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 Safety 1st Jive convertible car seat.
Safety 1st Jive Car Seat Review (USA)
The Safety 1st Jive convertible car seat is inexpensive and easy to install. It can rear-face most children to at least three years old, forward-face to around five, and is very lightweight. For families looking for a travel-friendly car seat, a backup for the babysitter, or simply the most cost-effective option, this amazing little car seat might be the one!
Type
A convertible car seat that can be used rear-facing and forward-facing
When
Fits from about 6 months due to a high harness height
Age
Our recommendation: 6 months until the seat is outgrown (average 5-6 years old)
What you need to know before you go.
Rear-Facing Seat Stats
- height limit: 19-40″
- weight limit: 5-40 pounds
- head height rules: at least 1″ below the top of the shell
- Newborn fit: poor, harness straps will be far above shoulders
Forward-Facing Seat Stats
- height limit: 29-43″
- weight limit: 22-65 pounds
- head height rules: ears must be below the top of the shell
Other Seat Stats
- width of seat: 18”
- weight of seat: 10 pounds
- crash replacement policy: replace after a moderate or severe crash
- expiration: 10 years
- harness: rethread
- lock-off: no
✅ Seat is good for you if:
✅ You need the most bang for your buck.
This seat is a great combination of long-lasting and affordable! It retails for $110, but you can often find the Jive (or its nearly-identical sister seat, the Cosco Mightyfit LX) for about $80. It’s a bit more expensive than the Cosco Scenera Next, but lasts several years longer — most kids can use this seat from around six months old until they’re five or six. That’s a worthwhile investment if you ask us!
✅ You often travel via Uber/Lyft/taxi.
The Safety 1st Jive car seat is very lightweight, so if your child has outgrown their infant seat and you want something longer lasting than the Cosco Scenera Next, this may be a great option for you! You can easily attach it to a stroller handle with a bungee cord.
✅ You frequently fly with your child.
After your child has outgrown the infant seat, the Safety 1st Jive may be a great next step for you if you fly frequently. It’s lightweight at just 10 pounds, and it’s fairly narrow as well, so it works on any plane. It’s a fan favorite of our Wheels Up private Facebook group members and our team member Sandy’s favorite travel seat!
🚩 Use Caution If:
🚩You need to fit car seats 3 across in your vehicle.
This seat is 18″ wide, so it wouldn’t be our first choice when trying to fit 3 car seats in one row of a vehicle. It may work if the other 2 seats in the 3 across configuration are more narrow than this one or if it’s a vehicle with a wide back seat.
🚩You plan to use this seat from birth
The lowest harness slot on the Safety 1st Jive is 9″ tall. Most newborns have a torso height that is 7″ or less. This means that the harness will be 2+ inches above their shoulders, which will not be an acceptable fit since the harness needs to be coming from at or below the shoulder. We know this seat has a 5lb weight minimum on paper, so it’s really frustrating that the reality of the harness fit doesn’t match that. Unfortunately, it’s not super uncommon to see this problem with convertible car seats, but it’s extra dramatic in this case. The Jive is best for families who will use an infant car seat for their baby’s first several months before they upgrade to a convertible car seat.
️ Stand Out Features:
It’s fairly compact rear-facing.
This seat has 2 recline lines. The car seat has to be level to one of these lines depending on the child’s stats and ability to sit unassisted. The more reclined line is for kids under 22 lbs. Once the child is above 22 lbs and can sit unassisted, you can reinstall the seat at a more upright recline that is anywhere in between the 2 lines.
It’s lightweight.
At only 10 pounds, it’s one of the lightest convertible seats on the market. This is only slightly heavier than an infant seat!
▶️ YouTube Videos:
▶️ How to Install a Car Seat on an Airplane
▶️ How to Choose the Best Car Seat
▶️ 5 Tips for Flying with Car Seats
▶️ How to Install Safety 1st Jive
⚠️ Quirks to be Aware Of:
⚠️ Use the inside-out trick to install.
The Safety 1st Jive doesn’t have any fancy features to make installation easier, but that’s okay if you know this installation technique! Whether you’re installing with lower anchors or the vehicle seatbelt, pull the car seat cover up off one of the sides and tighten from inside the belt path. With the inside-out trick, this car seat can be securely installed in no time!
⚠️ It has 2 allowed reclines for rear-facing.
The more reclined line is for kids who are under 22 lbs or cannot sit unassisted. This line must be level with the ground until the child is both 22lbs and is able to sit unassisted. Once both of those criteria are met, the car seat can be installed at a recline that is anywhere between the 2 recline lines. Once you have the seat in this more upright position, it’s very compact.
✈️ Airplane Use
The Safety 1st Jive is an FAA-approved car seat. It’s a very lightweight car seat, which makes it a very popular travel car seat option. Because it is so lightweight, you can bungee it to your stroller, use a car seat strap and attach it to your carry-on suitcase, or use a travel cart to maneuver through the airport! For help with all things airplane travel and car seats, check out our Wheels Up Course and private Facebook group.
SITS Bottom Line
The Safety 1st Jive offers excellent affordability and value for money. While it’s not recommended for newborns due to its high harness height, it serves as a great next-stage seat once you transition from an infant seat, lasting until most kids are ready for a booster. Weighing just 10 pounds, its lightweight construction adds to its practicality, especially for families who frequently travel using ride-sharing services, taxis, or airplanes. It can be conveniently attached to a stroller handle with a bungee cord or ratchet strap. Overall, the Safety 1st Jive combines affordability and travel convenience, making it a practical choice for families on the move or on a budget.
Other Versions/Similar Seats:
- Cosco MightyFit LX (US)* – nearly identical, but no infant insert
- Safety 1st Jive Lite (US) – no infant insert, but has harness covers
- Cosco MightyFit DX (US) – adjustable headrest, no infant insert
*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 infant 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. 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
What are the Safety 1st Jive safety ratings?
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, government agencies like NHTSA, or anywhere!
A few third-party websites claim to offer objective crash test data that compares car seats. But here at Safe in the Seat, we ignore that data for a few 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 limited testing completed by another organization just can’t give the same level of information! One or two crash tests fail to represent the overall average performance of any car seat across its lifespan.
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Hi! We bought this seat for air travel and are curious if it would fit in an airplane rear facing as well?
Yes, it can go very upright rear-facing
Hello, I know this has been asked above, but want to be 100% sure….your’s is the only review I see claiming this seat is 10lb….everywhere else I can find a review/the seat is saying 14.25lb….just confirming you’re sure 10lb is correct and they’re including the packaging? Do other manufacturers typically do that too? (i.e. are the weights stated heavier than reality because of packaging?)…thank you!
We are 100% sure, we weigh the seats ourselves.
We recently purchased this after reviewing the buying guide and arrived having issues getting it installed. The inside out trick worked great to get it tightened, but the seat always loosens after we install our child. I’m assuming we have a recline position off, but the sticker is slightly confusing. Is there a trick we are missing?
You can use a rolled towel or pool noodle to keep it at the right recline. If it is loosening after you have the child in the seat, then it is not tight enough. If you are using the seat belt to install, try the lower anchors instead. Sometimes those are easier with this seat.
hi! in the manual it says: “when using the vehicle belts to install… the lower anchor belt must be properly stored. thread lower belt through forward facing belt path.”
is this still true for a forward facing install, or would you store the lower anchor belt through the rear facing belt path? it seems like it might get in the way of the seatbelt for a forward facing install?
This seat only has a lower anchor storage position near the forward-facing belt path, so that’s the only place it can be stored. It won’t get in the way. They just want to make sure the anchors are attached properly to the seat so they don’t fly around in a crash.
This seat now weighs 14 pounds- do you know what changes? We were okay with 10 pounds and disappointed to see it listed as a 14 pound seat online.
There haven’t been any changes. It’s 10#. If an online shop has it listed at 14#, that would include the packaging
Hello, I have an extremely difficult time tightening and loosening the harness straps when installed rear facing. This is both in my mother’s car and on the airplane. I cannot figure out what it is. I can’t pull the straps tight enough and when I push the button to release, I can’t loosen it. I would say I’m a pretty strong gal myself, but my husband nor mother can move it either. I move the seat more than an anything when pulling the strap. I wondered if there were any tips or tricks, or if anyone else has experienced this? We bought this one for travel and my mother’s car off your recommendation and like everything else except this major safety issue I can’t seem to figure out. Thank you for your help. Any help is greatly appreciated!!
Is there a possibility that the harness is not routed correctly? I would recommend checking the manual for the pictures of how the harness should look from the back of the seat and make sure yours is done properly. It should not be that difficult to loosen and tighten the harness.
We bought this seat for travel and to use in our second car. It was great for travel! Easy to install in cars and on the plane and super lightweight to carry through the airport. One heads up – The seat itself was too big for the x-ray machines at security check and had to go through a separate line. Not a big deal, just something we didn’t know would happen.
The team has seen this happen a couple of times, but it usually fits the x-ray if the seat is laid upside down on the conveyor belt, so that it’s sticking up in a triangle!