 Better than a BRITAX!! LOVE THE SEAT & THE PRICE!! |
| Review Date: September 19, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Laura Powell, NC |
The First Years True Fit Convertible carseat is the BEST Carseat I have ever seen! If I had seen it when my 3 1/2 year old was growing out of her infant carrier seat, I would have refused my FREE Britax Roundabouts and paid for two True Fits to replace them. I'm so amazed that the seat can go from a tiny infant to a 65 lb. & 50 inch tall child!
I did prefer the infant carseats that detach from a base and have a comfortable carrying handle until my child was too heavy to carry. It's nice to have a safe clean portable "bed" for the very tiny ones, but after that, the True Fit is the safest and best option!
The seat has all the latest safety features plus a plush comfortable cover and padding. I love that the seat has side impact protection and that the company tests their products. My child is tall and very close to 40 inches & 40 lbs. and she loves the seat. We also tried a friends 8 year old in the seat and she works well too! Love the easy adjustable harness! No more removing the seat and rethreading! YIPEE! I also like that the seat reclines a little - great for naps. One of best features is the built-in seatbelt locking clip. I love that it's under the seat and will work with any lap & shoulder combo seatbelt. It was easy to get to thanks to the smart cover design!
I have seen some negative comments about there not being enough crotch space. If you leave the infant padding in the seat and try to put a toddler in the seat, yes, it's tight. The directions weren't very clear about removing it. If you remove the extra pad for a larger child, the space is great, even for an 8 year old.
It does take a few minutes to install the seat and it's heavy, but we have a The First Years Compass Premier Folding Adjustable Booster - Pacific Compass B510 booster seat as a second seat for moving from one vehicle to another for short trips. If we had had this seat as an option earlier, we would have purchased one for each vehicle. Divide the cost by 7 or 8 and compare it to some of your other yearly expenses!
We also love the way that the straps can be pulled around the "wings" of the seat when unbuckling the child. They'll stay there nicely until it's time to get back in. No sticky velcro to rip your delicate tutus! The straps cushions are a nice feature, but would also like a crotch buckle pad.
Don't like: The instructions could be better. Do not like the black area under the infant pad and the buckles. Prefer everything a lighter color, so it doesn't get so hot. We cover our seats with white towels to help. Light shades of tan or gray would be nice.
Love: Comfortable, safe, side-impact tested, soft fabric cover, plush padding. 5 point harness to 50 inches or 65 lbs. Installs tight and works well in small vehicles. Easy to customize the fit without removing and rethreading the harness, multiple crotch strap positions. Built-in locking clip.
Be sure to check out the demo at www.learningcurve.com
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I love this seat!
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| Review Date: May 5, 2008 |
| Reviewer: momof2, Iowa |
The First Years/Learning Curve Truefit is truly an awesome seat! The harness height goes from 10"-18" (with 4 total slots) and adjusts easily without removing the seat. It rear faces from 5-35lbs, and forward faces to 65lbs. It has lockoffs, so it installs easily with a seatbelt or the lower anchors-the locks offs are easy to use.
The seat has a removeable headrest for infants who are less than 22 lbs (and whose head is 1" from the top of the shell). This makes the seat easier to fit rear-facing. Once the child reaches 22+lbs, the headrest needs to be put on (and the child should be kept rear-facing until s/he reaches 35lbs or is within 1" of the top of the shell). Rear-facing is 4x safer than forward facing. My 2 year old son is still rear-facing and will be until he is either too heavy or too tall.
It's a comfortable seat with lots of EPP foam and padding. The Misty Morning pattern is very soft and cozy. My daughter, at 44", 42lbs, and a 16" torso, still fits, height wise, in this seat. She really liked it.
I have (or have had) lots of carseats. Among them, the Evenflo Triumph Advance, the Radian65, Evenflo Triumph V, Britax Regent, and Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe (Britax Marathon clone). The Truefit is easily one of my favorites.
The best carseat is one that fits your child, fits your budget, fits your vehicle, and will be installed correctly EVERY SINGLE TIME! Make sure to read the manual for any seat purchased and know how to install it correctly. And go to a seat check/call a tech if you have any questions.
My children's safety, in the car, is of prime importance to me. I can keep them safer by keeping them harnessed, in the safest seat/s I can afford, for as long as possible. |
Great seat once you figure out how to install it...
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| Review Date: January 17, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Nathan C, Los Angeles, CA |
First let me say that this is a great seat. It's padded, comes with several inserts to support different size babies. The optional headrest is nice. I have now installed two of these seats, one into a new Volkswagen Jetta, and one into the previous model Jetta (which has a slightly smaller backseat). There are a few inconveniences, but once you figure it out, the seat does exactly what it's supposed to.
The biggest problem, and this took me over an hour to figure out, is that the seat comes ready for a forward facing installation. I installed both of my seats rear-facing, and I was going NUTS figuring out how to get the latch belt/system to look like it did in the pictures. If only they would have mentioned in the directions that of the box, the latch belt comes set in the forward facing position, it would have saved me a lot of time. You actually have to reposition the belt to make it look like the poorly worded pictures. Once I figured that out, installing seat two took less than 20 minutes. Now that I understand all this it makes sense. The latches themselves are made to go on in a certain way, and by default in rear-facing they were backwards. That makes sense now because it came ready for a forward-facing install.
Another problem I faced was achieving the proper incline. Coming from a chicco infant base that had easy to read bubble levels, the true fit simply has a skinny red sticker on the side that is supposed to be parallel to the floor. I'll tell you right now, in the backseats of both jettas, getting the line parallel isn't feasible. First of all, I had to wedge something underneath to give it more incline (like a pool noodle). The problem with this is that my son is over 22 lbs, so I have to have the headrest installed. At this incline, I would have to put it behind the passenger seat, and move that front seat up so far that no one could sit in it. If you're looking to get this seat for a small child that has very little neck control, you might look elsewhere. My son is over 10 months old and about 25 lbs, and installing the carseat with no type of wedge probably puts the red line about 15-20 degrees higher than parallel. For him it's fine, but for younger babies be careful. I know this is a problem in almost all convertible car seats and small backseats, but you can never have enough info on how these things will probably fit in your car. My last complaint about the incline is that one of my red stickers is already falling off and I had to put tape over it. I wants a bubble level!
My last comment is about the 5-point latch. Overall it's very easy to use. I had problems with it getting twisted the first couple times I used it, but now that I know what I'm doing I haven't had any problems. My other initial problem was that the strap you pull to cinch it all down onto the baby was never explained. In my old chicco you simply pulled on it, and the harder you pulled the more it cinched. The true fit doesn't work that way. You actually have to pull, release, pull, release, and it sort of works like a "pump" system. Everytime you pull, it will only cinch a little, and to get it to cinch more, you have to release slightly and tug again. Once you figure it out it works great and helps you to not crush your child, but again, it was never explained anywhere that I could see.
I hope no one takes the above as reasons not to buy this car seat. I detail the above only to save other people the headache of figuring out a manual that is poorly worded at times. There's lots of pictures which is nice, but car seat makers don't need to assume we're all illiterate. Put a paragraph or two in the manual that explains how your car seat works. Really, it would be fine.
Highly recommended! |
A must have car seat - best of everything
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| Review Date: February 28, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Dixie DeBrunce, Missouri |
I just received our seat yesterday and I LOVE IT!! has everything and it has a latch system that can even be used for rear-facing. My 4.5 month old smiled and was happy when we put her in it and my 4 year old sat in it to see how it would be for when she is older and she said it was very comfortable! I love everything about this seat.
I encourage you though to read the instructions before trying to figure out where they store the latch system out and how to install the seat. It is an easy install and directions are great just make sure you read first! :)
Since the headrest comes off for rear-facing it fits great in a backseat!! |
My only regret....
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| Review Date: September 13, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Jacob I. Torres, Appleton, WI USA |
..... was not having discovered this carseat in the first place. My wife and I did not realize that this would have been the only seat we ever needed. We started off with a Graco seat from the Meridian Collection. Positive side is that we had all matching gear. Negative side is that we had to go out and buy another seat. All in all this was easy to install and I am absolutely confident in it's security. Do not be dissuaded by a previous users post that she could push the seat up and back against the backseat of the car. Making mention that she thought the baby's face would get slammed into it in a head-on collision (she went with a different brand). Shoddy physics aside, she either installed the seat incorrectly or has stock in the brand she is claiming to have switched to, because I checked on this claim and it is completely false.
Lots of easy to use adjsutments... I especially liked the idiot-proof harness strap adjustment that the aforementioned poster/reviewer also could not get to work correctly :)
Great seat, great value... make it your first and last purchase. |
Love, love, love...
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| Review Date: November 4, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Heather Nicole, west bend, WI |
| I researched for hours, days, weeks... for just the right car seat to fit the needs of my 5 1/2 month old little girl, who is over 100 percentile for weight and height, and had already outgrown her infant carrier seat. This seat is perfect. Although she is already too long to be able to use it with the head rest taken off, it is no bigger than any other convertible car seat that does not have that great option when head rest is attached. She was also too tall and big to still use the infant height insert, which is ok too, because even without it, she seems extremely comfortable in it. Even though it does not have multiple recline positions like others offer, when rear-faced, it reclines plenty. Never have a problem with her head flopping forward. She sleeps very well in it. The material is extremely soft and easily wiped clean, and was not difficult to install. You just really have to read the directions closely and kind of figure things out on your own as you go when the directions seem a bit unclear. I did have to use pool noodle to level the car seat, since it is a reclining bucket seat in the middle of the van and the seat angles, but you have to do that with numerous other car seats as well. I have that thing in there so tight, it doesn't budge. I can't say enough about the car seat- it is great for the price and the options. The seat is nice and deep, with steep sides, so I feel confident that she'll be safe in an accident if impacted from the side. Also love that when you loosen the harness straps completely when taking her out, that they can then fit over the top sides of the car seat so that they are then out of the way until you put her back in, then you can pull them down and back over her to buckle and tighten. Also love that I can keep her rearfacing until 35lbs. I would recommend this to anyone I know with a newborn/infant. I think that it would work great with newborn rearfacing with the headrest off and insert in since it is very plush and seems like it would be comfortable and fit the infant well and not be too spacious and big for a newborn-6 months. |
True Fit vs. Marathon or Roundabout
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| Review Date: June 16, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Joyous Mom, Vermont |
I own a Marathon for my car and was looking for another for my husband's car. I wanted excellent safety ratings, including side impact ratings. I loved all the features of a Britax, but hated the price. I stumbled upon the True Fit. This True Fit offers more features, costs less AND has high safety ratings. What else could you want?!
The fabric is just as soft as a Britax and comes in a variety of colors. The removable headrest is fabulous and the adjustable crotch buckle is crucial. I have spent many days searching under my son's bottom trying to find the buckle.
If you are considering a Roundabout or Marathon- Don't! But this instead, you won't be dissatisfied.
The only con I can come up with is the latch system. I prefer the LATCH system on the Britax better- not for safety reasons- just for installation purposes. That, however, did not stop my from buying it. I am happy with my decision and I hope this helps you! |
Easy decision ...it's very sad, but this is the ONLY 5-star rated seat
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| Review Date: January 31, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Mad Max, Seattle, WA USA |
We tried several car seats, and did hours of research, including calls to the National Highway Safety and our state senate.
I'm resisting the urge to do a detailed comparison of car seats - they each have pros & cons, including this one. But this is the only car seat currently on the market that got a 5-stars across the board (NHS), and the best crash ratings by independent testing. Our primary concern was the safest seat - all other concerns (ease of installation, price, etc) are secondary. So this seat was a no-brainer for us.
I will add that this one installs easiest of all the car seats we tried. I understand some negative reviews got frustrated with installation - but you *must* read the entire instruction booklet (it only took me 10-15 minutes the first time), and please realize this did install easiest of the six seats we tested.
But I'm more concerned with *why* this is the only 5-star seat. We read 3 books looking for car seat recommendations, including consumer reports, and NONE of them talk about this.
It's because a few recent laws, passed by politicians who receive campaign contributions from Graco and other car seat manufacturers of cheap Chinese imports (passed in several states so far, and counting).
The new so-called child safety laws say (among other things) that you can only buy recently manufactured car seats, and all seats have expiration dates (5 years from manufacture date). This sounds good on the surface ... but this law actually encourages treating car seats like a disposable item & more cheap Chinese imports, and is driving down quality of all car seats (including Britax).
If people have to buy new car seats every few years, & can't use the same car seat for multiple children or even the same child for more than a few years, then car seats become a "disposable" item. If it doesn't represent a long term investment, the result is cheaper manufacturing.
The result is, every seat we looked at is a cheap Chinese import. This is the only seat we saw that had sturdy plastic, metal pins and components, and a solid frame.
A better law would be, to have State Troopers inspect car seats for safety & proper installation. High quality is the best standard (not age) - why not have standards for QUALITY and SAFETY instead of just going by shelf date? The DISPOSABLE Car Seat Laws are bad for everyone *except* big corporations, China, and greedy politicians willing to personally profit from lower safety standards.
Theoretically, a person could be legally prohibited from buying the safest car seat. And it could earn you a ticket or higher insurance rates in several states. (Thank God for the big corporations, so-called "free trade" with China, and the conservative politicians willing to take their money).
So obviously I'm outraged at how these huge corporations are bribing politicians, importing cheap Chinese crap, and call it "child safety". But I'm glad there's at least one car seat with a good rating.
As a final note, your price point for this should be around $150. If you can't find the color you want on Amazon, just about any major retailer can order it for you. But very few retailers carry it in stock - we bought ours on Amazon. Please note: If you want the 5-star rated seat, make sure it's the "True Fit Convertible" model by First Years. |
Love it!! Great choice for luxury and comfort!!!
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| Review Date: July 17, 2008 |
| Reviewer: M. Armendariz, Denver, Co USA |
| I looked around for weeks and narrowed it down to this and one other seat. I was able to go see the other seat in a store, but this one was only available online. I didn't really like the one at the store so I took a chance and ordered this one. I'm SOOO glad I did!!! I absolutely love it!! It's so soft and comfy, my 10 month old looks so happy in it. She sleeps in it very comfortably and she has plenty of room. I have it rear facing with the headrest and it fits fine in my suv, if I had a compact car it might not fit that great with the headrest. I have no complaints, except it was a little difficult to install, but not horrible, and I have to be very careful buckling it not to pinch her chubby legs. I highly recommend this seat!!!! |
Love, Love, Love this seat
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| Review Date: July 23, 2008 |
| Reviewer: V. Nguyen, San Jose, CA |
| I am so glad that I decided to buy this seat for my son. The material is so nice, very comfortable, durable, and very little or almost to none to assemble. Unlike the Radian 80 convertible car seat I bought for my son earlier it was a waste of money. It is not comfortable and when you put the seat in forward facing there is no 45 degree angle to support his back. Very bad posture. It cost me $250 although I didn't buy it from Amazon at the time. I saw other reviewers raving about how good the Radian 80 convertible seat made by sunshine but it is horrible. The only one good thing about it, that is it could fold when you travel. Poor instructions and assembly. It is confusing to follow and manual. Don't waste your money on the Radian 80 by sunshine convertible seat. THIS IS THE SEAT THAT YOU SHOULD BUY FOR YOUR KIDS. TRUST ME YOU WON'T REGRET IT. I chose the blue/black color. I love it...What makes me more happier than seeing my son enjoys this seat... |
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