Customer Reviews

Graco Snugride 35 Infant Car Seat, Clairmont

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

First, This is a GREAT car seat ... Except for the fact that it leads to everyone hating you.

I would Instead recommend the non '35' Graco car seat. This is the one all of our friends have, and it does not suffer from the below issues:

-- Snugride 35 Issues --

1. This thing is Heavy. A good 2-3 lbs heavier than normal car seats. That 2-3 Lbs just sucking life out of your arm as you carry it.

2. Size -- This thing is longer and wider than the normal Graco. This leads to the following issues:

a. Doesn't fit well behind driver/passenger seats.
b. Makes it a real pain to get in and out of the middle seat due to it's size and weight (when occupied).
c. *** Too Wide to fit in a 'upside down high chair' At a restaurant ***
d. *** Too Wide to fit in a booth at a restaurant ***

3. Due to #1 & #2 It is very difficult to gracefully remove or put in a sleeping baby from your vehicle, usually ending up in a non sleeping baby.

4. Due to #2 you are stuck with a car seat in a chair or on a table at restaurants. Which is not only crazy unsafe, but usually inconveniences others.

etc. etc..

Seriously, Our world is not built for this large of a car seat... My wife hates me for buying it. My pets hate me since it takes up so much of their car space since it only fits in the middle of the seat. My kid hates me since I'm always waking em' up. Every person in every restaurant I have been in the last 6 months hates me. And I hate myself for choosing this car seat.

But, other than that, it's a great car seat, and I have nothing bad to say about it.

We have had this seat for six months. I like that it's bigger for my 95th percentile baby boy, and it goes really well with the Graco snugride stroller frame. However, in hindsight I might have just gone with a smaller seat because we will still have to upgrade before our son is out of the height and weight range. He is 28" and 21 lbs at 6 months, and his body still fits into the seat. However, the straps are SO SHORT that even with them threaded as loose as they can be, it is still hard to get him in and out of the seat when you release the straps. This is especially true if he has a jacket on. We do use a Bundle Me in the seat which takes up a little bit of the roominess of the straps, but my husband and I both agree that the straps should be much longer so that when you release them you can get your kid out without crunching his arms and wrists into unnatural positions. It's a shame because he could have used this seat at least a while longer, and now we are going to have to get a convertible car seat. Knowing this now, I'm not sure I would have lugged around a much bugger seat had I known that he was just going to outgrow it as soon as he would have a snugride 32 or even the regular snugride.

But it IS an awesome seat, and for its size it is still pretty light. I just think it would work with a taller, thinner type of child than a stocky chunk like ours.

This may just be our problem, but our son is teething and reaches under the car seat cover and pulls out the comfort foam. He chews it and two times now he's choked on it. We have to pull over, grab him out of the seat and make sure he's okay. We can no longer use this car seat because it's too dangerous for our son. This seems like a design flaw. A baby shouldn't have easy access to foam. Also, this may just be a car seat problem, but it's too hot. He comes out of the seat sweating. I'm sure having this rear facing intensifies the problem.

Before I begin, I must say that I do "like" this carseat and I am happy that my little one is safe in it, but I don't love it and wish I had known a few things before buying it, so I thought I'd pass this along. I am not whining about this carseat and I am not trading it in for a different one. It's what we have and we are going to use it. This is just to help those considering buying this seat and comparing it to others.

1 - This carseat is very wide and does not fit onto the upside down wooden high chair in restaurants.... and it's a little too wide to squeeze into a restaurant booth, as well, which is a pain! (We like to eat out!)

2 - This carseat does not securely latch onto the top part of most grocery/store carts. It will sit there loosely, but often does not lock into place, so I usually end up having to put it in the main part of the cart, making most grocery trips very short ones because I can't fit much else in the cart. If possible, I take someone grocery shopping with me, and they can push him in his stroller or a separate cart... but it is a bummer.

3 - This seat is so freakin' heavy! I am pretty strong, but once my little one got over 15 pounds, this thing became a bear to carry! I love that he can use it until he is bigger, but it sucks that I can't just grab it and go. (Maybe they're all like that. This is my first and only carseat.) It's not bad if you are pulling it from the car straight to the stroller (travel system) or if you park beside the grocery cart return bay and put it right into a cart. Otherwise, I leave it in the car and pull the baby out to carry or wear in a baby carrier.

4 - I didn't realize that this seat was only a rear-facing seat. You can not turn it around.

5 - Your little one may not make it to 35 lbs in this seat. One of the appeals for me was that he could be in it for so much longer than other carseats. However, I didn't realize (as it's not as advertised) that there is a height limit, as well, and he will be too tall/long for this seat way before he gets to 35 lbs... which is kinda lame. (BUT THEN I CAN FIND A SEAT THAT I LOVE!)

Anyway, I hope this helps someone. Happy carseat hunting and congrats on your baby!

First, for safety and functionality...this is a Graco...it's great. I would love it if we had a larger car, but with my Toyota Corolla, this barely fits. When it's installed in the center of the back seat in a rear facing position, it touches both the two front seats and leaves no room for a moderately sized adult passenger on either side. When we install it near the door behind the passenger seat, we have to move the passenger seat further forward that we'd like to. Now, to be fair, we are a tall family so others may not have the same issue as they may be comfortable with the passenger seat further forward, but it's not so great for us.

The extra weight capacity also means this is a heavier chair, I had trouble with it after my C-Section. I also am fairly certain that our little one will be too long for this seat before he reaches the 35 lbs.

I still love Graco though and this seat works great with our Sweet Peace swing and our Graco Stroller Frame. It's safe and sturdy and it has all the normal Graco bells and whistles. But, if I had it to do over again I think I would just get the standard chair and not the one for 35 lbs. I also would have gone to a store that lets you install the seat to check how it fits in the car before purchasing.

How long have I been using this product:
6 weeks

Pros:
Easy to use with base
Easy to adjust
Good Safety Rating

Cons:
Too wide (won't fit on high chairs, between table and chair of bench seats)
heavy

So far this car seat is easy to use and carry but our baby is only 11 lbs currently. I like the print, the material feels breathable and most importantly it has a good safety rating. Hopefully we will never have a reason to attest to this.
The thing that annoys me about the seat is that it is too wide. It won't fit in restaurant high chairs (which isn't so bad because they don't seem so stable). It won't fit in between the chair and table of bench seats, but my friend's car seat (a chicco keyfit) does.

I really like the quality of this car seat. I bought the red/gray combination, there were no funny smells and I really like the style of the seat and the quality of the material.
My only criticism is that it seems a bit too tight, especially as the baby grows, I don't think it will last through 35 lbs, but that's ok since I'm buying another seat anyway.

I bought the Snugride 35 based on its high safety ratings. My daughter is 17 months old and still fits in it.
What I like about the snugride:
1. This carseat has lasted 17 months, my 21 pound daughter is small for her age and still fits in it.
2. High safety rating

Dislikes:
1. This car seat is very difficult to put back together after taking it apart for cleaning, (be warned).
2. Canopy is cheap and I am always fixing it.
3. You need two hands to adjust the handle, this can be very irritating at times.
4. Weight: Carrying this and the baby gets heavy.
5. Head rest is useless for a small baby, we had to stop on the way home from the hospital to buy one, my poor 6 pound baby was flopping all over the place (really the seat is to big for a new born in my opinion).
6. The matching stroller is huge, I wish I had bought the frame instead.

I love this this car seat.

Our aim was to buy this and be done until we have to buy the booster. I'm hoping we can keep our son rear facing past his one year birthday for safety's sake. I think we'll be able to do that with this. We have this car seat in flint (gray). I love the color, love that the straps are easily adjustable, love the easy to use/ install bases and I love the comfortable plush material. I also love that it looks great in the Graco stroller frame and that it works with the little car seat swing.

The ONLY drawback...

I ended up with a C-section. This is a heavy car seat, especially if you have a big baby. During my recovery, it was difficult to carry and it is still cumbersome. You won't be able to just hook this over your arm and carry it around for long periods of time like you can with the little car seats. That said, if I had it to do all over again, I'd still buy this car seat.

The product is super great and works perfect with the stroller frame.
But be careful when you select the fabric. The Claremont has a synthetic like material which offgasses some kind of toxic smell which I am sure will not be good for the baby. I myself got a headache sniffing it! Imagine baby being in there for hours!

Then I went to Babies r us and bought the Graco Snugride 35 Laguna style which has a velvet material on the whole seat and has no smell at all. I am going to return the Claremont style. Some say if you leave it open and air dry the smell will go away. I tried that...but it did not work.