Safety 1st Slimride

Since this seat is only 17″ wide, it can fit 3 across in some vehicles. It doesn’t have any ease of installation features, so it’s not as easy to install 3 car seats with this seat, but it is doable. Above, you can see 3 across in a 2012 Toyota Camry with a Safety 1st EverSlim, Safety 1st SlimRide, and Evenflo Litemax. You may need to try different configurations in order to fit seats 3 across in your vehicle. See our blog here for more narrow car seat options and our YouTube video.

This seat’s lowest harness height is 6.5″, so it will fit average or larger newborns from birth if you want to skip the infant seat. This seat has a good recline setting for infants, so it works well in that regard too, but it does take up a lot of space front to back at the required recline. The harness pads are very bulky and will need to be removed for a newborn. If you are expecting a premature or low birth weight baby, we would recommend a different seat like one of these.

The highest harness height is only 16.5″ tall, while many other seats in this category have harness heights that are 17+.” Harness height is one of the indicators of how long a seat will last. However, if you have a child who is below the 50th percentile in height, this harness height will likely be adequate to get them to a safe booster age. The highest belt guide position on this seat is only 18.5″, so it lasts about two years longer than the harness mode. Even a lower percentile child will need another backless booster once this seat is outgrown.

The Safety 1st EverSlim has 4 recline options for rear-facing. For kids who cannot sit unassisted, you must recline the seat until the red line on the side of the seat is parallel to the ground. In this more reclined position, the seat does take up a fair amount of space. But once the child can sit unassisted, you can use it as upright as you can get it in your vehicle. In the vehicle we tried this seat in, having the seat as upright as possible gave about 5″ of extra space to the front passenger versus how they would have had to sit when the seat was in the most reclined position.

This seat currently has a 52″ standing height limit for the backless booster mode. We’ve been told that the manufacturer is working on raising that limit to 57.” But in the meantime, that means that a child would need another backless booster once this seat is outgrown. We’ve found that only around 50% of kids can pass the 5-Step Test at 57″, so far fewer would pass at 52″, likely 0% of kids. While this seat will still last many years, purchasing another booster will be necessary.

The highest harness height is only 16.5″ tall, so if you have a child with a long torso, this is probably not the best seat for you. This is relevant because you need the harness to come from even with or just above their shoulders when forward-facing. Many other seats in this category have harness heights that are 17+ inches. The highest belt guide position on this seat is only 18.5″, so it’s not long-lasting in the high-back booster mode either. But it does have a backless booster mode that can be used until the child is 52.”

While the manufacturer has mentioned raising the limit to 57″, the manuals have not been updated to reflect this higher limit. So at this time, caregivers must stop using the backless booster mode once their child reaches 52″. The backless booster mode gave a good seat belt fit for both of the kids that we tried in it. You will need to purchase another booster, as a child who is 52 inches will not pass the 5-Step Test and be ready to just use the adult seat belt.