Customer Reviews

Graco Snugride Infant Car Seat, Lotus

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Our first baby just turned one. When my wife was pregnant with him, we did a lot of research on infant carseats, talked to a lot of parents that had carseats, and "test drove" a lot of carseats both of our friends and in stores. This is a great carseat - and probably our best baby gear purchase overall, along with the frame stroller. I loved this carseat during the initial research phase and continued to love it the entire time we used it. Main points:

1. Excellent safety ratings. If a carseat does not pass this initial test, to me, it does not make sense to buy it, since that is the main purpose of a carseat.

2. Weight. This will matter more than you think - especially when you put a baby in it and carry it around. My wife grew to appreciate this aspect greatly over time. I encourage you to actually go to stores and compare weights - especially women.

3. Matching frame stroller. Related, Gracco makes a great compatable frame stroller - Graco SnugRider Infant Car Seat Stroller Frame. The lighweight carseat combined with the lighweight frame stroller are a big deal when you are lugging them in an out of your car, house, hotels, shops, restaurants, and all over when traveling with the baby. Again, one of my biggest tips for new parents shopping for baby gear is to put the carseat in the stroller and see how heavy it is. Is this something you can load easily? Is this something you can carry the baby around in? In addition to weight, it is durable for a frame stroller. It has a lock in system similar to the carseat base plus movable plastic nobs to keep the carseat secure. This carseat-frame combo worked great for us, and I encourage others to at least look into it and consider it - especially when looking at other systems such as Chicco that do not make a frame stroller but generally package much heavier and bulkier carseat-stroller combos. You also have to be careful and test the security of any frame strollers not made by the carseat manufacturer.

4. Stylish & durable. My wife leaned toward the look of Chicco, which is great, but liked just as much this particular Lotus model, preferring it over many of the other Snugride styles. It still looks great after months of hard use, and I look forward to using it with future children.

5. Convenience. Because of our growing child, we have moved on to a bigger Britax leave-in carseat, but overall I recommend an infant carseat for convenience - transporting a child quickly and with covering in bad weather, having the option of leaving the child in the carseat if sleeping or not being fussy, having a good way to show the young baby to others without getting hands (and germs) all over the baby, etc. If the child will be riding in several cars (grandparents, multiple cars in family, etc.), the system of having one carseat with multiple relatively inexpensive bases will be someting you miss when you move to leave-in carseats. You can look at the option of just buying one or more good leave-in carseat and saving money, but in my opinion the extra convenience of a good infant carseat will outweigh the cost, especially in the early months.

There are other features that could be explored, but those are the main points. This carseat worked great for us, and I encourage parents looking at carseats and stollers to look into this option when doing your own research.

I just received this item. Putting the canopy on was no problem. The colors are as shown, red and black with gray. I love the removable boot (sleeping bag) for winter. I planned to use this car seat with my Bob Revolution stroller, and they are a perfect fit. This car seat is very easy to use and I like the 5 point harness. I would like to thank the seller for shipping to an APO address as well.

This is a good car seat with good features.

PROS
Latch: The best part of this is having latch.With Latch i can install the car seat in less then 2 minutes.Moreover latch makes me feel comfortable that the car seat will not move an inch after installation.
Fabric: Many people staying in warm places may feel the fabric not comfortable.Me being in Chicago,and in winter weather fell this very comfortable.My baby feel comfortable even after 5-6 hours in this car seat.
Foam:This comes with a foam to support baby during jerks.I think it handles well.
Chico:Initially i was inclined towards Chico Keyfit 30.But this has almost all the features which expensive Keyfit has.especially the latch.
Belts:The 5 point harness is very easy to use.Keyfit 30 best feature was its belts.So far i had no problem with the belts in this car seat.The front adjustment is very easy to use.

CONS:
Boot:Someone who is interested in the boot may not find it useful.I never used it as it covers only the feet.Instead i purchased a cozy cover for winter.
Handle:I feel extremely uncomfortable with the handle.Once baby is in the car,it is difficult to reach on both sides of the car seat to bring the handle straight.So i tied one side with a wire.So when i need to move handle either side i just press the lock on one side .

this car seat is a high quality car seat. very sturdy, the material is durable and the color is superb, it's spacious as well. you can find it on albeebaby.com for $109 plus free shipping.

I researched many car seats and settled on the Snugride. The first time around I picked a Snugride based on looks only to find out the harness straps adjusted in the back which was foreshadowing a huge pain to be constantly adjusting. So I returned that Snugride and found the Lotus (same model as the Platinum). Not only does it have front adjust for the harness straps but it has the Gracopedic padding - I could instantly tell the quality was much better than the lower end Snugrides.

The only reason I'm giving this 4 stars is the handle can get stuck and is awkward to move back and forth, however I've been moving it more and more and it seems to be responding better.

AFTER MUCH RESEARCH THIS CAR SEAT SCORED BETTER THAN MOST OTHERS AND WAS REASONABLY PRICED AND EASILY ADAPTABLE TO FIT MY STROLLER. WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

We purchased this car seat locally after high recommendations by a salesman. We used it for about 3 1/2 months and have hated it ever since we bought it. On the bottom side of the seat is a storage compartment for the instruction manual. The tightening strap rubs against this compartment in such a way that a buckle on the strap gets stuck when it reaches the compartment. My wife and I have to reach under the car seat and struggle to get the buckle over and past the storage compartment. We are so frustrated that we are considering buying a different car seat. Maybe Graco can redesign the seat by placing this storage compartment someplace else.

I bought "Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat - Lotus" for my littler one, I was so exited about the colors, the security of this card seat, but when we started to using it a regular bases e noticed some issues:

Negative things:
1. "The hanger" is no smoothie shape, cut your finger when you adjust it.
2. "5 point front adjust harness for a secure fit" = it's complicate you need to put your finger inside the structure to adjust the size.
3. "Convenient, stay-in-car adjustable base" = take a lot of space
4. "GracoPedic Luxury Foam molds to childs body for luxurious comfort" = gave allergic reaction to my baby when has direct contact with the car seat fabric.
5. "180-degree adjustable canopy with visor and window for weather protection": the visor is not useful at all, it is impossible see my baby throw it.

Good things:
1. Removable double infant head support and comfy harness covers for a cozy ride
2. Easy-to-read level indicator for proper installation
3. Machine-washable padding

I should get more information about this car seat before buy it. :/