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33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Babies Love It!, April 23, 2009
When we learned we were having twins, and one of each sex, at that, we discovered a dilemma: finding a fairly gender-neutral color scheme/pattern in pretty much everything we would be getting for them. Then, we took a car seat class at the hospital where we were delivering and learned what to look for in a car seat. The Graco SnugRide32 Zurich fulfilled all criteria. The sage/lime green (which later inadvertently became one of the colors of the nursury) and brown fulfilled the gender-neutral criteria, while looking pretty darned classy at the same time. I now feel like I have to dress up when I'm lugging these things around, just to pull it all together.
Anyway, the features are what's important: The instructor in the car seat class stated that the American Pediatric Association recommends that an infant remain rear-facing in a car seat until 1 year of age or 30 lbs. The SnugRide32 meets this standard and then some, which was rather attractive and money-saving in the long run, as most of the other car seats we looked at had weight limits that topped out at 20-something pounds. This one rates up to 32 lbs. The SnugRide32 base also has the LATCH system feature, which makes installation a lot easier if your car was made in 2003 or later. If not, as in our case, installation is still really easy, as the base has a built-in clamp that helps hold the seat belt more tightly in place, thus keeping the whole thing locked down more securely. Also, the seat has a five-point, fully adjustable harness system that keeps baby safe and snug as a bug in a rug. Finally, it has the one feature that our instructor said was worth whatever extra it may cost--the front harness adjustor strap. You just put the little one in the seat and put his or her extremities in the harness, click the buckles into place, and pull the strap tight. That's it. No need to turn the seat around and fumble with the tightening straps on the back. With this seat, you can just strap 'em in, pull 'em tight, and go. I love efficiency. And the most important reason of all is that my babies love their car seats and could probably sit in them for days if we let them. Wonderful product.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Passable seat....but could be better, September 21, 2009
When we were looking for a car seat, it kind of came down to the Peg Perego or the Graco. I mean, as others have pointed out, there are really only a few manufacturers anyways and most of them are pretty similar.
The Graco won out because of a handful of key points:
- The Graco was significantly lighter vs. the Peg (and if you don't think so, you must be Superman...)
- The mechanism to move the handle out of the way was slightly awkward on the Peg, especially for smaller hands
- The Graco was A LOT cheaper. But to be honest, the Graco looks like it. Peg looks like it is a quality design. This Graco model was the best option of the Graco's, the others were so "cheap" looking and the grab handle has sharp edges so you can't hook it on your arm to carry.
So after actually _using_ it, what do I think? That maybe I should have gone with the Peg. Here's why:
- Even with the latch system, the base of the seat doesn't seem terribly secure. I really tugged on it to tighten the straps as much as I could, but still....
- The sitting position for baby? Not so good. Baby gets really crunched up, which may kind of seem secure, but it crunches up baby's breathing passages and also his stomach so baby tends to throw up milk if put in the seat immediately after feeding
- Baby's back gets really sweaty after only short trips in the seat. This never happens in the stroller.
- The should strap system is really bad design. They are _just_ too short to hang them off the side or hook them out of the way when putting baby in. It's stupid, a couple more centimetres and it would've been fine. *** Note: I just checked the Peg, and the design here is way better. It doesn't have this problem and the straps stay nicely out of the way.
- Due to the crunched up sitting position, we don't actually carry baby in the carrier, so weight doesn't really matter that much. That, and as baby gets heavier, the weight of the car seat becomes less significant. *** Note: Regarding the Peg again, I had another look at one, and yes, the design is way better here too. Baby is not as crunched up.
- Also, since we don't carry the car seat out any more, the mechanism to move the handle out of the way, despite not being quite as convenient, is also a moot point.
It's surely an okay seat, but if you're in the market for one, I highly recommend you take a seriously look at the useability given how YOU would use it. Basically the only advantages I see are price and lightweight, both of which are negated by how I use it anyways...
(Yeah, and regarding the price, the Graco looks really cheap, and not in a good way, next to the Peg).
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Reasons NOT to Buy this Seat, November 2, 2009
I'll cut to the chase - while this IS a very safe car seat for children to ride in, it is NOT an easy seat for some parents to deal with.
This seat is BIG; if you don't drive an SUV or mini-van it will gobble up your back seat.
This seat is DEEP; newborns can be very difficult to extract from the seat without pulling them by the arms or shirt front. Additionally smaller newborns can experience breathing difficulties from neck flexion as the seat tends to push their chin down to their chest.
This seat is HEAVY; that gal you saw happily arm carrying her infant in it's seat at the store isn't gonna be you. This seat is gonna make you work for it - and wake the little one sleeping while you do it, because its weight makes it very awkward getting in and out of the vehicle as well as extremely cumbersome to simply carry. Door frames, you will soon learn, are not your friend.
This seat's straps were designed by the Devil himself. The straps are too short to pull out of the way for the child's placement, so you always end up setting the child on top, then pulling them out from underneath - again guaranteeing that you will wake them. As well, the vaunted 5 point buckle requires a form a hand strength that is usually reserved for professional wrestlers - only the buckle is barely large enough for the average adult hand to manipulate. Its great fun to time yourself trying to get the silly thing open when Baby is in full battle cry. Once you have it open, its back to fighting with the straps again as they aren't long enough to fully pull out of the way, and will repeatedly grab the child up around the shoulders and arms.
Lastley, this seat is HOT; the number one reason for mid-drive pull overs - sweaty screaming kid.
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