Which car seat to buy for your little one is a big decision. Pouring over car seat reviews takes time, and you need to make sure you make the best decision for you and your baby.
One infant car seat you can check out is the Chicco KeyFit 30. After doing extensive research on this car seat, we determined it is one of the best infant car seats out there, and we know you will agree.
Chicco boasts that the Keyfit 30 is the “premier infant carrier for safety, comfort, and convenience.” Having read hundreds of other Reviews, Chicco’s boast appears to be well justified.
We were impressed by the excellent crash test scores, the easy installation, the overall comfort, and the affordable price for the value.
Here’s what we found:
Chicco Keyfit 30 Review – Is It Worth The Hype?
Background
Chicco (pronounced kee-ko) is the largest baby-centric brand in Europe and is part of Artsana Group—a lifestyle company that offers a plethora of baby gear products. Chicco was founded by Enrico Catelli in 1958. Mr. Catelli dedicated himself to creating better solutions for parents and babies, and his products are well known and still selling strong.
Here’s the rundown of features in the Chicco Keyfit 30 car seat. We will explore these in detail in a bit:
- Item weight—17.15 lbs
- Dimensions—27.5 x 17 x 24 inches
- Infant weight range—4-30 lbs
- Infant height limit—30 inches
- Rear-facing
- Five-point harness
- Energy-absorbing foam
- Bubble levels for correct installation
- SuperCinch Tightener
- Good for six years
- One year warranty
- Compatible with most strollers
- Machine washable fabric
- Six color options
Safety Features
Every infant car seat sold in the United States is required to meet the Federal crash-test safety requirements. Some car seats exceed the specifications, adding even more safety features. Chicco KeyFit 30 is one of those.
KeyFit 30 comes with a five-point safety harness that you can safely and easily strap around your baby. The harness is easy to tighten and release with just a single button chest clip.
The seat is filled with energy-absorbing foam to protect your child in case of an accident. This foam also ensures your child’s comfort while riding in the car.
Installation
An infant car seat can be safe, but it won’t help you if it’s not installed correctly. Unfortunately, many parents unknowingly put their child at risk by not installing the car seat properly.
Chicco KeyFit helps solves this problem. The well-designed car seat base has a few safety features that will ensure that the car seat is installed correctly every time.
The Chicco has a unique LATCH system. The connection anchors are easy to use—you just push and release. When you attach the LATCH anchors to the vehicle, you then use the middle strap to tighten them.
A bubble level indicator on the base helps parents find the proper installation angle. This is a convenient feature that some car seats lack.
When installed correctly, the base should move less than 1 inch from side to side. Once the base is installed, you simply clip the car seat in.
Ease of Use
The car seat itself is simple to install and to use daily. Carrying around the car seat may be a bit more difficult because it’s a bit heavy (9.2 lbs). However, the handle is well built and easy to pick up or put down. There are two positions to carry the handle to ensure a more comfortable grip.
Comfort
Overall, the Chicco is pretty comfortable. The area around the neck and head includes a soft cushion. The infant insert is soft. In fact, this car seat is excellent for premature infants, and many neonatal intensive care unit nurses prefer this seat.
One point we must mention is the Chicco padding and fabric is coarse, according to some reviews. The head and body cushion are softer, but they are still a bit stiffer than we like. Some customers who reviewed this car seat said that the padding did not breathe well.
The canopy offers decent protection from direct sunlight or rain, but it is a little on the short side.
Stroller Compatibility
Stroller compatibility is another area where Chicco excels. You will be able to use the car seat with most of the stroller brands. You simply place the car seat in the stroller and it clip it on. To remove, just detach the lever at the back of the seat, just like you would remove it from the base of your car.
Weight and Height Limit
The Chicco’s weight limit is 30 lbs, and the height limit is 30 inches. Easy to remember. On average, and this is just an average, children weight about 22 lbs by the time they reach 30 inches. At this point, they are around 14 months old. This car seat has a six-year expiration date, so you should not need to buy another car seat until your child needs a forward-facing one.
Maintenance
Babies are messy, so you will probably need to wash the car seat’s fabric and clean the car seat often. The cover’s fabric and headrest pad can be removed and thrown in the washer and dryer. The harness covers, however, must be washed and dried by hand since they have Velcro.
- Fits babies from 4 to 30 lbs
- Excellent crash test scores
- Easy to install and level
- Best car seat for the price
- Padding is not breathable
- Canopy is small—may need extra sun protection
- Heavier than some other infant car seats
Our Final Thoughts
You can’t go wrong with the Chicco KeyFit 30. We love that it’s consistently rated one of the top car seats on the market, but we did our own research, and now we can see why.
If you want a safe seat that won’t take an hour to install and doesn’t slow you down when you’re on the go, the Chicco KeyFit 30 is a great fit!
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