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 TrioGrow SnugLock 3-in-1 car seat.
Graco Triogrow SnugLock Car Seat Review (USA/Canada)
This is one of our favorite seats for international travel, but it’s a great everyday seat for many people as well! It’s compact front to back, easy to install, and can be used from birth.
Type
A 3-in-1 car seat that can be used rear-facing, forward-facing, and in high back booster mode
When
From birth or after you’ve used an infant seat for a few months
Age
Our recommendation: Newborn until the seat is outgrown (average 7/8 years old)
What you need to know before you go.
Rear-Facing Seat Stats
- height limit: 49″ (USA), 18-43″ (CA)
- weight limit: 5-40 pounds
- head height rules: at least 1″ below the top of the headrest
Forward-Facing Seat Stats
- height limit: 49″ (USA), 27-49″ (CA)
- weight limit: 22-65 pounds
- head height rules: ears must be below the top of the headrest
High-back Booster Stats
- height limit: 43-57″
- weight limit: 40-100 pounds
- head height rules: ears must be below the top of the headrest
Other Seat Stats
- width of seat: 19”
- weight of seat: 18 pounds
- crash replacement policy: Replace after any crash.
- expiration limits: 10 years
- harness: no rethread
- lock-off: yes
- Canadian version has anti-rebound bar for rear-facing that is REQUIRED
✅ Seat is good for you if:
✅ You have tall front seat passengers and/or a vehicle with limited back seat space.
The Graco TrioGrow SnugLock 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 positions, 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.
✅ You travel internationally with your children.
A car seat must be locked in place for safe installation, and outside of the US and Canada, vehicle seatbelts typically don’t have the same locking mechanism as US and Canadian vehicles do. But the great thing about this seat is that it has a built-in seat belt lock-off! This means you don’t need to worry about using a locking clip when traveling internationally. This seat will easily install in any vehicle that has seat belts!
✅ You want to skip an infant seat.
We’ve found this seat fits newborns pretty well! If you are expecting a smaller-than-average baby or a preemie, we would still recommend an infant seat instead, as that will have a better fit.
✅ You have a vehicle with nonremovable headrests.
Vehicle headrests that tilt forward and/or are nonremovable can be tricky when a car seat is forward-facing. The Graco TrioGrow plays nice with headrests like these!
🚩 Use Caution If:
🚩 You need to fit 3 people in one row of the vehicle.
This seat is 19″ wide. Most vehicles cannot accommodate a car seat this size in a three across configuration.
️ Stand Out Features:
Easy installation with the SnugLock lock-off
This is an easy car seat to install. All you have to do is thread the vehicle seatbelt through the correct belt path, gently remove any obvious slack, and close the SnugLock lock-off. And that’s it!
▶️ YouTube Videos:
▶️How to Install a Car Seat on an Airplane
⚠️ 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.
✈️ Airplane Use
The Graco TrioGrow SnugLock is an FAA Approved car seat. While is is 18 pounds, it is still one of the lightest options available if you want a seat that has a seat belt lock-off. This is one of the best convertible car seats for international travel. For help with all things airplane travel and car seats, check out our Wheels Up Course and private Facebook group.
SITS Bottom Line
This is a great option that will work well for most people! It fits in every vehicle we have tried it in, it’s small front to back, and it’s also a good travel option.
Other Versions of this seat:
- Graco TrioGrow SnugLock LX* – has Rapid Remove cover, premium lower anchors, and buckle tongue holders
- Graco TrioGrow SnugLock (Canada)* – has 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!
Check out this Amazon Live for more convertible seats we recommend and the standout features we love.
We check every day for our recommended car seats on sale, and we have all the deals here for you.
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 TrioGrow SnugLock 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.
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My daughter has pulled off the strap covers and they got lost. How can I get replacement covers and are aftermarket covers of the same shape safe? Additionally, the crotch belt can sometimes pinch her legs when she’s in shorts – is there a crotch belt cover that would be safe to use? I can’t find Graco replacement pieces.
You have to contact Graco to get replacements. They don’t have everything listed online. You cannot buy anything from a store.
Contact graco directly. They sent me new ones
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Hi there! I’m using your Wheels Up Course and I’m currently looking through the different seats on your list. Do you know if the TrioGrow has a closed belt path like the other Graco ones on the list?
The only Graco seats that have a closed belt path at this time are Graco Contender and Graco Contender Slim, and they only have that for forward-facing. It’s really uncommon for kids to complain about the airplane seat belt, though.