Considering a Graco Car Seat? Remember, the best car seat is the one that fits your child, vehicle, budget, and lifestyle and has the features important to you. The safest car seat is the one you can install correctly and use properly on every ride! Let us know in the comment section what questions you have about this review of the Graco Extend2Fit convertible car seat.
Graco Extend2Fit Car Seat Review (USA)
The Graco Extend2Fit was one of the first convertible car seats with a 50-pound rear-facing limit, and it’s still a well-loved car seat today! The original Graco Extend2Fit is a relatively cheap convertible car seat for parents who want to rear-face higher-percentile children as long as possible. It’s also one of the best convertible car seats for small cars, making it a great option for tall front-seat passengers, compact vehicles, or any situation with limited front-to-back space!
What
A convertible car seat that can be used rear-facing and forward-facing
When
After you’ve used an infant seat for a few months or after the infant seat has been outgrown
Age
Our recommendation: 2 months+ until the seat is outgrown (average 6/7 years old)
What you need to know before you go.
Rear-Facing Seat Stats
- height limit: 49″
- weight limit: 50 pounds
- head height rules: at least 1″ below the headrest adjustment lever
Forward-Facing Seat Stats
- height limit: 49″
- weight limit: 65 pounds
- head height rules: ears must be below the top of the headrest
Other Seat Stats
- width of seat: 20”
- weight of seat: 19 pounds
- crash replacement policy: replace after any crash
- expiration limits: 10 years
- harness: no rethread
- lock-off: no
- lower anchor limit: 45 lbs
- Washability: fabric is machine washable
✅ Seat is good for you if:
✅ You want to rear-face as long as possible.
The Graco Extend2Fit rear-faces to the maximum pounds allowed on the US market – 50 pounds. The best practice is to rear-face as long as possible (think age 4+), and with the built-in-leg extension panel, your kiddo will have 5 extra inches of leg room. Curious why rear-facing is safest? Watch this!
✅ Your back seat space is very limited.
The Graco Extend2Fit is one of the best convertible car seats for small cars. It is one of the most compact in front-to-back space!
Because the seat has numerous recline angles, it can get very upright which lessens the footprint of the seat from front to back. If you have a tall driver or passenger or are just really tight on that legroom in the second or third row of your vehicle this seat is one of your best bets.
🚩 Use Caution If:
🚩Your child is petite, and/or you won’t rear face past age 2-3.
While the Graco Extend2Fit has many standout features, Safe in the Seat grades it as a “proceed with caution” seat for one big reason: its forward-facing recline rules. Let’s get technical: The rear-facing height and weight limits of this seat are 49 inches and 50 pounds, which the average-sized child will reach when they are between 5-7 years old. While we always encourage rear-facing to the max limits of the seat, we also know that most parents will not be rear-facing their elementary school-aged kids.
Here’s why that’s an issue. When installing forward-facing, the original Extend2Fit must be installed on a specific recline setting for a child who weighs less than 40 pounds. This is a problem because this recline requirement makes it impossible to safely install the seat sometimes, usually because the bottom of the car seat hangs too far off the vehicle seat. And, in vehicles with non-removable headrests, this awkward recline can make it difficult to raise the headrest high enough for a proper harness fit, too.
So, parents of little littles, unless you plan to rear-face your child until they reach 40+ pounds (which may be when they are 5, 6 or even 7) then this is not the best seat for you. You’ll run into the weird recline rule which could make the seat awkward at best, and impossible to install safely at worst. If you like the Graco Extend2Fit series, check out the Extend2Fit 3 in 1 instead, which does not have this recline requirement.
🚩You need to fit 3 people in one row of the vehicle.
This seat is 20 inches wide. Most vehicles cannot accommodate a car seat this size in a three-across configuration.
🚩You want to skip an infant seat.
We’ve found this seat fits an infant ok from 8-9 pounds. If you are expecting a smaller baby and want to start with a convertible seat, this is not the best car seat for a newborn on the tiny side. The car seat harness has to be coming from below the shoulders when rear-facing, and it’s unlikely a smaller baby will meet this requirement in this seat as the lowest harness height is about 7 inches high.
️ Stand Out Features:
️ It’s very compact rear-facing.
This seat has 4 recline options for the rear-facing installation. Once the seat is in the most upright recline position, it takes up very little space front to back. This makes it one of the best convertible car seats for small cars or for front-seat passengers who are very tall.
️ Has an optional leg panel for extra leg room in rear-facing mode only.
The leg panel has multiple settings and can give up to 5″ of extra leg room for a rear-facing child. This is optional and does not have to be used if you have a smaller vehicle or very tall passengers. This panel can never be used in forward-facing mode.
▶️ YouTube Videos:
▶️Graco Extend2Fit Installation Video
▶️Install Graco Extend2Fit Forward-Facing
⚠️ Quirks to be Aware Of:
⚠️The cupholders are required.
Once they’re clicked into place correctly, they can’t easily be removed! They must always be attached when the car seat is in use.
⚠️May be incompatible with the vehicle if you turn a child forward-facing before they are at least 40 pounds.
For forward-facing kids under 40 pounds, you must use recline 4 when installing the Extend2Fit. The base of the seat must be flat on the vehicle seat. Frequently, this will cause the car seat to hang off of the vehicle seat more than is allowed. This would make it incompatible until the child is above 40 pounds. If you run into this issue, you can turn the child back rear-facing until they reach at least 40 pounds.
⚠️Tightening the harness can be challenging in the rear-facing position.
We’ve heard this from numerous users and experienced it too. Because the car seat harness straps are exposed in the back, pulling them downwards while pulling up on the harness tightening strap will make getting all that slack out much easier! Here’s what it looks like!
✈️ Airplane Use
The Graco Extend2Fit is an FAA-approved car seat. Not a lightweight car seat, nor is it the heaviest car seat, so you certainly can travel with it. Just get a travel cart to maneuver through the airport! Because it can be very compact in rear-facing mode, it will fit in that direction on most airplane seats. It is wide, so you’ll need to put the airplane armrests up to fit!
If you are traveling internationally, you may be able to get away with installing with the lower anchors if the child is under 45 pounds and if the vehicles you end up in have lower anchors. But we would recommend contacting Graco for a free locking clip in case you need to do a seat belt installation since most vehicles outside of the US and Canada will not have locking seat belts. For help on how to install a car seat with a locking clip, check out our video here.
For help with all things airplane travel and car seats, check out our Wheels Up Course and private Facebook group.
SITS Bottom Line
We like the Extend2Fit for parents of bigger kids or parents who know you’ll rear face to the max regardless of age: basically, anyone who isn’t in danger of running into that pesky forward-facing recline rule for smaller kids. Overall, the Graco Extend2Fit is a great car seat that is easy to install, long-lasting, great for small cars, and a relatively inexpensive car seat making it a standout!
Head over to our YouTube Channel to see the review and installation how-to of the Graco Extend2Fit.
Other Versions of this Seat:
- Graco Extend2Fit 3-in-1* (read review here)
- Graco Premier 4Ever DLX Extend2Fit SnugLock
- Graco Premier 4Ever DLX Extend2Fit with anti-rebound bar
*A SITS recommended seat. Recommended seats are in our Buying Kits because they have ranked high on our vehicle, child, ease of use, and features scale.
Compare Car Seats
Looking to compare car seats and narrow down the best car seat for your family? The Convertible Car Seat Buying Kit walks you through our 7Cs of selection, then on to an interactive quiz, and finally, a recommended car seat list is generated just for you! If you are overwhelmed and sick of spending hours researching and reading car seat reviews like this one, the Buying Kit will guide you to Safe in the Seat’s recommended car seats for you in under 30 minutes!
We check every day for our recommended car seats on sale, and we have all the deals here for you. Shopping in Canada? Find today’s seat sales in Canada here.
What About Seats We Don’t Recommend?
Just like anyone, we have preferences! This goes for car seats, too. If we don’t recommend a car seat, it’s not because it’s unsafe for your little one. All car seats are safe if they’re installed and used properly, are not expired or damaged, and when they’re made and sold by a reputable manufacturer and/or retailer. Click here for our full list of car seats that we do not recommend.
A note about crash-tests
How does the Graco Extend2Fit perform in crash tests?
Well, that’s a great question. We know it passes the strict federally required testing for all car seats sold in the United States. But we don’t know exactly how it performs. That data isn’t released by any official sources in the US — not by car seat manufacturers, not by government agencies like NHTSA, not anywhere!
There are a few third-party websites that claim to offer objective crash test data that compares car seats. But we at Safe in the Seat ignore that data for a few big reasons. First of all, third-party car seat crash tests don’t actually give us meaningful data! Car seat manufacturers crash-test their products hundreds, even upwards of a thousand times. They crash test the finished product in every single installation configuration using every applicable-sized crash test dummy, not to mention a whole lot of testing at each stage of the development process too. So one or two crash tests completed by another organization just can’t give the same level of information! One or two crash tests aren’t going to represent the overall average performance of any car seat across its lifespan.
Affiliate links are included above. Safe in the Seat earns a small commission when you purchase through these links at no cost to you. We so appreciate your support.
My granddaughter is in the 18th percentile, so thank you for the recommendation not to buy the Graco Extend2Fit (2 in 1). I also have the problem of very little space for the rear facing mode. Do you know the lengths of the seats in the different rear facing reclining modes?
Beware of customer service representatives. The person I chatted with at Graco tried to tell me that the length of the seat does not change when you recline it.
Graco’s customer service is often lacking good information. The recline of the car seat definitely makes a difference as far as how much space it takes up. But it also varies by the design of the vehicle seat. Graco Extend2Fit 3-in-1 would be fine.
This car seat is NOT FAA approved for airlines. The sticker is extremely hard to find but it clearly says it’s not approved. I’d flown with it 5 times, no one ever found the sticker but it was on an approved list, so they allowed us. But on our recent flight, the lady DID find it and it is NOT approved. I do not understand why everything online says the Extend2Fit is approved, it’s not according to the sticker.
This seat is FAA-approved. There is red lettering on one of the stickers that says it has aircraft approval. The car seat manual will also show you that it is approved for aircraft and how to install it on the airplane.
Thanks so much for the article post.Really thank you! Really Great.
Dear safeintheseat.com admin, Your posts are always well researched.
Really informative. I’m surprised that the extender is optional. Unless it’s a USA thing? I’m from Canada and it reads on the carseat in rear-facing: ‘for children over 22lbs, MUST use extender position 3 or 4’. And for over 40lbs, must be used in position 4 😱 This takes up quite a lot of space front to back in our Volkswagen Jetta. Wish I had known this before buying. But very compact when not using the extender!!
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each
time a comment is added I get four e-mails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove people from that service?
Thank you!
Thank you! Like the format. Easy to read.
After reading this, I’m convinced it was a good choice my for 99th %ile height/weight kid, who needed the extra height and whom we wanted to stay rear facing.
Wow. I am in the market for a secondary carseat and this review broke it down so easy for me. Honestly I know this carseat isn’t totally recommended but I am leaning towards buying it because I know the “quirks” are something that are manageable for my family and no other carseats have had this thorough of a break down. Thank you SITS
As long as you rear-face until a minimum of 40#, it’s a nice seat! I had this seat for my daughter, and she was rear-facing until about 6.5 in it.
I absolutely love the breakdown of the car seat in this way! So helpful to read through in a concise manner.
Tip: If there were an option to provide the header links at the top that would jump you to the direct section you’re looking for that could be helpful!
So does the problem with tightening the harness disappear once the seat is in forward facing mode? We do have to tighten the harness by pulling the exposed straps from the back in rear face mode currently.
I was assuming I would have to get my son a new seat when he turns forward facing because the back would no longer be accessible?
We usually don’t find it to be a problem when forward-facing for whatever reason.
Thank you so much! This just convinced me we need to buy the kit when it’s time to get the next car seat!
Bought this car seat because my husband is 6’6” and I knew we needed compact. Took it to the dealership with us when purchasing our new car to make the fit right for everyone. Ended up in a 2020 Nissan Altima. Luckily as well, my daughter is on the bigger side (like her dad) and I kept her rear facing until she maxed out the weight and height at 2.5 yo. This car seat has been wonderful for our family.
Thank you for creating this review! I have the Gracco extend2fit for my baby once he is out of our infant seat and this will be so helpful so we know to keep it rear facing longer and will probably get a different seat for our 2nd car that does not have this rule.
So thankful for this review! We have this seat for our petite almost 3 year old. When he was 8 months old, this seat was a nightmare due to the nature of the straps going over the top of his legs since he was so small. Once he got a little older, it has worked well for us in rear facing mode. I am thankful for your knowledge on forward facing mode given we most likely will have that issue in our vehicle. This gives me enough time to prepare and take your car seat buying course before we turn him forward facing. Hoping for at least another year read facing!
I agree with you all about using this seat on a plane. It was fairly easy to get through the airport but was wider on the seat.
Very well formatted! I love the “quirks” section!
Thank you so much for this! We have this seat in grandma’s car, and I know grandma is itching to turn it forward facing for our almost 4yo. Looks like we won’t be doing so for a while! Even if I’d read all this in the instructions I would have doubted myself, thinking there’s no way I understood it correctly with so much overhang. Seeing it here is so helpful!
This is a great review! Format is good and it’s very informative. I appreciate that you give alternatives that are similar!
Great Review! Wish I had it before purchasing my son’s seats.. Haha. Providing feedback below, but definitely think this is a great review format overall!
The heading “WHAT” kind of throws me off a bit. I don’t know why. But maybe “TYPE” or “CATEGORY” would make my brain understand it better.
I love that we get a lot of info right away, with the brief overview and then the stats of the seat. The first overview paragraph has a lot of pros about the seat, but since this isn’t a SITS recommended seat, I would also include a sentence or two about the cons. Just a quick blurb since you have all the details below.
I think the organization of the review is great and easy to read. I can easily see how the pros and cons would fit our needs to help me make a decision on the purchase. Since it’s not a SITS recommended seat, I also love that there are alternatives listed with links so people can check those out as well.
And I totally agree that the straps are difficult to tighten in rear facing mode!
Can’t wait to see more reviews to help us pick out our next convertible for #2! Thanks!!
I love the honest reviews! Such a great resource for families. ❤️
I’m excited to see more of these reviews!! So helpful to parents when trying to figure out such a big decision for their littles! Car seats are such a big investment, these reviews will help parents narrow it down!
Love this format and that you guys are doing this. You’re amazing! We have this seat and I was nervous when you said in your stories that you don’t recommend this one but it totally makes sense with the way you broke it down.
Thank you for the honest review! So helpful for you to bring up things that I wouldn’t even think about. I think the the format is very helpful and definitely written with parents and caregivers in mind!
Thank you so much for this information!! I like to think I would have been able to make sense of this when the time came to forward face my now 22 month old, but I don’t know if I would have! I have actually loved this car seat so far (it’s a pain to wash all the parts though) and I know you said it’s safe when used correctly! I now have a plan to only keep this car seat as rear facing and play a little car seat swap for my older child we who is well over 40lbs. Thanks again!!
Harness heights would be helpful. Both the lowest and the highest!
We have this seat and used it for extended rear facing in my minivan. We haven’t had any issues once my child hit 50lbs and turned forward (around 4). I love the seat!
Hello! You are all so wonderful for putting this together. Will definitely be an invaluable resource as you continue to round it out. One suggestion on the format is to put the check mark, caution sign, and red flag next to each topic. I viewed on my cell phone and when I reached “You need to have three people across” header I had to think and look back to see if that meant the seat could pr could not accommodate. Hope that makes sense and thanks again!
Love the formatting of the review. It was easy to read and follow. As a person with kids with tall torsos I’d love to see a max / min harness height. Thanks for all of your work to help keep our kiddos safe!
We have this seat right now! Good to know, we probably won’t be turning for another 2 years yet. Thank you for sharing this!
Very interesting! Currently have this seat for my short 2yr old. He is going to rear face for a while but I’ll be getting a different seat for his sister’s first convertible to have a better forward facing seat option!
We used to have this seat as our second seat in my husband’s car which our daughter very rarely rode in. I’m not going to lie, I hated this seat all around so we gave it to my mom to use on the rare occasion she’s got grandkids with her in rear-facing mode. I’m so glad to have this information as we love our other Graco seats, so I love all of the reviews Michelle works so hard to bring us.
What a helpful and thorough review! There was a lot of information to cover so I appreciate the bullet points and headings and how the visuals were helpful, especially focusing in on key details like the overhang.
I personally prefer written to video reviews, so I love this! I love that you have practical information that goes further than seat width etc. One thing I really enjoyed seeing was the age range information. Although this seat can technically be used from birth, it doesn’t always fit newborns. The format itself of the entire review I think is phenomenal.
Incredibly helpful! Your review is unbiased and detailed. It reads like you’re a tour guide walking me through pointing out highlights and cautions.
Thanks for sharing! This is so interesting to me and definitely something I wouldn’t have thought to check into when choosing a car seat!
Thank you so much for this info! I’m curious if this affects the extend2fit 4-in-1 car seat too? Thanks for your help. Love you and your info!
I love the format of this post. It was easy to digest, and easy to find specific info like the width!
I absolutely love this format. This has all the information I look for in a review, in a well organized and well thought out format.
I LOVE the review and can’t wait to see other ones you put out! I can’t imagine how much time this all must take- but thank you! I think the layout is perfect
We have had this seat for about 3 years now and luckily we are making out the rear facing limits so that forward facing issue shouldn’t be a problem for us- but I didn’t even know about that! We are still rear facing at 4 years old and 43lbs<3
Thank you!
Awesome info! We have this seat and would have loved this info when buying it. Luckily our kiddo is big so we won’t run into the recline issue but it is a challenge to do three across. Can you also include the latch weight limits on the reviews? And maybe how easy they are to clean?
There’s another review site that has pictures of a newborn, infant, toddler, and kid in the seat and I found that to be helpful gauging size.
What about if you can recline the seat of the car to make sure it fits on the seat FF? Is that allowed?
This is really well written and provides great info. I was a little nervous when I first heard you say you don’t recommend it because I chose this seat for my 2 year old son. But after reading this blog, I feel confident. My son is already 35-36 pounds (still RF) and we decided to get this because it allows him to be RF for longer, so I don’t think we will run into the issue since he is bigger for his age.
Like the format. Hopefully you can link the review with the car seat purchasing list so once we figure out which car seats can meet our needs we can click on a link to read your review. Maybe consider hyperlinks to the different sections (kinda like they do in online recipes).
This was great! Thank you!!
I have the 3 in 1—can that forward face at a better angel under 40lbs?
This is such a clear and accessible review. It clearly laid out all the considerations. It can be so hard to find reviews online that are trustworthy so thank you for doing this! Agree with comments that said explaining ease/difficulty of installation would be useful too!
I really love this format the use caution section is a great so you know what your getting yourself into. This with the buying kits would be great and (for me) would help eliminate any buying worry since I know exactly what I’m getting myself into.
This was great. You included some info that I haven’t seen other places. One thing I have seen that might be helpful.to add is torso height and top harness height measurements. I have one kid with a long torso and the top harness slot measurement is something I look for in reviews.
This is so helpful! Things I would have never thought about. Please review the Diono Radian! Thank you for all that you and your team does to help us be safe.
This is great and so helpful when looking at new car seats. I can’t wait for future reviews on other seats!
Love the review! Would love to see real kids in the seats as well as a video of how to get a proper install without sitting on the seat or a tug of war contest! And the additional padding and inserts, when to use and remove!
Video coming soon on YouTube so make sure you are subscribed! We will def add more pics in as we get them. And noted re padding/inserts!
LOVE the overall review. Wish it showed more photos of a correct installment in both rear and forward. For example, what does it look like in a position 5 or 6 FF?
This is great! It covers everything a parent would be looking for and more. I wish this car seat review was around before we were purchasing this car seat! I appreciate all the work you guys put in to keeping parents informed!
Ok this was BEYOND helpful!! All the pros and cons were so so easy to understand and exactly what we as tired parents need 😅
Eager to see other reviews
Love this! Would love to see max harness height listed in the stats as well ❤️
Super thankful for how clearly this post is laid out, and that it includes the names of related seats that ARE recommended. We have the Graco Extend2Fit 3 in 1 with rebound bar and love it, and without the clear layout of this, I’d have been so worried!
Thanks for your awesome work!
I love the quick info at the top. This makes it super easy to quickly know if this will even work for you.
One of the worst parts of this seat is putting it back together after washing!!! It was a pain so I got rid of it! Traded it in at a trade in event to get a new baby seat (my unfit one expired before my newest edition was born). Thanks! Can’t wait to read more reviews
Thanks so much for this info, and I do like the new format! I have this car seat and am now freaking out about it not being the best fit for my 2.5 year old. This may be a stupid question, but I can’t seem to find the answer in the manual: in the forward facing recline 4, can you adjust the recline of the seat itself to match the recline on the car seat (to bring it back so it doesn’t overhang as much)?
nope. vehicle seat has to be in most upright position. Nothing to freak out about yet! And really no reason to freak out. You’re informed and will make the best decision when the time comes!
Thank you for this! I love honest reviews of car seats. I have two of these and didn’t know this was a thing! And I considered myself a car seat freak! Now my head is spinning if there is something I’m missing on my other graco 4ever dlx. Time to read that manual again! Haha
I love this format! It’s easy to read, has all the relevant information and looks great! I’m looking forward to seeing more seats reviewed.
Great format!
We have this seat for our two year old who is still rear facing. While we don’t plan to switch her front facing anytime soon, this review is so helpful so we can be aware of the potential issues to look out for when we do switch to forward facing.
Love the format of this post, and appreciate the candor with so many different aspect to consider in choosing the “right” seat for each situation. It’s all the goods we’ve come to know and love from SITS content! Keep up the important and amazing work!
So grateful to have this information! Thank you for including so much info in so many sections!
Love this! Great format, easy to follow and understand the information. The icons and headers are great call-outs and make it super accessible. You guys are the gurus of car seats and us mommas and dadas are so thankful!
Very informative thank you! We have this seat in my husband’s truck, as it’s the only seat, on recline 4, that fits his small cab. My daughter is 3 and will most likely outgrow the height of this before she outgrows the weight. If that happens before 40lbs, I already know this seat won’t work due to the overhang. Would a combination seat be next instead of having to buy another convertible?
I own two of these seats and love them. Some of the quirks I hadn’t noticed, and both my 5yo and 3yo are still RF, so we haven’t encountered the weird incline rule. But I feel even more informed after reading it. I’m looking forward to even more thorough reviews like this.
This is a beautiful and thorough review. I love that it didn’t *feel like if I had this seat that I made the wrong choice but just added things to watch out for! Great quality images and I wasn’t left wondering anything except if it hangs over the seat in my MIL’s car! Thank you
Also wanted to add, I have the convertible buying kit and would love to see a truncated version of that info in the table I mentioned above. 🙂
Yay! I am so excited about you doing written reviews (as I lay here with my sleeping child). I love the layout. Very easy to read! Would you mind including harness heights and shoulder widths? Thank you for the honesty about the weird quirks too, that’s awesome to see and might be something I would overlook while reading a manual/miss prior to purchase.
Love this review! Would also love to see minimum requirements (I plan to max OF COURSE but would still be useful). And perhaps a table to check or x certain features. Eg approved by faa. Thanks so much for all the wonderful work you do!
I like the amount of detail and the listing of pros and cons. My feedback would be to move the “Other Versions” to be part of the introduction especially with the brands that have similar model names. I panicked a bit thinking this was the one I had been recommended from the course and was so confused until I scrolled down.
Very well written! I really like how it’s broken down into sections for easy to follow information. This is the seat we have which makes it extra nice to have all the info laid out in an easy to read page for quick reference. I didn’t know about the >40 lb recline requirement for forward facing (mainly because we’re still rear facing and my kid is just at that weight).
Such useful information! I love the format of the stats section. This was my daughter’s first seat and it was not our favorite.
I have this car seat and yes it’s weird when forward facing! I bought it because I want to keep my kids rear faced for a long time
This is SO helpful!! We have two of these and LOVE them but ran into the recline issue for our petite year old. Thankful for an odyssey which we can get a good install in. Will keep our larger 2 year old RF until we pass the 40 lbs!
Can’t wait for more reviews like this!!
Thank you for providing these reviews! Looking forward to more reviews like this! We have several Graco extend 2 fit 3-in-1s. Looking forward to that detailed review someday!
I’ve always been curious why the extended foot tray can’t be used in forward facing mode. I know people that use it as a foot rest when FF. Bummer it can’t be so!
Love the straight forward approach the information!
Love this format! While I should not have to buy more seats, this will definitely be great for any gotchas!
Great info, although I’m kicking myself for having two of them now…
Luckily neither kid is close to forward facing yet so it’s a worry for another day. I’ve used it to travel and while it’s not the lightest seat in the world, it’s manageable (even on a smaller aircraft with a 2×2 seat configuration) it’s a favorite of TSAs to flag for “additional screening every time though…don’t know if that’s me or the seat!
Love the format of these reviews too! Keep up the good work
Love the format and love that you are doing these reviews! So easy to follow and so informative for what truly matters. Thank you for all that you do!
So so appreciate this! I was set on the extend to fit and was thinking the 3 in 1, but did panic a little. But I’m glad to know that 3 in 1 still will be a great seat for us and to make sure not with the 2 in 1 as our car can be tighter spaced in 2nd row. Only question I would have now is then from the two other SITS recommended and show like a comparison within vehicle. Your example pictures and SUPER helpful!
I absolutely love this format for reviewing car seats (also makes it easy to fill out the car seat info sheets you have available!). I look forward to seeing the reviews of more seats this way!!
Great post since it’s important to have as much information as possible when making these decisions. For my 38 lb, 38 inch tall (maybe even more now) son who isn’t yet 3 years old, this seat is great! He was previously rear facing in the Britax Boulevard and was growing so fast so I was obsessively measuring and weighing him and hoping that he could make it to at least 3 years old. With this seat, I can continue to rear-face him in our compact car. The backseat depth is small so we can’t use the extension for the legs, but he’s not bothered. He just puts his legs up on the seat back. This is a great choice for those with big kids and small cars, but not the correct seat for everyone. Though I saw in another comment that this is only applicable to the US, and Canada (where I am) does not have this limitation.
I love the format. Would be great to see pics of harnessing on different sizes of kids (or even using a life size doll for the tiny baby pics), but I know this is a lot extra work and more difficult to obtain. Those pics have helped me when looking at other sites with carseat reviews. Overall this is great, I will definitely be reading all your reviews and can’t wait for more seats to be posted!
One thing I was looking at when buying car seats was ease of cleaning. I personally would like to see some sort of incorporation of how to clean the seat in a review. Otherwise, I love this – great format, so much information to help make decisions.
Love how you addressed the good and the bad. It is nice to know all the details to make such an important decision! Looking forward to more reviews!
This is super helpful! I have a very tall child. She is currently 41 inches and turns 3 years old in 2 months. Seeing the max is 49 inches overall means I need to get on to the next plan. She’s about 40 pounds and still rear facing. I’m afraid she’ll outgrow the height before the weight maximum!
Amazingly informative and well-written! Can’t wait to see more seats reviewed!
Love the 3 across review. As a mom of 2 we have learned typically if 3 car seats don’t fit, an adult won’t fit comfortably with 2 car seats. This is very helpful information all around to make choosing a seat much easier.
This was so helpful, safeguarding my grandson is the most important thing to me❤️
Thank you for this awesome review! I have this car seat for my large 2 year old and plan to rear face as long as possible, so I feel comforted knowing this is still a good fit for us. The tip on tightening the straps while rear facing was very helpful! Thank you, again!
This is great – I have 4 extend2fits and they are perfect for our smaller cars (accord and Prius). Even with the forward facing requirements we have gotten 4+ years of great use already!
This is so helpful! I found this out after purchasing the seat but (unfortunately) was in a fender bender recently so I was able to replace with something better for my son!
I have this seat for my very large 3.5 year old. He has already surpassed 40lbs and I’ve had to switch from latch to seat belt and plan to keep him rear facing until 4. We have a truck and large SUV so we’ve been able to utilize the extension for leg room and have overall loved this seat. I’m so excited to see more reviews!
So clearly laid out and organized to find all the important stats! We’ve used this extend to fit and didn’t even realize how great it would have been to keep my now 4 year old rear facing for longer!
Looking forward to more nitty-gritty car seat reviews like this one!!
Love this and you are giving real life scenarios. Love your unbiased & truthful opinion (that’s loaded with facts)!
As a first time mom I appreciate your feedback and expertise so much.!!! Thanks for helping me keep my baby and family safe! I’ll be sure to pass this info on!
The review format and content are great. I have a small car, and it took a lot of scouring to figure out which car seats are slim front-to-back (side to side was easy to find). We settled on the Extend 2 Fit 3-in-1 with anti-rebound for that reason.
My only beef is the text in the intro video, which caused a lot of undue panic among many 3-in-1 purchasers. Please avoid that in the future!
This is such a helpful review! I’m looking forward to more reviews like this!
I like how the formatting makes it easy to go back and quickly reference key points.
I would love if the reviews could include insight on if you’ve found any vehicles or seating positions where you could not get a safe install with that seat.
Thank you!
I had this seat for RF for my petite daughter for a while and loved it (had to be replaced after an accident and couldn’t get one in stock to replace it with). I don’t remember the FF limits though, is this an issue on Canadian versions of the seat as well?
this seat has lots of differences in Canada! This specific issue only applies to US seats.
Ah thank you for this! We just turned my daughter forward facing and did not know this. Looks like we will be rear facing for a few more months!
Amazing information! Thank you!
Just purchased and starting using the extend 2 fit 3in1 with arb based off the buying kit!
I’m curious why a family would choose to forward face before the limit is reached?
Thank you for this review. I immediately run to my car to check the setting and it was wrong 😑 what is the rule on the recline of the actual seat? We have a pilot seat than can recline and it would make the car seat fit be better on setting 4. Is this acceptable? Can there be a gap between seat and car seat? I don’t believe that was discussed or shown in the review.
This is a great review! Very informative as I am searching for a seat for my little little. We have an Extend2Fit 3-in-1 for my bigger little and love it. The seat belt is really difficult to tighten- it’s true. Thanks to your advice you have posted before, pulling the exposed belt is a great fix.
Wonderful, detailed information in the review! I have this carseat, and was not aware of the weird recline when forward facing. I had planned to max out the rear facing limits anyway, this review just helps solidify that decision to avoid the weird recline in the FF position. Thanks so much to you and your SITS team, Michelle! Looking forward to the content you will be bringing in the future!!
This review is amazing! Very thorough in every section and gives parents the best information. It goes over things I would have never thought about for a car seat!
This is so helpful!! Love the format and the information you’ve provided.
Great review! Thanks for clearly pointing out the “gotcha” of this car seat. Definitely not something any of the other reviews bring up!
We got the 4Ever DLX Extend2Fit with Anti-Rebound bar, since I was certain would fit in our car and I really wanted an anti-rebound bar. But had considered the regular 2in1.
What about the graco 3-in1- slim fit? Is that completely different than the other graco 3-in- seats linked in the blog? So hard to tell!
THIS IS AMAZING!!! Love this type of information about different car seat types and trouble zones to watch out for!
Thank you for doing this! We initially bought this seat 3 years about with our first, simply because it was popular and affordable. After using it for a bit I decided I just didn’t like it. So it became Grandparents back-up. But we still use it, so this information is very helpful in making sure I help them install it properly. We’ve used your buying guide with our 2nd and I think information about why you don’t recommend certain seats is just as valuable as a list of should buys. Thank you!!!
Wish I would have known this when I bought this seat (x4) 🙁 I didn’t realize this when forward facing until I recently turned my 3 year old forward facing. It was super awkward to install with the recline guideline. Will be looking at other options going forward.
I love this format. It’s easy to read and understand.
LOVE this review! Talk about thorough!! Really appreciate how you talk about all the topics, pros and cons. Found this review super helpful and look forward to more reviews! Thank you!!!
Thank you for this information! It definitely reaffirms that we need to max out those limits.
This review was very well organized! It answered all of my questions- loved the pros and cons. I liked seeing the pictures along side the descriptions. Will be purchasing a new car seat in the future and will be using your reviews to help me find the right fit for my family’s needs.
This is why I’m so glad to have used the kit to pick a seat. I would never have known this wasn’t safe *facepalm* Thank you so much for this information!!!!!
Love the format. Sections are easier to read than paragraphs.
This looks great! Very well thought out and gives important information without being too wordy. Thankful for all that I have learned from Michelle and the SITS team!!
We have this car seat and I very confused about when to remove the extra padding inserts. The manual is not clear at all. Thank you for this review! I had no idea an out the front facing challenge. Luckily my kiddo seems to be on a bigger percentile track
Love the format of this review! It’s broken down for ease of reading quickly and not overwhelming.
Looking forward to more!
Such a helpful review! The combo of reviews and car seat buying kits will make car seat shopping a piece of cake! Can’t wait to see more of these!
Love this format! Such great info on one of the seats I have for my almost 3 year old. I didn’t know about the forward facing rule for this seat, so I learned something new. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
man! This is the car seat I have used for 2.5 years! It’s wonderful for rear facing!! I am planning to have my kid stay in this until he outgrows it, but this made me go check how this installs forward facing. I am having a heck of a time getting a tight install!
This is really helpful. I wish I had known to look out for the width of the carseat, but I’m still fairly happy with this seat. My son should have no problem reaching 40 plus pounds before we switch to forward facing.
There is so much to consider and it’s near impossible to know what all those things are. It’s why we created the Car Seat Buying Kits–to help you know what you need to know. These reviews should help a ton too, we hope!
I absolutely love this format. Very informative breakdown with pros and cons, and the visuals help a lot.
thank you so much for letting us know!
Thank you for this info! We just bought 2 of the extend2fit 3 in 1 with anti rebound bar. Does the same problem happen with this seat as well? I think the review of this seat was very informative but maybe you could reassure moms that the other versions of this seat don’t specifically have this problem. Not gonna lie I panicked at first when I saw!! Maybe it’s just confusing to me because there are so many different versions of this seat. Thanks for all you do!
Nope and it’s why we do recommend the 3-in-1! Appreciate the feedback very much, Graco’s names are so dang confusing so we will definitely look into how we can better address that.
What a well thought-out review! Thanks for your input SITS team! I’m thrilled that y’all are beginning a reviews page, and I cannot wait to read some more! I love the roadmap overlay with the carseat behind it. I think some fit pictures and pictures with the inserts may be handy as well. However, I love that yall are reviewing carseats you may not totally love too. It’s nice to hear both good and bad things about the seats! Please keep the reviews coming!
I can’t even begin to tell you how many iterations of that main image Becka on our team did. We finally just went with it. She will be thrilled you like it! We for sure plan to add in more fit pictures as we have kids in these seats!
Love this new form of information you’re providing! Always adapting to your audience is much appreciated!
Truly thankful for this compliment. We try!