what it's intended to do, mind you. But it is a painful ordeal to install the base in our cars, which do not have the LATCH connectors for the middle-back-seat (i.e., the only position that works well for this seat+base). The painful problem with the base is two-fold:

1) The place where you thread the seat belt is VERY narrow and not channel-like. Thus very hard to thread a belt through w/o rasping your knuckles.

2) The place where you thread the seat belt is VERY close to the crook of the seat, which makes it VERY hard to tighten properly unless your shorter belt-buckle-strap is shorter than our cars (2000 and 2001 sedans).

Besides the major aggravation with installing this seat there are two other issued worth mentioning.

It is also very difficult for me (partly due to my back problems) to unclasp my child from this seat while kneeling in the backseat. This is due the two things:

3) The two latches for positioning the handle are VERY tough to dis-engage.

4) Both the upper and lower buckles are hard to dis-engage one-handed.

We also don't like how heavy the seat is, though the handle-shape clearly helps. Lesson learned: don't trust good safety ratings alone. Try it out first.

We bought this car seat because we have a small backseat that needed to fit 3 car seats. Not an easy order, but we were able to accomplish this using this car seat, a Radian 80, and a Graco TurboBooster.

I like that this seat seems very secure and has good ratings from CR. I also like that it is very narrow and fits easily into our car.

I dislike that it is a bit difficult to buckle the child into the seat. Unlike seats where the crotch buckles directly into the bottom latch, this seat requires that you first put both sides of the crotch buckles together before putting them into the bottom latch.

Sometimes this is a bit difficult if the baby is arching his back. It takes a bit of practice and I'm not really sure if it's a safer design than the traditional style.

The fabric/material isn't the softest, but it's not terrible either. There is a built in headrest that seems pretty sturdy.

I recently bought this carseat and when I got it I thought it would be perfect. When I tried to install it was when I found the first problem. Putting the seat in the correct height to have it level proves to be near impossible unless you are very strong. Raising and lowering it by the little button the base is very difficult. After I got that figured out and got it installed by a certified person, I thought I was going to be done with it until I had the baby. I didn't pay any attention to it for a couple of days and when I was putting stuff in the backseat I noticed that one of the LATCH clasps was undone. I couldn't figure out why this would have happened but didn't think anything of it and just hooked it back on. By the time I had driven home, less than 10 minutes, it was unclipped again. No one seemed to be able to tell me why this was happening, I'm just glad that my baby isn't here yet! I'm returning this one and I don't think I'll ever look at a Baby Trend again!

I got this carseat because I loved the look of it and it had a high safety rating. My son was born 10.5 lbs and 21 inches long...he was a moose! He stayed in that carseat until he was 10 months or so with NO problems. The straps still fit him, the only issue was that he got a little long for it and he got so heavy that I didn't want to carry him in ANY carseat, I started using a sling. Not the carseat's fault.
The fabric is easy to clean and he was a super spitter! It was heavy but so was he. The carseat also attached nicely in the car and strollers - even the shopping carts at the grocery store.
The only reason I gave it 4 starts instead of 5 was because as a newborn, my little guy seemed to sit very upright. Not a big issue if you get a headrest for it. Also, the handle is a little stiff but nothing I couldn't handle, and I have small hands.
We are now pregnant with twins and I'm looking to get the SAME carseat again.

I LOVE this car seat. There are a few deterrents, but my son is just a month shy of 2 years old and he still fits in this seat quite well. When placed at the proper angle in the car and bucked in you will not find any safety issues at all. The base is a challenge to put in, but for ease of use we don't even use the base.

It is a bit heavy to carry around, but it is not recommended for bonding with your child that you leave them in the car seat while out and about but rather purchase a sling or carry your baby.

Unlike other seats this buckle is very hard to buckle and unbuckle meaning when my son at 8 months began trying to get out of his seat he could not, while friends with graco seats their babies were letting themselves out of the seat with ease.

The foam is very strong and the seat overall still looks brand new after 2 years of use, and I plan on using it for my next baby. Unlike carseats made from a woven cotton fabric this is very easy to wipe clean to make sure things are always clean. None of the fabric has worn out or faded.

You will find that this seat is well worth the money you spend on it.

**NEW**

Well we are retiring this seat. It made it through a second baby prior to it's expiration date. I still have the complaint about the challenge of the buckle, but I think the pros are worth it.

The material is still in great shape. I was however not able to use it as long this time. My baby was about 4 months old when he hit 22lbs. My second was a much larger baby than my first. I feel this seat was money well spent and would get another Baby Trend again.

I actually hate carseats because they are usually pretty heavy and bulky. This one is pretty nice. Not as heavy as the carseat we originally purchased for our 3.5 month old. I love the triangle handle.

I know that the little buttons on the side are a little hard to press in when you want to move the handle, but I don't think its all that bad.

This carseat has very high safety ratings. The adjustable head cushion is a major plus, super easy to adjust and super easy to loosen and tighten 5-point harness.

I love the handle that unlocks the carseat from the base, very easy and smooth, no more struggling like a mad woman to release the carseat from the car or the stroller.