Some items are worth spending a little more on during Prime Day, when the discounts are the best that they ever get.
Instead of buying an infant car seat, a convertible seat, and a booster seat as was long the norm, you can now get a single car seat for the duration of your kid’s car-seat journey. That’s one piece of gear they will be spending many hours of their life sitting in, for up to ten years. It’s a commitment — and deciding which one to buy can be difficult and at times expensive. But buying Graco’s Extend2Fit Convertible Car Seat, on sale today for the lowest price it’s ever been on Amazon, is a shortcut you won’t regret. It’s a solid all-in-one option that can be used from the newborn stage all the way up through elementary school.
It is my top pick — and the one Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio recommends — for the best less-expensive convertible car seat because of its reasonable price, simple installation, compatibility with most cars, and adjustability. To install it, you just have to push the seat’s LATCH pegs until they clamp onto your car’s corresponding LATCH bars. No tightening straps or worrying whether you threaded the seat belt correctly (but belt installation is straightforward too, if that’s your only option).
The seat has a rear-facing weight minimum of four pounds, which can accommodate some of the smallest newborns, and a rear-facing maximum of 50 pounds, which allows you to keep your child in the safest position possible (according to experts), longer than most other car seats. For children who grow in height faster than in weight, it also has a leg-extension panel that gives them five extra inches of legroom in the rear-facing position. Once you graduate to front-facing, the Extend2Fit is good up to 65 pounds with the harness (and 100 pounds with the high-back booster). As your child grows, you can choose from ten headrest and harness options all without ever having to remove any padding or re-thread straps to adjust. And its compact front-to-back design makes it a great option for tall parents who need more legroom in front. Safety and comfort aside, I love that this car seat has storage pockets that keep the harness out of the way when you are putting your kid into the seat and two roomy cup holders for drinks, snacks, and all manner of kid treasures.
A Few More All-in-One Car Seat Deals
The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
