The basics: The Safe Seat step 1 is an infant carrier designed to be used for babies weighing between 5 and 30lbs and up to 32" in length. It is a rear-facing only seat, and can be installed with or without the base.

The seat itself is very adjustable with 3 harness heights and settings to adjust the length of the harness itself. It has an up front harness adjustment making it easy to loosen and tighten the harness as needed without any fumbling with straps on the back. It has seatbelt guides and can be installed without a base. The seat has a level indicator on the side of it to insure that the seat is installed at an acceptable angle. It also features EPS foam in the head area for added protection in side impact collisions.

The base is unique in that it has a built-in lock off. The lock-off actually makes it easier to install the base with the seatbelt instead of LATCH. It is very straight-forward to operate and eliminates the need for locking clips. The seat can also be installed using LATCH if your vehicle is equipped with LATCH anchors.
*** Note: The base can only be installed with either the seat belt or the LATCH belt. Not both.

There is a twist dial on the base to adjust the foot of the base so that if your vehicle seat is angled, you can still get the seat installed at the correct angle. The adjustment is easy to use and adjust.

Installation:

We installed the base with the seat belt using the built in lock-off. It's important to note that you cannot use a locking clip when installing the base. You must use the built in lock-off. The lock off is easy to use and makes for a quick installation. You simply flip one piece up to cover both parts of the seatbelt, and flip the other piece down and it fastens on to the other piece locking the seatbelt in place. I found it very easy to get a tight installation and was able to put the base in in just a couple of minutes the first time I tried.

Adjusting the car seat:

The harness straps attach to a metal fastener by loops at the back of the car seat. The harness straps must be at or below the child's shoulders at all times, so this process is one that will have to be repeated as your baby grows.

To change which slots the harness is going through, you remove the harness from the clip, pull it through the front of the seat, re-thread it through the appropriate slots and re-attach it to the harness clip. The process is not much different than most other car seats with front adjusters. There are 2 sets of loops on the end of the harness strap. The manual explains which set of loops to use with which harness height. The purpose of the loops is to shorten the harness so that it can be tightened properly around a newborn baby. The straps can also be lengthened at the hips when more harness length is needed. This is also a simple procedure requiring no tools and the manual details how to do it.

The Manual:

The manual is written in pretty straight forward language compared to many other car seat manuals. It has ample illustrations and I found it easy to understand.

Using the car seat:

The buckle has a good firm feeling and the buckle tongues click into it securely. The chest clip fastens easily and is also easy for an adult to undo - my 3 yr old daughter, however, isn't quite able to undo it yet - so it has the right combination of ease of use for an adult but difficult enough that most toddlers wouldn't be able to undo it.

The harness straps are sturdy and do not twist readily. The buckles are designed so that the harness can move easily through them and it makes it easy to snug the harness over the hips.

Adjusting the harness is quick and easy. There is a strap on the front of the seat that you pull on to tighten, and a metal lever in front of that that if you push down on the front and pull out on the harness from the shoulders allows the harness to be loosened. The easy adjustment allows you to make sure that baby is buckled in properly each and every time and eliminates messing around with the adjustments on the back.

The car seat snaps securely onto the base and is easy to remove. It is also compatible with all Graco strollers as well as some others.

Comfort and fit:

We bought this when my son was 6 months old because he was outgrowing his snugride and we wanted to be able to continue having the convenience of an infant carrier. We have long cold winters here, so being able to keep him in a carrier made it easier to put blankets over him to keep him warm.

The Safe Seat is wider in the interior and he not only had more room to grow height-wise, but also gained shoulder room compared to his snugride. My son was born 7 weeks early and came home in a snugride. I have no doubt that the safeseat would've fit him very well then if not even better.

My son has some cute baby fat on his face and neck area and this makes the straps rub right against his skin when the harness is tightened appropriately. There are not currently any shoulder harness pads being made by Graco for the Safe Seat. I hope this is something they change in the future because I see this being the biggest issue with the seat. I've dealt with this problem by pulling a bit of my son's shirt against his neck so that the harness isn't against his skin.

*** Note: While you can purchase shoulder pads to wrap around the harness from other manufacturers, these are not safe to use unless they have been crash tested with the specific car seat. While Graco does market harness pads, they have not been tested with the Safe Seat, so there is currently no option available.

Summary:

The Safe Seat 1 is not much more than other infant carriers available, but it will fit most children until their first birthday or beyond. Because babies will fit the seat longer the seat is a good value for your money when you consider the added convenience of having a carrier available to you.

The easy to install base and the easy to adjust harness help insure that your child's seat is both installed and used correctly. Considering that 80% of all car seats are either installed wrong or used incorrectly, ease of use is an important factor in choosing a car seat.

Overall, my only regret is that we didn't buy this for my son before he was born. The Safe Seat on sale only cost us $20 more than the Snugride on sale, and yet we've already gotten an additional 2 months of use from it and he still has growing room left in it. We now use the seat as more of a convertible and leave it in the car unless he's fallen asleep or the weather is miserable, but the option to be able to bring him in in the car seat is one that I value having even at his age.

Note: Even with a user friendly car seat, it is important to get your installation checked by a certified car seat technician. Always read both your car seats manual and your vehicle manual prior to installation. There is no single "best" or "safest" car seat. The best car seat is one that fits your vehicle, fits your child and will be used correctly every time.
http://www.car-seat.org is a wonderful resource to help with comparing car seats and to get specific questions answered.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 130
Age Range of Child: 0 to 12 Months