Safety 1st Uptown Convertible Car Seat - 22475BVL

Great Seat for rear-facing until age 2

2/19/2010

I bought this seat for use in my very small backseat. I needed something to fit rear-facing until my daughter was over 2 years old and this seat easily installed both rear-facing and forward-facing in my Jetta. My daughter is now 3.5 and we are on the top slot (forward facing) and only now considering another seat due to height.

Pros:
1. Easy installation;
2. Easily removable seat cover;
3. Light weight so easy to remove/use for travel;
4. Fits easily in commercial airline seats;
5. High top slot fits kids longer;
6. Great price.

Cons:
1. It is a bit narrow (which was good for me with a small back seat and a slender kiddo) but might not be comfortable for all kids;
2. The crotch strap always slides under my daughters butt (not sure if this is a seat-specific problem because it also happens in our Marathon but is more effort to retreive on this seat.

Overall, we've been very happy with this seat and have used for almost 3 years without problems. I would recomend to anyone who wants to keep their little one rear-facing longer than 12 months and 20lbs recomendation (and I also encourage parents to research why they might want to rear-face their kids longer).

Garbage

12/4/2009

My wife received one of these child seats from her employer as a gift. To start, the materials used in making this seat are of a very low quality. The directions provided with the car seat look like they were written by a 3 year old. They are very confusing. They have you routing straps under padding, through side openings, through lower openings, in-front of the base buckle, whew, I'm tired just writing this. Needless to say, it is not user friendly. Forget swapping it between 2 cars, that would just be a nightmare. I'm not inept at putting things together either, hell I finished the basement in our split-level home by myself. I won't even donate this seat to the Salvation Army. It doesn't seem safe. If it's not safe for my child, it's not safe for anyone else's child either. The directions actually suggest putting a rolled up towel under the base to aid in positioning. Are you kidding me? I will not risk my child's safety by placing her in a car seat of such poor quality. At least we didn't have to pay for it.

Great seat for the price ($65-$100, not $150)

7/15/2009

I am a Britax person, but needed a car seat for the second (less used) car. I happened to be a Big Lots one day and saw this one. I went home to do my research and was impressed by the results. Although I purchased this car seat for $65 (at Big Lots), it was definitely worth the money. On a recent vacation to grandma's, we purchased a Cosco Scenera. I did not care for that seat at all. Much of the set up was similar, but the shell was way too wide. I felt so bad everytime that my 18 month old fell asleep because his head was sideways compared to his body. The Uptown is so much better (and I only spent $12 more for it). It is padded well, very similar to the Britax Roundabout. The belts and connectors aren't made of the same type of quality materials, but do the trick. The Latch and recline features are exactly like the Cosco Scenera, the Latch is a bit more difficult to install than the Britax Roundabout. The recline is one piece of plastic that is either up or down/recline (kind of a joke if you ask me), but my son doesn't need the recline and he only faces forward. One difference between the Brita Roundabout and this seat is that it doesn't sit on a base of any type, so it is lower in the car. This is a benefit in my Toyota Corolla (so that I don't bump my child's head every time I put him in the seat. Overall, this is a great seat for the price. If you want a Britax Roundabout, but can't afford one, this seat is pretty similar. Oh, and I had no problems with the seat being too narrow for my child.

good for travel

11/4/2008

I bought this for our 2nd car but we end using this for travel so we don't have to keep taking out car seats. Its a good car seat if you have small children my son however is huge and he only used it maybe 6 months. His shoulders where to wide for it.. I do plan on using it for my daughter when she is a little bit older.

Takes some getting used to

10/22/2008

This is my 5th child and my first 5 point harness style car seat. It definitely takes some getting use to. Actually, it is a royal pain in the rear. The lower safety clips always fall to the bottom of the seat, so when I sit the baby in it I am searching under her rear end to find the clips. The left chest clip is too long and it's a pain to clip together. Also the lower clips seem to turn on the strap and unless the clip is facing the right way it is almost impossible to clip into the seat belt. Maybe these are problems with all 5 point harnesses? It takes me twice as long to buckle the baby in this car seat than it does to buckle my toddler in (not a 5 point). Also, we use the rear facing direction and the seat is practically straight up with no recline. My husband put a board underneath to recline it some so the babies head doesn't fall forward when she falls asleep. That has helped alot. I don't think I would ever buy another one.