Top 5 Convertible Baby Car Seats | 2024 Reviews

We’ve ranked this seat at #1 on our list because safety tests done by Consumer Reports show it to be the safest convertible car seat available – but it also proves that you don’t have to spend an enormous amount of money for safety, because the Evenflo SureRide only costs about $75-$100 depending on where you buy it. (It’s also a Mom’s Pick award winner at BabyCenter.com.)

This lightweight seat, completely manufactured in America, is not only safe but is built to accommodate children as they grow older. The height and weight limitations are 5-40 pounds and 19-40 inches for rear-facing, and 22-65 pounds and 28-54 inches for front-facing. This means the DLX can be used for as long as six years before it’s necessary to transition a child to a booster seat.

As with all modern car seats, the Evenflo can be connected either with the LATCH system or a rear seat belt. Installing the Evenflo SureRide isn’t quite as easy as it is with a few of the models lower down on our list; it’s one of many car seats that require you to fiddle with a lower plastic recline foot to get the correct incline angle, and also one of many that can require some struggles to get the LATCH connectors hooked up. But once it’s in your car you’ll appreciate its versatility. There are six different height positions for the 5-point harness and two for the crotch buckle, and the harness adjustments can be made easily from the front of the car seat. There’s plenty of room for a child inside, but this is a narrower model than some of its competitors, so it fits easily inside compact cars with smaller back seats. There are removable cup holders and body pillows, too.

You may be wondering, understandably, if this is the safest seat and it’s made in America yet is much less expensive than many others – what corners are being cut? It’s a legitimate question. The DLX doesn’t have the same amount of padding as higher-priced seats, and the fabric used is definitely cheaper material. Also, the straps are also more prone to getting twisted up (requiring time to untwist them before you can start the car and head off). Neither of those, to our minds, are deal-breakers, though; if the padding isn’t necessary for this seat to get the highest safety rating, and we have to spend an extra minute or two untwisting straps, we’ll gladly make that tradeoff to save hundreds of dollars and get the safest seat for our child.

You’d rather spend high-end money for a high-end car convertible car seat that also has a high safety rating? This Britax model is for you. It’s a premium car seat that also ranked extremely highly on the Consumer Reports safety tests, and comes with several proprietary systems developed by the company: the Click and Snug Harness Indicator, HUGS chest pads with safe cell technology, and True Side Impact Protection.

Without going into a ton of specifics on each one, Click and Snug gives you an audio signal when the child harness is properly adjusted, the HUGS chest pads have cells designed to compress upon impact and reduce the force that would be felt by the child, and the True Side Impact system lines the head restraint with special, energy-absorbing foam to make sure the child’s spine remains straight in the event of an accident. There are also three layers of side protection. Are they all absolutely necessary? Possibly not, but they definitely provide a level of reassurance for parents.

The ClickTight is named after the Britax simplified system to attach their convertible car seats with a seat belt. Instead of having to manually thread the belt through a number of hooks or holes, you just push a button to open the ClickTight, run the belt through the designated path, close the ClickTight and the system grabs it and tightens it all by itself. Trust us, it’s a time- and frustration-saver. There are also lower LATCH connectors, of course. The tether on this seat can (and should) also be used in both front- and rear-facing modes, which is not always the case with some convertibles. One other nice feature: the harness straps are twist-resistant.

There are seven recline positions available, with a very nice color-coded indicator making it easy to see when you’ve chosen the right selection for the size of your child, another plus. The weight limitations of the Britax are identical to the Evenflo, while the height limitations are slightly more restrictive but still in keeping with the heights of most toddlers and older children. The seat is heavier and wider than the SureRide DLX, which may either be a pro or a con for you.

We can hear you holding your breath, waiting for the price. It’s a little over $300 – quite pricey if you’re on a budget, but quite possibly a price you’re willing to pay for a safe convertible seat your child will be using for years.

Chicco has a reputation for making technologically advanced high-end car seats, and the NextFit CS is their latest and greatest model. One of the aspects of the NextFit that we liked is that there’s more headroom when a child is sitting in the rear-facing installation of the seat, up to 49 inches; it’s likely your child will already be exceeding the weight limitation for a rear-facing seat before he or she reaches 49 inches, but there are some families for whom this will be an important feature. Other size and weight limitations are similar to our first two reviewed models.

We think this is the easiest model to install and remove of all the top 5 convertible baby car seats on our list, thanks to its patented SuperCinch system. Push-button anchor connectors connect to the car’s LATCH connectors, and then you just pull the straps on each side of the seat and you’re done. Clamp-type seat belt lockoffs make it just as simple to attach using a car’s seat belt.

The harness is easy to secure and doesn’t get tangled up easily, thanks to a ComfortFlex harness management system, there are nine recline positions and two positions for both the chest clip and crotch buckle, and there’s extra side padding as well as a cup holder. This is another convertible seat which ranked high on Consumer Report’s safety tests, and it’s easy to see why. We probably don’t have to tell you it’s also expensive, in the same price range as the Britax, but it’s worth it.

Graco is a respected name in baby furniture and products; if you’ve had a baby in the last 15-20 years, you’ve undoubtedly had at least one Graco in your child’s nursery. Their convertible car seats are solid products, and while this car seat is a bit more expensive than the Evenflo that topped our list, it’s still only going to run you a little over $100.

For that money, you get a safe and versatile convertible seat. We’d rank it as moderately easy to install, with different anchor straps for rear- and front-facing installation and hook hardware instead of push button releases for LATCH attachments. There’s some tugging and squeezing necessary, but it’s not arduous. It also does take a bit of muscle to adjust the five-point harness, though, which has five positions from which to select.

The My Ride has been extensively safety-tested and surpasses all standards. Although there are no proprietary systems with fancy names, there is energy-absorbing EPS side foam to absorb the impact of a crash – not as plush or extensive as higher-priced models, but definitely more than sufficient. There’s only one crotch position, but there are two cupholders if that matters to you. The one big negative when the Graco is front-facing is that the seat is deep and leans back, something that may not suit antsy toddlers or older children who want to sit up straight.

This is a good price for a good reversible car seat, and while we prefer the Evenflo at this cost level, the Graco is worth a long look.

We’re always skeptical when a company chooses a name like “Safety 1st,” which makes it seem that there’s some reassurance needed for consumers. In this case, though, you can tell by looking at the construction of this convertible car seat that it’s built with safety in mind, from its large size and generous foam padding to its huge head wings with “Air Protect” technology.

What really attracted us, though, is the color-coded installation system which makes putting the Air 65 into your car a relative breeze (you still have to deal with LATCH attachments and seat belt threading, never an easy task). But if you’re a bit mechanically challenged, as we are, and have spent half-an-hour wrestling to install a car seat, as we have, the Safety 1st system that essentially walks you through the process will be a welcome relief.

There is an anti-tangle harness, three crotch positions, and a four recline positions which can be adjusted with just the pull of a lever. The one major drawback for some people will be the Air 65’s large footprint, making it a much better choice for big cars than for smaller ones. It falls into the medium-price range on our list, at around $175.