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!

2018 update: Once again, Clek has updated the Fllo in fabric only; it’s the same seat, and still one of the best 50 pounders on the market.

It seems like I review the Clek Fllo every year, but I can’t help it; it’s one of my favorite car seats on the market right now. If you’re wondering whether it’s worth getting the 2018 version over the older version, it is, but the truth is that there aren’t that many significant changes from the older version to the current (or 2017, 16, etc) versions. Your rear-facing and forward-facing height and weight limits are still the same, but that doesn’t take anything way from the newest Fllo; it just means that if you’ve got an older Fllo or have the chance to get one for significantly cheaper, you can save your money and skip the upgrade. With that out of the way, I picked up a  Fllo from Amazon and put it to work to make sure it was still a seat worth recommending. It is.

Before buying it, keep in mind that the market for convertibles that will allow you to rear-face until 50 pounds has grown by leaps and bounds in the US in recent years. There’s the original Clek Fllo, the Clek Foonf, the Diono Rainier, the (now discontinued) Diono Pacifica, the Graco Extend2Fit, the Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit, the Nuna Rava, the Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+, and now the Safety 1st Grow and Go EX Air–that’s six seats in a country that didn’t have a single seat 5 years ago. We’ve come a long way in the US in car seat safety, although we still have a ways to go in education–most parents are still turning kids forward-facing between 1 and 2.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes the new Clek Fllo Convertible Car Seat worth considering over the other sevearl options for 50-pound rear-facing.

Clek Fllo – Fast Facts and Feature Updates

The 2018 Clek Fllo is a refresh of the Clek Fllo, which I reviewed earlier and loved. The Fllo itself was a redesign of the Foonf with the goal of making it lighter and cheaper, and it was a huge success. The Fllo refresh includes 4 basic changes:

First, the rear-facing seat belt lock off has been redesigned. The lock off is now easier to close and is designed to stay closed when you remove the seat cushions. You can also retrofit the seat belt lock off to older seats. Second, the forward-facing lock off was also redesigned to feature a thicker rubber bumper. Third, the harness pads at the shoulder have been lengthened and designed to include a snap button to open and close them. Fourth, the car seat cover was redesigned to feature better stitching and thicker foam.

None of these changes significantly affect the functionality of the seat; you still have the 50 pound rear-facing and 65 pound forward-facing weight limits, and you still can’t use it with infants unless you also buy the Infant-Thingy infant insert. More broadly, it’s still a convertible car seat, which means you can use it in two configurations: as a rear-facing infant seat and as a forward-facing seat. It’s still a great car seat; it’s just not that different from the older model.

Buy the Clek Fllo on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon.

Clek Fllo – Weight and Height Limits

Rear-facing: 14-50 pounds with a 25-43″ height limit. Your child needs to be able to sit upright without help, which most infants won’t be able to do before 6 months. Your child’s head needs to remain below 1″ from the top of the headrest.

Remember that using the Clek Infant-thingy infant insert reduces the rear-facing weight limit to 5 pounds and overrides the need for your infant to be able to sit upright without assistance. Your child does need to be at least 19″ long.

Like the old Fllo, the new Fllo remains one of the best seats for making sure kids actually reach the useful limits of the seat, as it measures around 26.5″ in shell height when the headrest is extended to its fullest position.

Most seats top out at 23″ or 24″ in shoulder height, which means a lot of children will outgrow them by weight before doing so by height. The greater shell height gives your kids more time in the seat before outgrowing it by weight.

Forward-facing: 22-65 pounds, and 30-49″ in height. Your child should be at least 1, and it’s recommended that s/he is at least 2. Of course, research into car safety indicates children should remain rear-facing for as long as possible (the average is 4 years in Sweden, which posts the lowest child fatality rate on Earth), and after rear-facing, the child should remain forward-facing as long as possible.

Dimensions and Key Stats for the Clek Fllo

The new Fllo retains the dimensions of the old Fllo. It’s 17″ wide at the widest point (Clek claims 16.9″, but I measure 17″), 13″ wide at the base, and weighs 25 pounds. It weighs 3 pounds more if you use the Anti-Rebound bar. The harness slots range from 8″ at the lowest setting to 17″ at the highest, and the seat ranges from 23.5″-27″ in height when rear-facing, depending on the height of the headrest. When forward facing, the seat ranges from 26″-31.” The seat takes up between 29″ and 32.5″ front to back when rear-facing, depending on whether or not you use the Anti-Rebound Bar, and is 24″ long when forward-facing. You can see how it ranks compared to other seats in front-to-back space through this comparison guide.

Using and Installing the Clek Fllo

The new Fllo looks and feels pretty much like the old Fllo out of the box, and if you’ve seen the old one, you’ll be pretty familiar with how the new one works. It’s a futuristic, fighter jet pilot-looking seat, and it comes with a new range of colors and patterns–9 in total, including the psychedelic Tokidoki space. As a mild-mannered car crash detective, I opted for Capri, which is basically a sky blue.

There isn’t much of anything to put together with the seat; just remember that you need to use the steel anti-rebound bar while you’re rear-facing, and that you’ll only use the tether while forward-facing. Installation is pretty straightforward with LATCH and takes a little longer with the seat belt. As with most seats, I prefer using the LATCH anchors when I don’t need to worry about room (e.g., when it’s the only car seat in a row), and I use seat belts exclusively whenever attempting 3 across installations, because it makes a lot of installations that wouldn’t be possible any other way…possible. Check out the 3 across car seat guide to see what will work in your vehicle.

Install the Fllo with Seat Belts or LATCH (they’re equally safe)

Remember that seat belts are as safe as LATCH, and that most vehicles don’t allow you to use LATCH beyond when a child weighs around 40 pounds, which means that if you plan to rear-face until your child hits the full weight limit, you’ll either need to switch to seat belts during your rear-facing years or just start out using seat belts from the beginning. I don’t like messing with seats once they’re installed, so if you’re going to buy this seat for its rear-facing abilities, which is the primary reason to buy this seat, as far as I’m concerned, I’d just start out with a good seat belt installation and call it a day.

As with the old Fllo, airplane installation is pretty straightforward on the new Fllo. Keep in mind that it’s not likely to fit in the X-ray systems at most terminals, so you’ll want to leave a bit of extra time for being screened manually. Similarly, in most smaller and mid-sized jets, you aren’t going to get it to fit in the aisles, so you’ll need to be prepared to hoist it above them. However, the Fllo will fit the actual airplane seat well. Don’t even bother trying to fit it in the storage compartments above; that’s just an exercise in frustration unless you’re in first class. And remember that it’s a good idea to bring your car seats onboard if at all possible instead of checking them in with baggage; you don’t want your seat to go through additional crash testing when being flung across the tarmac by an overworked baggage handler.

Buy the Clek Fllo on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon.

Why Buy the Clek Fllo?

The most important part of a car seat review, in my experience, has to do with whether or not the seat is worth buying based on my needs. My goals are extended rear-facing, extended harnessing, and boostering until the 5-step test is reached. The new Fllo is not the best seat for you if you’re looking for the cheapest car seat on the market, or even the cheapest 50-pound rear-facing seat on the market; the Extend2Fit, Pacifica, Rainier, and Safety 1st seats are all cheaper than the Cleks. It is the best seat for you if you’re looking for a 50-pound-capable seat that’s narrow enough to fit virtually any car, SUV, minivan, or pickup truck on the market, and don’t want to spend additional money on the Foonf. There are only a handful of seats 17″ wide on the market regardless of rear-facing capabilities, and there are exactly two that will allow you to rear-face until 50 pounds–the Fllo and the Foonf. If money matters, the Fllo is cheaper.

Skip the Fllo if you already have the Foonf

The new Fllo is not the best seat for you if you already have the old Fllo, or even the Foonf; the seats are too similar to justify spending another few hundred dollars on the new Fllo. It is the best seat for you if you don’t already have those seats and are interested in the additional technologies present in the Fllo that just aren’t in any other seats in its class right now. I’m talking about the Energy-Absorbing Crumple Technology, or EACT safety system, which Clek stated helps reduce the forces your child experiences in frontal collisions. I’m also talking about the metal substructures within the seat and foam on the sides of the seat to maintain its integrity and reduce forces in side impacts. There’s the anti-rebound bar that helps stabilize the seat by reducing tensional forces. It’s a well-designed seat with various nods to safety on the inside and out. And if it matters to you (I’ll admit that it matters to me when buying a seat I’ll be looking at for several years to come in the rear view mirror), it also comes in some pretty nice colors.

Get the Fllo if you want one of the best new options for extended rear-facing

In conclusion, just as I wouldn’t call the old Fllo the best car seat ever, I’m not going to say the new Fllo is the best car seat in the history of car seats, as there isn’t one seat that does everything perfectly. Once again, I wish you could RF younger infants with the Fllo out of the box instead of having to pick up the Infant-Thingy insert. I also would like a higher forward-facing weight limit; if you use it to rear-face to the limits, your child will probably outgrow it as a forward-facing seat within a couple of years of being turned forward. However, for what it does–provide nearly-unparalleled RF abilities by weight–it has very few equals (namely, 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). And it’s lighter than the Foonf while being easier to fit in smaller vehicles (or in 3 across configurations) than the Rainier, Pacifica, Extend2Fit, or Safety 1st seats. In that sense, it has no equals.

Just like the old Fllo, the new Clek Fllo is an amazingly safe seat that can be fit in just about any vehicle while reassuring you as a parent that you have literally done everything possible to transport your child safely. I recommend it wholeheartedly. You can buy the Clek Fllo in a range of colors here. Canadians can buy the Fllo 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!

2018 Update: The Graco Extend2Fit continues to be the best deal on the market when it comes to extended rear facing. There have been no significant changes to the seat since the original review.

A few months ago I wrote about how Graco was planning on becoming the fourth manufacturer to bring a 50-pound capable convertible car seat to the US market with the Extend2Fit. Well, it’s finally here! Designed to compete with seats like the Clek Fllo, Clek Foonf, Diono Rainier, Nuna Rava, Safety 1st Advance EX 65 Air+, and Safety 1st Grow and Go EX Air, the Extend2Fit is one of only eight convertible car seats currently available in the US with the ability to keep a child rear-facing until 50 pounds, and it’s cheaper than most of them (though it’s also wider than 4 of them).

There are a lot of great convertible car seats available at the $200 price point in the US, including many by Graco that I’ve reviewed in the past, including the Size4Me, Fit4Me, Contender, and Head Wise. Each of those seats allows rear-facing until 40 pounds, which will get many kids to age 4 before they need to be turned around.

Considering the fact that most parents turn kids forward-facing far too early between ages 1 and 2, these seats are already a great step forward for many parents. However, there are parents interested in rear-facing as long as absolutely possible, and those are parents I typically steer toward seats like the Fllo, Foonf, Rainier, and Pacifica. That said, those seats are also on the more expensive end and out of budget for many parents. The EX 65 Air+ is cheaper, but it’s also a huge seat (it’s nearly two feet wide!), which makes it nearly impossible to use in 3 across setups, never mind in small vehicles with a premium on front-to-back space, as I showed in my rear-facing leg room comparison. This is where the Extend2Fit comes in.

Imagine a seat that allowed you to rear-face your kids until they hit 50 pounds (or in other words, until 5 for most children). Imagine that same seat cost under $200. And finally, imagine that seat being narrow enough to actually use in a range of 3 across setups. If this all sounds too good to be true, you owe it to yourself to consider the Extend2Fit. I picked mine up on Amazon with free shipping, and after a brief wait (a lot of folks are understandably interested in this seat), it was in my hands to try. Suffice it to say that it’s a good car seat that many parents would do well to consider. Let’s look at it in a bit (okay, a lot) more detail!

Graco Extend2Fit – What’s the big deal?

The Graco Extend2Fit is the latest in a long line of rather capable convertible car seats by Graco. I’ve had the chance to review a number of their seats over the years, and the Extend2Fit fits right in with the majority of them, with the major standouts being its extended rear-facing weight limit (all previous Graco convertibles topped out at 40 pounds) and very high height limits for rear-facing, which is a very good thing for accommodating taller children.

More broadly, if you’re interested in the Graco Extend2Fit, you’re looking at a convertible car seat that’ll let you rear-face as long as any other car seat in the United States by weight (up to 50 pounds) while only being limited by the height of the seat’s shell. This means that most children who use the Extend2Fit will be able to use it to rear-face until the tops of their heads are within 1″ of the shell. The shell itself is a whopping 30″ tall when you fully extend the head rest, which means most kids are going to be able to reach the 50 pound weight limit before outgrowing the seat. In other words, you’ll be able to rear-face at least until 4, and probably beyond 5!

There are a range of harness strap height options available with the Extend2Fit, which works well with its 4 pound starting weight limit. In other words, you’ll be able to buy the Extend2Fit online from, say, Amazon, install it in a few minutes in your primary vehicle (or like I do, buy one for each family vehicle so we don’t have to do the car seat dance), and use it to bring your baby home from the hospital (or birthing clinic). And because the Extend2Fit features a 10 year lifespan, you’ll get to use it with multiple kids if you’d like to, or at least take full advantage of the 50 pound rear-facing limit and 65 pound forward-facing weight limit. If this sounds like a great seat to you, you’re not alone. It’s officially my default convertible recommendation for families on a $200 budget who don’t need super narrow seats for 3 across.

Installing the Graco Extend2Fit

Installation of the Extend2Fit is straightforward; you can choose between seat belts and LATCH lower anchors when rear-facing or when forward-facing, and both setups are easy. I typically recommend seat belt installations over LATCH installations since they take up less space whether rear- or forward-facing and since it means you won’t need to worry about exceeding LATCH weight limits (which are 45 pounds in the Extend2Fit).

The LATCH lower anchor weight limit means that if you do plan on rear-facing until your child reaches 50 pounds, which I’d recommend if your child hasn’t outgrown the seat while rear-facing by height, then you’ll need to switch from LATCH to a seat belt installation during the interval when your child weighs between 45 and 50 pounds. If you simply start out with a seat belt installation, you won’t need to worry about this throughout your rear-facing span. The same issue will apply while forward-facing if you start doing so before your child weighs 45 pounds and wish to use the Extend2Fit until you max out its 65 pound forward-facing weight limit.

Switching from LATCH to seat belts when the time comes isn’t a big deal, but if you’re like me and don’t frequently weigh your children, it’s easy to forget the LATCH weight limit. If you use the seat belt, you’ll have one less thing you’ll need to remember. Of course, you’ll still need to remember to turn the seat forward at the 50 pound mark and stop using the seat with a forward-facing child once s/he reaches 65 pounds, regardless of which restraint method you use.

If you’re interested in installing through LATCH, you won’t have any issues; The LATCH connectors are the basic push-on type. The directions and guides for which anchors to use are clearly marked on the sides of the seat. The markings are also clear for the belt path to use when using a seat belt installation. I did find the belt path a bit narrow when rear-facing, which just meant I needed to pay a bit more attention to thread the seat belt through the path for the installation.

Reclining, Leg Room, and Tethering the Extend2Fit

There are a total of 6 recline positions to choose from with the Extend2Fit. Three of them are designed to be used exclusively while rear-facing, one can be used while rear- or forward-facing, and the remaining two are exclusively for forward-facing. All are clearly marked on the side of the seat, along with a wealth of other instructions. Older versions of the seat will only show two positions for forward-facing and three for rear-facing.

Remember that when you’re forward-facing, you’ll always want to tether your Extend2Fit or any other forward-facing car seat. This is required in Canada and is optional in the US, but it’s definitely best practice.

The Extend2Fit gets its name from an extension panel included in front of the base of the seat that can extend forward by up to 5 inches, providing kids with a significant boost in leg room while rear-facing. It can be set in four positions, with the fourth position being the most extended. In the manual, Graco tells you to keep the extender in positions 2-4 if your child weighs more than 40 pounds; this doesn’t actually seem to be necessary, from conversations with Graco. If you’re worried about going against the manual, just keep the extender in position 2; it barely protrudes.

Child Fit in the Graco Extend2Fit

I tried the Extend2Fit with my kids, test dolls, and available neighbor children, and am happy to report that, like the other Graco convertibles from which it’s descended, the Extend2Fit is designed to work well with kids throughout most of its weight and height limits. The primary issue I found with it was the lower four pound weight limit.

Although Graco rates the Extend2Fit as a 4-50 pound rear-facing seat, I had trouble getting a safe fit with my 4 pound test doll. The weight wasn’t the issue; it was the height. The included infant insert works finely for typically-sized newborns, but the harness straps were still too high at the lowest 7″ setting and the crotch strap was too far away from the doll. Depending on growth rates, a preemie would probably need a month or two in a dedicated infant seat (e.g., the KeyFit 30, my favorite all around infant seat) before s/he could fit in the Extend2Fit safely.

Beyond the preemie stage, however, normally-sized newborns are likely to fit very well, as long as you use the included infant insert. Remember that the harness straps are supposed to be at or below the shoulders when a child is rear-facing and above the shoulders when forward-facing. The harness straps also need to be tightened sufficiently to the point where you wouldn’t be able to pinch the webbing between your fingers at the shoulder. You can read about these and other common car seat installation errors here.

Beyond infancy, you’re going to be able to rear-face most children until 5 or even beyond in this seat before needing to turn them forward-facing. The specific height limit while rear-facing is 49″, even though parents will typically go by the 1″ rule anyway (at least 1″ of shell above the head of the child) when determining if a child can still fit in a seat by height while rear-facing. The actual rear-facing height limit to be 49″ is the same as the forward-facing height limit, which is significantly beyond any other seat I’m aware of on the market.

More Rear- than Forward-Facing, Growth Charts, and Boostering

There are a couple of oddities related to the Extend2Fit due to its design. One is that you could potentially run out of height room forward-facing with a tall and light child before running out of room rear-facing. Given the benefits of rear-facing vs forward-facing, however, this isn’t really a disadvantage, but rather another reason to keep rear-facing.

Secondly, depending on the dimensions of your child and when you decide to switch from forward-facing to boostering, you could conceivably use the Extend2Fit to  keep him or her rear-facing completely until switching to a booster seat. Growth charts show that a 50th percentile boy or girl won’t weigh 50 pounds until turning 7, which means rear-facing from birth until 7 (or longer, with smaller children) is possible.  I generally recommend holding off on booster seats until kids are 6-8, and there are very few 8 year olds who’d meet the height and weight restrictions necessary to keep rear-facing in the Extend2Fit, or any car seat on the market anywhere in the world.

As a result, I’d recommend just rear-facing as long as the seat (not your child) will let you, forward-facing as long as the seat will let you, and then switching to a dedicated forward-facing or combination forward/booster seat (e.g., the Frontier G1.1) until your child is physically and psychologically ready to use a booster seat.

I often recommend parents even skip the forward-facing part of most convertibles and just switch to a long-lasting combination seat once they’re no longer rear-facing. The advantage of buying a good combination seat is that you’ll be able to use it as a forward-facing seat at first and then as a booster seat later until your child no longer needs any kind of car seat at all and is ready for the adult seat and seat belt. This, of course, is when s/he passes the five step test.

Additional Bonuses of the Extend2Fit

Because the Graco Extend2Fit is essentially an upgraded version of the Head Wise, Size4Me, My Size, and Contender, it has the same levels of flight-friendliness. In other words, it installs easily on airplanes and has FAA approval. The sticker’s in an awkward place, however, within the back of the seat shell. This means you’ll have a tough time showing it to the feds if you have a flight attendant, TSA agent, or anyone else along the way who questions you. Because of the dimensions, you’ll be able to rear-face in just about any airplane seat without issue, and you shouldn’t have much trouble forward-facing either. Of course, your mileage will vary with your airline and the kind of seat you buy.

Buy the Graco Extend2Fit on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here. Canadians can buy it here.

Why Buy the Graco Extend2Fit?

At this point, we’ve discussed lots of neat features in the Extend2Fit, but in the end, it all comes down to one question before you buy it–what makes it worth the money? Personally, I say the Graco Extend2Fit is worth the money because it lets you rear-face to 50 pounds by weight and gives you the room in height to actually reach 50 pounds. First of all, the vast majority of kids in the US are turned forward-facing much too early. Part of this is because parents don’t know better, but part of it is simply because many seats run out of height room too quickly. It’s a rare child in the US who makes it to 4 rear-facing, even though that’s the standard in Sweden, and it’s also become the standard in Norway, where they now lose virtually zero children to car crashes every year.

Because there’s a generous amount of headroom in the Extend2Fit, the likelihood of most children reaching the 50 pound rear-facing limit is very high. And rear-facing is absolutely safer than forward-facing, which is why the Swedes (and now Norwegians), who have the best child safety record in the world, don’t forward-face their kids until they turn 4. Let’s learn from the folks who use best practices. Don’t fall into the trap of forward-facing your children between 1 and 2, the way the vast majority of parents in the United States currently do. Those extra years rear-facing are worth it, and it’s worth investing in a seat that makes that possible.

How do Clek, Diono, and Safety 1st Seats Compare to the Extend2Fit?

Keep in mind that the Extend2Fit is not the narrowest 50-pound car seat on the market, or even close to it. At 17″ across, the reigning kings of extended rear-facing in tight 3 across situations are the Fllo and the Foonf. The Rainier and Pacifica are each around 18-19″ wide, which makes them a no-go for 3 across setups in small vehicles but gives them a chance in some mid-sized vehicles. The Extend2Fit at 20″ will not reliably fit 3 across with itself in anything smaller than a minivan, large SUV, or large pickup truck, although you might be able to squeeze 3 of them into certain mid-sized vehicles. However, it’s still narrower than the Advance EX Air+, which won’t fit 3 across with itself in anything but monster trucks.

This is the largest flaw of the Extend2Fit, and why I’ll continue to recommend the Cleks and Dionos before it for parents with multiple children or smaller vehicles. However, if you have the space, have two or fewer children, or are on a tighter budget, but don’t want to compromise on rear-facing advantages, the Extend2Fit will compete with the best seats in the US market. This is huge.

Overall, the Graco Extend2Fit is a quality, well-thought out seat that offers parents the opportunity to practice extended rear-facing as much as feasibly possible in the US without breaking the bank. It’s relatively light, affordable, parctical, and offers you the ability to keep your children safe for several years on a shoestring budget.

You can buy the Graco Extend2Fit in Gotham, Kenzie, or Spire here. Canadians can buy it 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!

 

The Graco convertible car seat clones are among my favorite car seats on the market. Whenever parents email me asking for recommendations to help them practice extended rear-facing and note that they’re willing to spend whatever it takes to make it happen, I tend to recommend seats like the Fllo, Foonf, Rainier, or Pacifica, which allow you to rear-face until 50 pounds.

However, if they’re on tighter budgets, I steer them toward seats like the My Size 65, Head Wise 70, Size4Me 65, and Contender, because they cost less than $200 on Amazon and allow parents to rear-face most children until they turn 4. And given the fact that most parents are still turning their children forward-facing between 1 and 2, any seat that helps make parents make a safer decision for their children is a seat worth recommending over and over again.

The Fit4Me 65 is yet another addition to the Graco stable of 40-pound rear-facing convertible car seats, and after taking a close look at one for the past week (they’re available for a song on Amazon with free shipping), I’ve decided that this clone is as good as any of the others when it comes to inexpensive ways to practice extended rear-facing. It’s a great convertible car seat that won’t break the bank and that will also let you fit 3 across in a number of vehicles.

When you get to the heart of it, the Graco Fit4Me is a convertible car seat that features very high height limits, which means that the majority of children will be able to sit in it in a rear-facing position until they outgrow the seat rear-facing at 40 pounds. Because it’s a convertible seat, it can then be used in a forward-facing configuration for another 25 pounds of weight.

Since the Fit4Me, like its clone seats, features a wide range of harness strap height options and a low 4 pound starting weight limit, you can buy the Fit4Me online via Amazon, install it in your family vehicle (or better yet, install one in each vehicle where you plan on transporting your child), and use it to bring your baby home from the hospital (or birthing clinic). And because the Fit4Me comes with a 7 year lifespan, you’ll actually be able to take advantage of the 40-pound rear-facing and 65-pound forward-facing weight limits, presuming your child doesn’t outgrow it by height first.

Let’s dig into the details of the seat together.

Graco Fit4Me 65 Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 4 to 40 pounds. You’ll want to rear-face as close to that 40 pound limit as you can before you turn your child forward-facing, as the rear-facing configuration is the safest position for a child in a moving vehicle. There is a 1″ rule that states that your child’s head needs to stay below 1″ of the head rest when the head rest is extended to its maximum position. Because the shell height is a full 28″ tall when it’s fully extended, just about every child out there will be able to reach 40 pounds in weight before outgrowing the seat rear-facing by height. This is one of the many reasons I love the Graco clones.

Forward-facing: 20 to 65 pounds. There is a 49″ height limit when children are forward-facing. While Graco allows you to forward-face your children from a minimum age of 1, I recommend as a reader of The Car Crash Detective that you aim to delay forward-facing for as long as you can in this, or in any other seat, and then continue to forward-face for as long as necessary before switching to a booster seat. There’s no need to rush forward-facing, especially in a seat that actually allows you to get several years out of it in the rear-facing configuration.

Buy the Graco Fit4Me 65 on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Dimensions and Key Stats of the Graco Fit4Me 

The Fit4Me’s shell is 18.5″ wide, while the seat itself is close to 23.5″ in height and 22″ long. The seat can be used for 7 years from the date of manufacture, and the harness height ranges from 7″ at the lower end with the included infant insert to 17.5″ at the top. You can choose from 8 head rest positions and a no-rethread harness is present,  You can choose from 2 crotch buckle settings, with one 4.5″ from the back of the seat and the other 6″ from the seat back. The Fit4Me weights 19 pounds, or 3 pounds more than the Contender, but about the same as the other Graco twins. Because it’s just over 18″ wide, you’ll be able to fit it in a range of small cars and SUVs, as well as larger ones, when it comes to 3 across installations. Check out the 3 across car seat guide for more ideas about seats that are likely to fit in your vehicle.

There is a lower LATCH anchor weight limit of 45 pounds that decreases to 42 pounds if the seat was made before 2015; check your seat’s manufacturing date to know for sure.

Using the Graco Fit4Me 65

The Graco Fit4Me Compared to the Size4Me, Head Wise, My Size, and Contender: Similarities and Differences

Out of the box, the Fit4Me looks nearly identical to the other Graco twins. To be honest, the biggest differences you’re likely to notice are that it’s available in slightly different colors and is molded ever-so-slightly differently than the other seats. Compared to the Contender, it features dedicated LATCH straps for both forward- and rear-facing, and it also has a lower starting weight limit of 4 pounds vs 5 pounds, which might make it a better choice than the Contender for parents of potentially smaller newborns. On the other hand, it does weigh a few pounds more than the Contender.

Installing the Graco Fit4Me 65

Installation of the Fit4Me is the same as the process for the other Graco clones, which is typical for the installation procedures for most other convertible car seats out there. You can choose between using the seat belt or LATCH when rear-facing and can use the seat belt when forward-facing. In either case, whether rear-facing or forward-facing, and whether using the LATCH system or the seat belt system, it won’t take you much time and will simply depend on your needs and preferences.

I tend to prefer LATCH installations when installing single seats and seat belt installations when installing multiple seats, especially when aiming for 3 across car seat installations. A side ball indicator helps you find the correct recline angle, which can vary between 30 and 45 degrees.

Child Fit in the Graco Fit4Me 65

One of my favorite things about the Fit4Me is how easy it is to use with newborns. Generally, convertibles marketed with minimum weights of 5 pounds may fit average-sized newborns, but they might need a bit of additional padding to do so well. However, only seats that are rated for 4 pounds or below can be expected to do a good job with regular newborns, preemies and smaller-than-average newborns. The Fit4Me does a great job with all three, and I love it for that.

Keep in mind that when you use the Fit4Me with very young children, such as newborns, you’ll absolutely need to use the infant insert (body support) if your child’s shoulders don’t reach the lowest harness setting. Similarly, you can only use the infant insert while the Fit4Me is rear-facing, and the insert must never bunch or fold behind your child. Besides that, it’s just like any other insert.

I was able to achieve a good fit with a range of kids (and a bit of patience) between the infant stage and the elementary years. The Fit4Me comes with a no-rethread harness that’s adjustable up and down in several positions. There are a number of car seats out there, particularly in the budget range, that make you rethread your harness straps whenever you need to raise or lower your harness height. In the Fit4Me, as with all the Graco clones, there’s a red handle behind the child’s head that you hold, squeeze, and then move up or down. It makes it easy to find the right harness height and it also makes it easy to have multiple children use the same seat.

There are 8 positions to choose from, ranging from 8″ to 17.5″ at the top of the shell in terms of seated torso height. If you use the infant body support, the lowest harness setting drops to 7.” As I noted above, there is a built in level indicator in the side of the Fit4Me that lets you make sure you’ve got the correct recline set up. It’s a ball level indicator, which is much more obvious than lines or obtuse markings that resemble hieroglyphics.

Additional Bonuses of the Graco Fit4Me

Because the Graco Fit4Me is essentially the same seat as the Head Wise, Size4Me, My Size, and Contender, it has the same levels of flight-friendliness. In other words, it installs easily on airplanes and has FAA approval. The sticker’s in an awkward place, however, within the back of the seat shell. This means you’ll have a tough time showing it to the feds if you have a flight attendant, TSA agent, or anyone else along the way who questions you.

At this point, we’ve discussed lots of neat features in the Fit4Me, but in the end, it all comes down to one question before you buy it–what makes it worth the money? Personally, I say the Graco Fit4Me is worth the money because it lets you rear-face to 40 pounds by weight and gives you the room in height to actually reach 40 pounds. First of all, the vast majority of kids in the US are turned forward-facing much too early. Part of this is because parents don’t know better, but part of it is simply because many seats run out of height room too quickly.

Because there’s a generous amount of headroom in the Fit4Me, the likelihood of pretty much every child reaching the 40 pound rear-facing limit is very high. And rear-facing is absolutely safer than forward-facing, which is why the Swedes, who have the best child safety record in the world, don’t forward-face their kids until they turn 4. Let’s learn from the folks who use best practices. Don’t fall into the trap of forward-facing your children between 1 and 2, the way the vast majority of parents in the United States currently do. Those extra years rear-facing are worth it, and it’s worth investing in a seat that makes that possible.

Keep in mind that there are several seats that will let you rear-face beyond 40 pounds. However, 40 is much better than 35 or 30 pounds, which are your limits in the vast majority of infant seats on the market. And the Fit4Me offers the advantage of greater side impact protection and does so while taking less out of your pocket than a lot of 40-pound-capable convertible car seats on the market.

Overall, the Graco Fit4Me is a quality, well-thought out seat that offers parents the opportunity to practice extended rear-facing without breaking the bank. It’s lighter, cheaper, just as safe, and offers you the ability to keep your children safe for several years on a shoestring budget. You can buy the Graco Fit4Me in Lacey and Flip here.

Unfortunately, it’s not yet available in Canada, but Canadians can buy a similar seat, the Boulevard ClickTight, 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!