Parents in the United States have more opportunities to rear-face than ever before. Even though the majority of parents continue to forward-face by shortly past 1, more and more parents are learning of the benefits of continuing to rear-face until 4 or beyond, like our fellow parents in Sweden and Norway. None of this would be possible, though, without an increasing array of seats that push the limits in weight and height for extended rear-facing.

Right now in the United States, if you want to rear-face your child until 50 pounds, you have a few options: the Clek Fllo, the Clek Foonf, the Diono Rainier, the Graco Extend2Fit, the Graco Extend2Fit 3-in-1, the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit, the Nuna Rava, the Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+, and the Safety 1st Grow and Go EX Air. However, with few exceptions, most of these seats clock in at well over $200. Today we’ll take a closer look at a seat that doesn’t: the Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+. Depending on which color you buy, you can buy it for as little as under $150! But how does it compare to the other, more expensive, 50 pound convertible car seats on the market? Very well, actually. Let’s dive into the details below.

Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+ – What’s the big deal?

The Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+ is a convertible car seat an one of the best values on the market today for extended rear-facing. Being a convertible car seat, you can start using it the moment you’re ready to leave the hospital (you don’t need to use an infant seat) as long as your baby fits it properly in terms of the lower weight limit, head support, recline angle, and harness adjustability. Once your child reaches either the height or weight limits for the Air+ when rear-facing, you can then turn it forward-facing until your child reaches the height and weight limits in that configuration. At the end of its 8 year life, the seat will be considered expired and will need to be replaced.

Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+ Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 5 to 50 pounds. It’s best practices to rear-face as long as possible, which in this case means rear-facing up to 50 pounds if at all possible, since rear-facing is the safest way for a child to travel in a moving vehicle. The rear-facing height range ranges from 19″ to 49″, and your child’s head must also stay beneath 1″ from the top of the headrest when extended. The shell height is a wonderfully large 28″ when fully extended, and according to Center for Disease Control growth charts (which are the same for girls and boys), a 50th percentile child reaches 50 pounds when 7 years old and 49″ when 7:5 (7 years, 5 months).

This makes this a seat where rear-facing is actually limited by weight instead of height, which is very rare (but very good) in car seats. Three other examples of this in the rear-facing world are the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit, the Graco Extend2Fit, and the Nuna Rava, all of which feature 50 pound and 49″ weight and height rear-facing limits due to the same design. What’s key to remember here is that you’ll be able to rear-face virtually every preschooler (all of whom should be rear-faced) and kindergartner (who still benefit from rear-facing, although they can also be forward-faced) without worry.

Forward-facing: 22 to 65 pounds. The forward-facing height range spans 29″ to 49.” As noted above, a 50th percentile child by height will reach this height at 7:5 while the weight limit won’t be reached until 10 for a 50th percentile child by weight. However, the seat’s usability would end for that same child at 7:5 due to the height limit being exceded then. If you were to rear-face to the limits before forward-facing, the dimensions and growth charts indicate you would be able to rear-face a typical child until 7 and then turn him or her forward-facing until s/he reached 7 years and 5 months. This is incredible. Practically speaking, you could also move directly from rear-facing into boostering, as the Swedes do, since most children will be able to sit appropriately in a high-back booster seat by age 7. Once this occurs, there are no safety advantages to continuing to forward-face vs high-back boostering. However, there’s nothing wrong or unsafe about continuing to forward-face until the seat is completely outgrown by weight or height.

There is a minimum forward-facing requirement of 2 years, but if you’ve read this far already, you’re hopefully planning on exceeding that by several years.

Buy the Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+ on Sale at Amazon here.

Dimensions and Key Features of the Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+

The Advance EX 65 Air+ is 20.5″ wide at its widest points across the armrests; it’s 28″ tall and 24″ long front to back. The seat itself weighs 28.4 pounds on my scale. It can be used for 8 years from its manufacturing date, and its harness height ranges from 7.5″ on the low end to 18″ on the high end. I measure the shell height at 28″ when the headrest is fully extended. Three crotch buckle positions are included in addition to a no-rethread harness. There are 3 recline positions to choose from. The seat is FAA certified for air travel and the expiration date is located beneath the seat and is stamped into the plastic. You can find the date of manufacture sticker on the side of the seat opposite the cupholder.

Using the Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+ (Rear-Facing Installation, Forward-Facing Installation, Child Fit, and Additional Bonuses)

Installing the Air+ was straightforward in both rear-facing and forward-facing configurations. I was happy to see the inclusion of a no-rethread harness, as they simply make adjusting harness heights easier as your child grows, or when it’s necessary to swap a new child into a car seat, such as when carpooling or giving rides. I was happy to be able to achieve a good fit for newborns, toddlers, preschoolers, elementary-aged students, and middle-schoolers. I was also happy to see a handle included in the seat (it’s on the back) to make it easy to carry.

It’s important to note, however, that this is a very large seat as well as a rather hefty one. The weight means you aren’t going to want to move it around if you don’t have to (it’s not a seat you’ll want to tote through an airport; something that folds compactly like the Diono Rainier will be a far better choice). It’s also not a seat you’ll want to turn to for 3 across installations; the best 50-pound seats for that are the Clek Fllo and Clek Foonf at 17″ in width.

When installing the seat, remember that the lower LATCH anchor weight limit is 40 pounds. Since you can install the seat either through seat belts or LATCH, I’d simply install it from the start with seat belts to avoid having to reinstall it that way later when approaching the 40 pound weight limit. I typically always recommend seat belt installations since they make 3 across installations easier and because seat belts are just as safe as LATCH.

When rear-facing, you can choose between crotch buckle positions 1 and 2; the second position provides more space, and you should choose the position closest to your child. When forward-facing, you’ll want to use the included forward-facing tether to limit head excursion. When forward-facing, you can choose between the 3 crotch buckle positions at will.

Why Buy the Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+?

The Advance EX 65 Air+ is part of the growing democratization of car seats in the United States and Canada. What I mean is that it’s part of a growing number of seats that make extended rear-facing available to parents of all budgets. It specifically lets parents here rear-face to 4, 5, and even longer by featuring a 50 pound rear-facing weight limit and the highest height limit currently available at 49 inches. This is huge.

It’s hard to find things wrong with the seat without being very picky; it could be narrower, but seats like the Clek Fllo and Clek Foonf satisfy that need by allowing rear-facing to 50 pounds while coming in at a svelte 17.” It could fold into a more travel-friendly configuration, but you can turn the Diono Rainier into a backpack while still being able to rear-face to 50 pounds, forward-face, and booster. It could be cheaper, but the Graco Extend2Fit is already available to let you rear-face until 50 pounds for less than $200 and is more or less the same price, depending on which seat is more on sale at the moment at Amazon. It could have a longer lifespan, but the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit does while allowing you to use it to rear-face, forward-face, and booster.

To put it mildly, the Air+ lets you rear-face as long as any other seat currently available in the US market while costing a fraction of the price of most of them. There isn’t anything safer than rear-facing, and this seat makes that possible on a small, small budget. Unless you have particular needs (such as for a narrower, shorter, more compact, or lighter seat), this is a good choice to keep your kids very, very safe for a modest price.

You can buy the Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+ in Hardwick Hall, Newbury, and Twist of Citrus here. Unfortunately, it’s not yet available in Canada, but Canadians can buy a similar seat, the Diono Rainier, here.

If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can  shop here for Canadian purchases. Have a question or want to discuss best practices? Join us in the forums!

When it comes to safe ways of transporting children in cars, best practices tell us rear-facing is the way forward. Although most US parents still forward-face by shortly after 1, best practices indicate it’s safest to continue doing so until at least 4, as is the case in both Sweden and Norway. To make this possible, though, we need seats with high weight and height limits in rear-facing configurations.

Currently, there are only a handful of seats that allow you to rear-face until 50 pounds in the United States: the Clek Fllo, the Clek Foonf, the Diono Rainier, the Graco Extend2Fit, the Graco Extend2Fit 3-in-1, the Nuna Rava, the Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+, and the Safety 1st Grow and Go EX Air. Other 50 pound seats have come and gone, such as the Diono Pacifica. However, the market continues to grow as US manufacturers realize that parents are increasingly interested in following global best practices in car seat safety. This brings us to the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit. It combines the 3-in-1 (rear-facing, forward-facing, and booster) modes of the Graco 4Ever with the 50 pound rear-facing weight limits of the Graco Extend2Fit. How does it compare to the other 50 pounds seats on the market? Pretty well. Let’s take a closer look below.

Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit – What’s the big deal?

The Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit is a 3-in-one car seat and the successor to the Graco 4Ever All-in-one. It As a convertible seat, you can use it from the day your baby is born to take him or her home from the hospital rear-facing. While most parents use infant seats, using a convertible seat with a newborn is perfectly safe as long as the seat fits your baby in terms of harness adjustability, recline angle, head support, and of course, the lower weight limit. Once your child maxes out the weight or height limits for it in a rear-facing configuration, you can turn it forward-facing until reaching the weight and height limits there. Once your child outgrows it forward-facing, you can turn it into a high-back booster and then a low back booster. In other words, it’s potentially capable of being the only car seat your child ever needs. Additionally, because it has a 10 year lifespan, you’ll be able to use it with multiple children if you’re interested in doing so, or at least use it to make the most of the 50 pound rear-facing limit and 65 pound forward-facing weight limit, in addition to the booster modes.

Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 4 to 50 pounds. Best practices suggests rear-facing as close as possible to 50 pounds before forward-facing, since rear-facing is the safest way to place a child in a moving vehicle. The absolute height limit is 49″, and your child’s head also needs to remain 1″ below the adjustment handle for the no-rethread harness. The shell height is a very generous 29″ when fully extended, and per Center for Disease Control growth charts (which are the same for boys and girls), a 50th percentile child won’t reach 50 pounds until 7 years old, and 49″ until 7:5 (7 years, 5 months). As a result, this is one of the rare seats where weight is actually the bottleneck instead of height for rear-facing; the Graco Extend2Fit and Nuna Rava, which both also feature 50 pound and 49″ weight and height limits respectively while rear-facing, are designed the same way. The main takeaway here though is that you’ll be able to rear-face virtually every preschooler (all of whom should be rear-faced) and kindergartner (who still benefit from rear-facing, although they can also be forward-faced) without worry.

Forward-facing: 22 to 65 pounds. The forward-facing height range ends at 49.” This height limit, as noted above, will be reached by a 50th percentile child at 7:5. The weight limit won’t be reached by a 50th percentile child until 10, but it’s overruled by the height limit. If you were to max out the rear-facing limits before forward-facing, this suggests you could rear-face the average child until 7 and then forward-face until 7:5 before converting to the booster modes. In practice, you could move directly from rear-facing into boostering, as the Swedes do, as most children will be able to sit appropriately in high-back booster seats by 7, which means there aren’t any safety advantages in continuing to forward-face at that point. There is no harm, however, in continuing to forward-face until your child outgrows that configuration by weight or height.

High-back / low-back booster: 40 to 100 pounds as a high-back booster and 40-120 pounds as a backless (low-back) booster. The height range in both configurations is between 43″ and 57″ and Graco added a minimum age range of 4 years. This is far better than previous car seat recommendations where manufacturers stated boosters could be used as early as 3 (a very unsafe idea), but it’s crucial to remember that preschoolers should never be in boosters and kindergarteners are almost never ready for boosters either. On the other end of the scale, kids should stay in boosters until they pass the 5 step test for seat belt readiness, which most kids won’t pass until they’re between 10 and 12.

Buy the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit on Sale at Amazon here.

Dimensions and Key Features of the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit

The 4Ever Extend2Fit’s shell is 19″ wide at the widest points (across the cupholders). The seat itself weighs 25.8 pounds with padding and 24.3 pounds without padding. The 4Ever Extend2Fit is 23″ tall, and 21″ deep. It can be used for 10 years from its manufacturing date, and its harness height ranges from 7″ at the low end to 17.5″ at the highest position. I measure the shell height at 29″ with the headrest fully extended. The width at the shoulders is 12.” Two crotch strap positions are included; the inner slot is 2″ from the back of the seat without padding and 4.5″ with padding while the outer slot is 6.5″ from the seat back. The seat depth is 13.” You can choose between 6 recline positions (4 rear-facing, 2 forward-facing).

Using the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit (Installation, Child Fit, and Additional Bonuses)

The 4Ever Extend2Fit was easy to install in both rear- and forward-facing configurations, as well as in high-back and low-back booster modes. I was particularly a fan of the inclusion of the extender beneath the seat to provide additional leg room; this debuted in the original Extend2Fit and it does add comfort when rear-(but not forward) facing. The leg extension is adjustable and has 4 positions of travel. For additional comfort on long road trips, 2 cupholders are included.

The no-rethread harness made adjusting the seat easy enough for kids of varying sizes, and I was happy to be able to achieve a good fit for newborns, toddlers, preschoolers, elementary-aged students, and middle-schoolers.

It’s important to note that you need to use both the harness pads and the body support if your child weighs 25 pounds or less. The seat is FAA approved for harness use; keep in mind that you can’t use it as a booster on a plane because you need lap and shoulder belts for a booster seat. The seat has a 10 year lifespan, but Graco stipulates it needs to be replaced after any crash, including minor ones.

Special Notes When Installing the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit Rear-Facing

When rear-facing, you can choose between recline positions 1 through 4; 5 and 6 are reserved for forward-facing (and are marked as such on the side of the seat). You can also use the leg extension by pulling it out and clicking it into one of the 4 positions available. To access the belt paths for both rear- and forward-facing, you can pull forward the bottom cover.

You can install the seat via either seat belts or LATCH, but I always recommend seat belt installations since they make 3 across installations easier and because seat belts are just as safe as LATCH. Additionally, a seat belt installation means you won’t have to switch to seat belts later on once your child reaches 35 pounds, as this is a requirement for rear-facing. Keep in mind that you can’t use inflatable seat belts with the 4Ever Extend2Fit (which is the case with the vast majority of car seats currently on the market).

Special Notes When Installing the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit Forward-Facing

It’s important to note that you can only choose between recline positions 5 and 6 when forward-facing; if your child weighs 40 pounds or less, you’ll need position 5. If your child weighs more than 40 pounds, you’ll need position 6. As noted earlier, you’re not allowed to use the leg extension in any position when forward-facing. You’ll also need to use the built-in seat belt lockoff (it’s red and located behind the seat) when installing the seat in forward-facing position for children who weigh more than 40 pounds. If you need to uninstall the car seat once you’ve used the lockoff, you’ll want to unbuckle the seat belt to lower belt tension before trying to open the lockoff in order to prevent sore fingers and pirate speech.

As noted above, while you can use LATCH, I’d recommend seat belts for forward-facing. The forward-facing LATCH weight limit is 40 pounds; once your child weighs that much, you’ll need to switch to installing the seat with seat belts if you haven’t already.

Why Buy the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit?

Overall, I’m thrilled to see the 4Ever Extend2Fit. It joins the growing ranks of seats allowing children in the United States and Canada to rear-face to 4, 5, and even longer by featuring a 50 pound rear-facing weight limit and the highest height limit currently available at 49 inches.

It’s hard to find things wrong with the seat without being very picky; it could be narrower, but seats like the Clek Fllo and Clek Foonf satisfy that need by allowing rear-facing to 50 pounds while coming in at a svelte 17.” It could fold into a more travel-friendly configuration, but you can turn the Diono Rainier into a backpack while still being able to rear-face to 50 pounds, forward-face, and booster. It could be cheaper, but the Graco Extend2Fit is already available to let you rear-face until 50 pounds for less than $200, and unlike the 4Ever Extend2Fit, it doesn’t feature a booster mode.

The 4Ever Extend2Fit fits nicely in its niche and is one of the best car seats on the market for safety and budget-minded parents. When you consider that this could potentially be the only car seat you ever need for a child, its value increases exponentially.

You can buy the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit in Clove and Jodie here. Unfortunately, it’s not yet available in Canada, but Canadians can buy a similar seat, the Diono Rainier, here.

If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can  shop here for Canadian purchases. Have a question or want to discuss best practices? Join us in the forums!

When it comes to convertible car seats, I tend to focus on how good of a job they do rear-facing. However, the truth of the matter is that most decently designed seats with a 40+ pound weight limit will get many kids to 4, which is where you want to be. Today we’ll take a look at the Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Max, which is Maxi-Cosi’s update to their original (and still highly popular) Maxi-Cosi Pria 85. To be honest, it’s quite similar to the original Pria 85, but Maxi-Cosi threw in a number of new features. Two of the neatest are a lowered weight limit–it’s now at 5 pounds–and a magnetic self-fastening chest clip. Let’s take a closer look at how it all fits together.

Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Max – What’s the big deal?

The Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Max is a convertible seat and the successor to the Maxi-Cosi Pria 85.  Being a convertible seat, you can use it first to rear-face (even when leaving the hospital; you don’t need to start with an infant seat if you don’t want to) until your child reaches the height or weight limits. At that point, you’ll turn it forward-facing and get a good amount of additional time out of it. Being a wider seat, you’ll find it difficult to make 3 across car seat combinations work unless you have a particularly wide vehicle; that said, it will work just fine for 2 across setups. It comes in 6 colors and prints (Graphic Flower, which is a light spotted grey and green print, Night Black, which is a monochromatic black, Nomad Blue, a two-toned dark blue, Nomad Green, a two-toned medium green, Nomad Sand, a two-toned medium beige, and Red Orchid, a bright red, pink, and purple print).

Nifty features include an improved lower weight range and the inclusion of the ClickQuick, a magnetic chest clip system to make safe harnessing easier while making it significantly more difficult for children to unbuckle themselves. I’m also a fan of the no-rethread harness and the ease with which the seat pad and harness covers can be removed for machine washing (and they’re also dryer safe). Overall, it’s a seat whose strengths are in ease of installation, ease of use, and extended harnessing.

Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Max Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 4 to 40 pounds. You’ll want to keep your child rear-facing as long as possible, since the safest place for a child in a vehicle is  in a rear-facing seat. There is a 40″ absolute height limit on top of the 1″ rule (where your child’s head must be below 1″ of the head rest when you’ve fully extended the head rest).

While the shell height is a generous 26″ at full extension, the 40″ height limit means that, per Center for Disease Control growth charts (which are the same for boys and girls), only children who are at the 50th percentage or lower will be able to rear-face in this seat until 4 years of age. While this does include half of children in the United States, I’d prefer to see higher figures, given the importance of rear-facing. However, it does mean virtually all children should be able to rear-face in the seat well past 3. Of course, the shorter your child is, the more time s/he will be able to spend rear-facing past 4 in the seat.

The 40 pound weight limit by itself would allow 50% of children to rear-face until 5, but it’s essential to switch the seat (or any car seat) to the next configuration (or seat, if none further are available) once the weight or height limit is reached, and in the Pria 85 Max, as in nearly all car seats on the market, the height limit is the bottleneck rather than the weight limit.

Forward-facing: 22 to 85 pounds. The forward-facing height range is from 29 to 52 inches. The 52″ height limit will be reached by a 50th percentile child slightly before s/he turns 8:5 (8 years, 5 months), while the 85 pound weight limit will be reached by a 50th percentile child at 11:5. As a result, height will again be the bottleneck for the forward-facing life of the seat rather than weight. On top of this, due to the 17″ top harness, most children aren’t going to make it all the way to the 52″ height limit before their shoulders start poking above the harness (at which point the seat is no longer usable by such a child). However, by 8, virtually all children are old enough to safely use booster seats, so the height limit is generous enough to make the forward-facing mode fully useful. Remember that preschoolers should never be in boosters and kindergarteners are almost never ready for boosters either.

Buy the Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Max on Sale at Amazon here.

Dimensions and Key Features of the Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Max

The Pria 85 Max is roughly 20″ wide at its widest points (the cupholder down low and the headwings up high). The seat has a 10 year lifespan from the date of manufacture and it weighs 17.5 pounds. The harness positions range from a lower limit of 6.5 inches when the infant wedge is installed (9 inches when the infant wedge isn’t installed) to a top harness limit of 17 inches. The lower anchor (LATCH) weight limit is 40 pounds; this means you’re best off using a seat belt for installation once you decide to forward face so you won’t need to worry about switching to a belt later. Keep in mind that using a seat belt will also give you better odds for 3 across installations, which will be tough enough from the start given the width of the Pria 85 Max. If you’re interested in convertible seats that will give you a good amount of rear- and forward-facing time in a narrow width for 3 across compatibility, I’d recommend one of the Dionos (e.g., the Diono Radian RXT or Diono Radian R120). There are 3 crotch strap positions available at 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 inches measured from the seat bight.

Using the Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Max (Installation, Child Fit, and Additional Bonuses)

Out of the box, the star feature of the Pria 85 Max is the ClipQuick chest clip. It’s a magnetic chest clip that works semi-automatically to fasten itself. Because it’s magnetically activated and oriented in a way that makes it hard to activate while seated (you release it by sliding your thumb upward on the grey circle), kids are unlikely to be able to unbuckle themselves, even if they understand how it works. This might be a very handy feature for parents of little escape artists.

The no-rethread harness is a welcome feature, as it means you don’t need to uninstall the seat, rethread the harness, and reinstall the seat if you need to safely transport a different child or if your child has a growth sport. The harness adjuster is a red handle above the seat. It was a bit tough to shift, but it will likely loosen over time.

The covers on the Pria 85 Max are designed to be easily removed and easy to wash. You’ll want to use the gentle cycle, only cold water, and a gentle or mild detergent. You can also dry it in the dryer once you’re done, or line or rack dry if you’re so inclined (we do so at home to keep our clothes from shrinking). Removing and reinstalling the cover was thankfully a pain-free process.

Installing the Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Rear-Facing

When installing the Pria 85 Maxi rear-facing, you shouldn’t face any problems as long as your seat was made after 5/1/2017; if it was made before, you’ll notice that your LATCH belts are routed for forward-facing instead of rear-facing. You’ll need to rethread those if you want to use LATCH. It only takes a few minutes. If you’re installing the seat via seat belts, there’s nothing extra to do. For rear-facing,  you’ll need to refer to a recline line as your recline indicator; it’s beside the seat and it’s supposed to be level relative to the ground (parallel). You can change your mechanical recline to setting 2 or 3 to achieve the proper recline angle; you can also use rolled towels and pool noodles as necessary. There are 3 recline settings in total.

Child fit was as expected from the dimensions; full term infants should fit without problems. If your baby weighs between 5 and 11 pounds, you’ll need to use the infant positioning wedge, and you’ll need to remove it once your baby weighs 15 pounds. Keep in mind that you can’t use the 5.5″ crotch buckle setting when rear-facing.

Installing the Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Forward-Facing

Forward-facing installation and child fit were also as expected. Keep in mind that your child’s ears must fit within the headrest while the no-rethread harness must either sit at your child’s shoulders or above them (which is generally standard for forward-facing seats). There are two recline settings to choose from when forward-facing; you need to use position 2 if your child weighs less than 40 pounds and is under 43 inches tall, while position 1 is to be used once your child is over those limits. Position 2 is the more reclined position. While these restrictions seem rather rigid, Maxi-Cosi notes that weight overrules height in choosing a position; if your child is over 40 pounds, s/he automatically moves to position 1. You can choose between all three crotch buckle settings (depending on which provides a close and snug fit) when forward-facing.

Remember to install a top tether whenever forward-facing; this is specifically noted in the manual and it is also recommended as part of best practices. Reducing forward head excursion can significantly reduce a child’s risk of life-altering (or ending) brain damage in a frontal collision.

The Pria 85 Max, like most car seats, is FAA approved for aircraft use; you can find the label on the side of the seat opposite the cupholder by checking beneath the rear-facing seat belt path. The manufacture date is located beneath the cupholder and also beneath the recline foot.

Why Buy the Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Max?

Overall, I’m happy with the design of the Pria 85 Max. It’s thoughtfully designed with parent-friendly seat covers and it’s capable of fitting full term newborns straight from the hospital. It will rear-face the average child until 4 and forward-face the average child until s/he’s ready for a booster seat. Most interestingly, it features a nifty magnetic chest clip system to keep little Houdinis at bay.

I’d prefer a greater rear-facing height limit, as it’s not the best choice for keeping taller children rear-facing. I’d also like to see it slimmed down a bit, as it’s going to make 3 across installations a challenge for parents driving all but the largest vehicles. It’s also more expensive than I’d like to see. However, it’s a solid seat and it does a good job at keeping children who fit it both safe and comfortable.

You can buy the Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Max in Graphic Flower, Night Black, Nomad Blue, Nomad Green, Nomad Sand, and Red Orchid here. Unfortunately, it’s not yet available in Canada, but Canadians can buy a similar seat, the Diono Radian RXT (here).

If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can  shop here for Canadian purchases. Have a question or want to discuss best practices? Join us in the forums!