Britax Chaperone Carrier, Red Mill

Great upgrade from our existing infant carrier!
The Britax Chaperone is an awesome ugprade from our previous car seat, the Graco SafeSeat 32. While we liked the Graco fine, there are some unique features of the Britax that make life a little easier. First, my husband says adjusting the straps is a snap compared with the Graco (there is no threading required). He also was really impressed with the "quick release" latching mechanism (push button latch connectors) for installing the base. Instead of having to dig around in the car seat to find and release the hook from that bar deep under the seat, there is a button that you hit to release the hook and just pull it right out. How much easier that will make transferring the base to Grandma's car!

I was worried that because it's a little larger footprint that it would be heavier, but it does not seem to add weight and it's not too bulky to carry. (No one likes lugging these, but it's no worse than the Graco SafeSeat 32. It would be a lot larger than the smaller infant carriers). I really like the head rest. We had a Kiddopotomas "Snuzzler" in our other seat to keep our daughter's head from moving around. The Britax includes great support and is much safer for an impact because it has nice foam padding.

I really love the harness system and it's easier to hook in a squirmy baby. The bottom buckle is adjustable so we're not constantly digging it out from under our daughter and trying to pull it up to connect those two little hooks at the bottom. It's still very secure though - just easier to work. The material and finishing of the car seat is really very nice. The included canopy is extra large but not obtrusive when folded down. The fabric of the cover (cowmooflage) is a really good quality and is easy to remove for washing. There are built in strap covers that wipe off easily if you have any food spills on them.

The only con is that additional bases are . The pro about these bases is the anti-rebound bar - it minimizes gravitational forces (bouncing into the seat and back) in case of collision. It is easy to install (as previously discussed) and easy to adjust the seat height and angle.

Overall I highly recommend this car seat for the great safety features of the Britax as well as the quality and convenience of all the little "extras" and ease of use with this seat.

Too big, Too heavy
My son loves to sleep in this but it is way too big for the seat (we have a dodge grandcaravan sxt) shade keeps falling off the back (2 small pieces of velcro)It does seem comfortable but I am actually going to buy a different brand. Wish the base was not so big.

Britax
We bougtht his car seat to replace the baby trend seat we had from my daughter. My son hated to be in the carseat we tried so many things to try to make him happy when we finally broke down and bought a different carseat. The other car seats we have are Britax (Roundbouta nd Boulevard)and we and my daughter are vvery satisfied with them. So we decided that we would try this infant seat for our son. Its all about the seat, I think now. This seat is bigger then our older one and he seems to sit alittle more streched out like not so much crunched over like releaving some pressure on his little tummy. I think this helped him out since he suffers from acid reflux. The release for htis seat is on the head side of the seat as opposed to the foot which is nice but you have to lift the seat vertically straight up to release the seat. I find this seat is alittle difficult or awkward and a little heavy to carry. I have the one with the red and I like the colors and materials. I am overall very satisfied witht his seat. my little one is happy so I am happy.

Love it!!!
We just got this carseat in the mail for our second son, and as with our first son's Britax Decathlon, we LOVE it! After being in a side-impact crash at the fault of another driver, I will never buy anything but a Britax with side-impact protection and the latch system. We were using a different car seat at the time of the accident and was NOT impressed by how easily it tipped over in the accident, even though it was properly installed. We are so glad that we replaced the car seats with Britax! So worth the money!

TOO LARGE for 2008 Honda Accord
If you own a 2008 Honda Accord, let me save you some time and hassle. This car seat and base are TOO large for the 2008 Honda Accord. Britax says the base should hang over the seat no more than 20%. After very careful measurements of both the Honda seat and car seat base, the car seat base hangs over almost 24%. I called Britax regarding this and the person I spoke with on the phone said "That should be fine." "SHOULD be fine" is not what I want to hear when it comes to my childs safety. I then spoke with a certified car seat inspector who said if Britax says no more than 20% should hang over, and 24% is hanging over the seat, then it would not be considered safe.

I had my heart set on this car seat because I had heard many good things about Britax. However, we want the seat to fit correctly, so we are going with the Chicco Keyfit 30. Amazon's details state "No.1 rated infant car seat in America."