Best Car Seats of 2023

The Graco 4Ever DLX car seat protects your child from infancy until they're ready for a seat belt thanks to its four configurations: rear-facing infant seat, forward-facing toddler seat, highback booster, and backless booster. This long-lasting lifespan combined with the Graco 4Ever DLX's impressive third-party crash test results makes it the best car seat we've reviewed.

But we know every parent has different priorities when shopping for a car seat, so we rounded up the best-of-the-best for various categories. Check out each of our top picks plus essential car seat dos and don’ts.

We love that the Graco 4Ever accommodates children up to 49 inches and 40 pounds in a rear-facing position. It’s not the highest we’ve seen (check out the Evenflo EveryStage)  but it’s definitely above average.

Of the car seats that made our final list, the Graco 4Ever boasts the best chest acceleration and the third-best head injury criteria score from third-party tests.

In the NHTSA’s “ease of vehicle installation” category, the Graco 4Ever scored just one point out of five when tested in the rear-facing configuration.⁷  The report noted these major areas of concern:

• An average-sized male hand may have difficulty routing the seatbelt through the LATCH system.
• Padding must be moved to route the seatbelt.
• The seatbelt may interfere with the 5-point harness crotch strap.
• Labels do not explain how to use the LATCH system or show an image of a child correctly positioned in the seat.

Graco was the most common brand owned by the parents we surveyed. Many parents praised its ease of use:

“I like that the straps are easily adjustable in the front, it's easy to clip into my car, and it has a cup holder.”

“It's extremely easy to take out of the car.”

“I like the button release feature to get the car seat out. Other car seats have clips to secure it to the backseat, and they can be really difficult.”

We’d be willing to bet that the load leg is responsible for the Aton 2’s chart-topping third-party crash test results.²  It performs over 25% better than the federal standard in terms of chest acceleration and about 65% better in terms of head injury criteria.

The Aton 2 uses SensorSafe technology to alert you to unsafe conditions in the car seat—such as hot or cold temperatures or an unclipped buckle. It features linear side impact protection and a five-point harness.

The Aton 2 earned an overall score of four out of five on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) ease of use report.³  Most of the evaluation comments refer to the need to rethread the harness straps and the fact that the manual’s seatbelt section isn’t very thorough.

The Cybex Aton 2 is best for children up to 30 inches tall and between 4 and 35 pounds. Most children will outgrow the height restriction by their first birthday, which makes this an impractical choice for long-term use. From a price standpoint, you’ll get more bang for your buck by choosing a convertible  or all-in-one  car seat.

But the Cybex Aton 2’s expiration date is six years, which means you can save it and use it for another kiddo or two without compromising on safety.

The Cybex Aton M adds a few features to the Aton 2:

• Headrest that adjusts to 11 positions
• Extra-large foldaway sun canopy
• SafeLock base

If you’re interested in these features, consider the Cybex Aton M (about $300 on Amazon).

The carrier weighs 9.5 pounds, making it neither the lightest nor the heaviest infant car seat on our list. It’s compatible with at least eight strollers, which is pretty good. The padding can be washed on a cold cycle, but it should be hung up to dry.

We’re disappointed that the Chicco Keyfit only works for babies weighing 30 pounds or less. That means your baby will outgrow this model quickly, and you’ll be in the market for another car seat before you know it.

There’s also room for improvement in the Keyfit’s NHTSA ease of use score.⁴  Overall, it earned four out of five points. Most of the report’s comments refer to poor or missing instruction labels.

The Britax Boulevard Clicktight ARB doesn’t have a removable infant carrier, which might be a deal-breaker for some parents. But it does transform into a forward-facing seat to accommodate toddlers up to 65 pounds.

Britax offers two other very similar convertible car seats: the Britax Marathon Clicktight and the Britax Advocate Clicktight. They differ in terms of price, side-impact technology, and third-party crash test performance. We chose the Boulevard because it offers the best blend of value and safety.

We couldn’t find test result data for this particular model, but the Evenflo company self-reports that the EveryStage performs twice as well as the federal minimum standards. Another Evenflo model—the Tribute —earned impressive marks on third-party crash test ratings, so we’d like to think the EveryStage offers similar safety standards.

Not every toddler car seat has this nifty feature: cup holders. The Evenflo EveryStage has two.

One of the parents we surveyed had this to say about this seemingly simple accessory: “Not having a place for him to put cups or snacks is more annoying than we expected.”

With the EveryStage, drinks and snacks won’t spill or scatter, so there won’t be any whining about out-of-reach Cheez-Its . . . at least in theory.

In third-party tests, the Primo Viaggio Nido exceeded federal standards for head injury criteria by about 55% and exceeded chest acceleration standards by over 20%.

The Primo Viaggio Nido suits children up to 35 pounds or 32 inches tall. It’s relatively lightweight as an infant carrier, weighing around 10 pounds.

The Primo Viaggio Nido’s main flaw is that it’s not the easiest to use, at least according to the NHTSA.⁴  Its report mentions that some labels are missing and that some parts come loose during the rethreading process.

Without clear labeling, your family and friends run the risk of installing the base or car seat incorrectly—or even improperly securing your child—if they’ve never been trained to do it.

We think a hand-wash-only car seat liner like the Primo Viaggio Nido is really inconvenient for busy and tired parents. But if you already have a routine for hand washing items, perhaps you’ll be undeterred.

Otherwise, skip on down  to our “easiest to clean” pick.

We also love that the removable infant carrier weighs just 9.4 pounds, which is the same weight as the Cybex Aton 2  but still about 4 pounds heavier than the lightest car seat we could find.

The Safety 1st onBoard 35 Air+ earned an overall score of five on the NHTSA’s ease of use evaluation—its only criticisms being that the harness must be rethreaded and that the labels lack some helpful diagrams.⁸ 

Although the Safety 1st onBoard 35 Air+ passes the federal minimum standard for chest acceleration reduction, it still scores pretty low compared to the competition with a measurement of 53 g-units. That’s a little more than 10% better than the federal standard. On the other hand, this car seat scored 60% better than the federal standard for head injury criteria (398), which is exceptional compared to competitors.

We also like the 5-point harness, Air Protect side impact protection, and GCell HX energy-absorbing foam integrated into the Safety 1st onBoard 35 Air+.

The UPPAbaby Mesa is a rear-facing car seat with a removable infant carrier weighing about 10.4 pounds. Children can use the UPPAbaby Mesa until they’re 32 inches tall or weigh 35 pounds, which is the most common height and weight limit that we found in rear-facing car seats.

With an expiration date of seven years, your UPPAbaby Mesa will be ready to go if you welcome another kiddo home in the future.

Like all car seats for sale in the US, the UPPAbaby Mesa passed federal safety standards. But compared to other car seats on the market, this model’s just average. It scored 511 in head injury criteria and recorded 52 g-units of chest acceleration in third-party tests. (Quick reminder: federal standards require a head injury criteria of 1,000 or less and a chest acceleration reading of 60 g-units or less.)

The UPPAbaby Mesa works with select UPPAbaby, Thule, Mima, and Baby Jogger City strollers. These tend to be expensive brands, but the most affordable option is the Baby Jogger City Mini 2, which retails for about $250.

The good news? The UPPAbaby Mesa’s padding is machine washable on a cold cycle. But you’ll need to lay it flat to dry. If you’re in solo parenting mode, that means you’re stuck at home while the padding dries.

We only recommend choosing the Nuna Pipa Lite if having a lightweight car seat is your hands-down number-one priority and/or if you need to prioritize stroller compatibility. It falls flat in pretty much every other category, which is disappointing when you consider its price tag.

For starters, it has a lower weight limit than other rear-facing-only car seats (32 pounds) so your child may not get as much use out of it as another car seat model. Second, it meets but doesn’t exceed the federal minimum standards for chest acceleration in crash tests (60 g-units). It does fare better in terms of head injury criteria, testing over 50% better than the federal minimum with a score of 431.

Speaking of federal tests, the NHTSA noted that many of the Nuna Pipa Lite’s labels and instructions were missing, unclear, or incomplete and that it only had two reclining positions. The Nuna Pipa earned an overall ease of use score of four.¹⁰ 

The padding material is hand wash only. We got a little riled up about this at first (who has the time?), but then we realized it’s also biodegradable, anti-bacterial, stain-resistant, and highly absorbent. All right, we’ll admit it: that sounds like a fabric worth taking care of properly.

We also like that the Nuna Pipa Lite is compatible with around 15 different strollers, which should give you plenty of variety for finding one that fits your budget and expectations.

We’re disappointed to see the Doona barely squeaked past the minimum federal safety standards according to third-party testing. While it is technically safe because it does meet those standards, other car seats have performed better in crash tests.

Still, the Doona has some noteworthy safety features, including an anti-rebound bar to prevent the car seat from lurching toward the rear of the car. It also includes two layers of plastic and foam for side impact protection.

Don’t let the nearly $550 price tag make you skip this one automatically. You do get two products in one for that price: a car seat and a stroller. You won’t want to use this car seat as a carrier, though, since it weighs a hefty 16.5 pounds. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem since it always has wheels ready to go.

Your baby can use the Doona as a car seat until they’re 32 inches tall or weigh 35 pounds. The padding can be washed on a cold cycle but shouldn’t be thrown in the dryer. 

Although it exceeds federal safety standards, we weren’t impressed with the Britax B-Safe Ultra’s performance in third-party crash tests (598 head injury criteria; 57 g-units of chest acceleration).

This rear-facing-only infant car seat is also on the heavier side, weighing in at 10.9 pounds. Children can use it until they’re 32 inches tall or weigh 35 pounds, which are average specs. The padding has to be hand washed.

The B-Safe Ultra did score very well on the NHTSA’s ease of use test.¹²  We’re also happy with its stroller compatibility. It works with at least 10 different stroller frames, and some of them—like the $200 B Clever stroller—are pretty affordable.

All in all, there are better-performing and more affordable infant car seats on the market.

The infant car seat Britax Endeavours performed slightly better than the Britax B-Safe Ultra in third-party crash tests (508 head injury criteria; 49 g-units of chest acceleration) despite having an anti-rebound bar and three layers of side impact protection.

The seat is heavy (11.3 pounds) and we only found two strollers compatible with this model.

Pretty much the only thing the Britax Endeavours has going for it is its moisture-wicking and machine-washable padding. We don’t think it’s worth the $315 price tag.

As a 4-in-1 car seat, the Britax One4Life’s main competition is the Evenflo Gold SensorSafe EveryStage. Both child car seats have excellent extended rear-facing capabilities and machine-washable padding. But you’ll pay $100 more for the Britax One4Life, and we’re just not convinced it’s worth it.

Its other main competitor—the Graco 4Ever —scored better on third-party crash tests.

The Graco SnugRide SnugLock is a rear-facing-only infant car seat that scored quite well on the chest-acceleration portion of the third-party crash tests (46 g-units) but showed average results in the head-injury criteria portion (606).

We appreciate that it’s easy to use, can accommodate taller kids (up to 35 inches) and has machine-washable padding. But you can only use it with Graco or Joovy strollers.

For the price, you might as well spend a little bit extra and go for the Graco 4Ever. It will last nearly 10 times longer and offers even better crash-test results.

The Clek Foonf is meant for children weighing at least 14 pounds. This makes it impractical in our book because you’ll have to buy another car seat for your newborn anyway. And the Clek Foonf retails for about $530. It doesn’t make sense to pay more money for reduced use.

To be fair, the Clek Foonf does have the best third-party test results in terms of chest acceleration. If it also had the best head-injury criteria results, we’d have to give it a closer look. But many other car seats outperform it in that regard. We think your money would be better spent on a different car seat.

As your little ones grow up, they need a car seat that fits them correctly.²⁴  There are convertible car seats that shift and change with your child’s growth stages, or you can purchase a new car seat for every phase. Either way, the car seat needs to be easy to install and hold your child securely. No matter what stage your child is at, the best car seat is a properly installed car seat.

Infants to 3 years old: Babies and toddlers need to sit in a rear-facing seat until they reach the weight limit on the car seat. You can find convertible car seats that fit from infancy to 3 years old. Infant car seats have a shorter life span, fitting babies up to 12 months, while convertible models can fit older children up to 35 pounds (depending on the car seat model).

4 to 7 years old: Once your child reaches preschool age, they can typically sit in a forward-facing car seat. These seats generally fit kids from 40 to 60 pounds. When installing these seats, it’s especially important to fasten the top tether of your car seat to the vehicle’s seat. This can reduce head and neck injuries in case of a crash.

8 to 12 years old: This is typically when your child can transition from a forward-facing car seat to a booster seat. Depending on your child’s weight and height, they can use a belt-positioning booster or a backless booster seat. These seats are best for kids between 40 and 80 pounds and up to 4 feet 9 inches. See our recommendations for the best booster seats.

12 years and up: Until your kids are 13, the back seat is the best place for them to sit. Once your kiddos reach 4 feet 9 inches, they are generally big enough to use an adult seat belt in the back seat of your vehicle. This could be the back seat’s lap belt or lap and shoulder belt.

Our pick for best child car seat is the Graco 4Ever DLX, but the other car seats on our lists are worth your consideration as well.

Every car seat passed the federal safety tests, but we love seeing extra features like a load leg or anti-rebound bar. And we know how important it is to have an easy-to-install seat with padding that washes up well.

That’s why we’re thrilled to see a variety of car seats that offer this blend of safety and convenience at different price points.

• 60 hours of research
• 55 parents surveyed
• 30+ car seat models scrutinized
• 17 data points compared
• 10 years of NHTSA data reviewed
• 1 huge spreadsheet
• 0 tears

We spent about 60 hours researching empirical data about car seat safety and usability, compiling it into a monster spreadsheet, and looking for stand-out winners for various categories. We also surveyed 55 parents and read hundreds of car seat reviews to understand how each model performs in the real world.

The NHTSA conducts crash tests on car seats to determine if they’re safe enough to be sold in the US. If too much force is exerted on the dummy’s head or chest during the crash test, the car seat is deemed unsafe and never hits the shelves.

According to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213 (FMVSS 213), too much force occurs if the chest area accelerates faster than 60 g-units within 3 milliseconds. The head’s acceleration is measured over the course of 36 milliseconds and run through a mathematical calculation to determine the “head injury criteria” (HIC). The resulting HIC number must be less than 1,000.²⁵  

In other words, lower crash test numbers are better.

The NHTSA keeps its crash test data under wraps, but we found and compared third-party data to help you better compare the relative safety and performance of each car seat. Although there’s no guarantee that a child will be totally unscathed after a car accident in any car seat, we believe crash test data will help parents make more informed decisions.

The NHTSA created an “Ease of Use” rating system for car seats and publishes its findings every year.

We tracked down those reports and sifted through the data for you. Because the NHTSA recommends discarding car seats more than 10 years old, we only looked at data from the past 10 years.

The NHTSA evaluates child restraint ease of use across four categories:

• Usability of labels
• Usability of manual
• Ease of securing the child
• Ease of installation in a vehicle

Each car seat is given a category and overall rating on a scale of one through five, with one being the lowest and five being the highest. Ratings are weighted, which in this case means “ease of installation in a vehicle” is the most significant factor contributing to a car seat’s overall rating, and “usability of manual” is the least important factor.

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• If My Child and I Were In an Accident, Should I Replace the Car Seat?

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2. Spurrier, Juliet, MD & Wend Schmitz, Baby Gear Lab, “Best Infant Car Seat with Crash Tests of 2021,” June 17, 2021. Accessed December 12, 2022.
3. Alpha Technology Associate, Inc., National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Child Restraint Ease of Use Ratings 2020 Rating Year,” December 17, 2020. Accessed December 12, 2022.
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9. Alpha Technology Associate, Inc., National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Child Restraint Ease of Use Ratings 2016 Rating Year, Submission 2,” February 7, 2017. Accessed December 12, 2022.
10. Alpha Technology Associate, Inc., National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Child Restraint Ease of Use Ratings 2019 Rating Year, Submission 2,” February 27, 2020. Accessed December 12, 2022.
11. Alpha Technology Associate, Inc., National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Child Restraint Ease of Use Ratings 2016 Rating Year, Submission 1,” September 20, 2016. Accessed December 12, 2022.
12. Alpha Technology Associate, Inc., National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Child Restraint Ease of Use Ratings 2018 Rating Year, Submission 2,” March 5, 2019. Accessed December 12, 2022.
13. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Traffic Safety Facts Annual Report Tables - Table 69: Vehicle Occupants Killed and Injured, by Age Group and Vehicle Type,” May 25, 2021. Accessed December 12, 2022.
14. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Motor Vehicle Occupant and Motorcyclist Fatalities by Age Group, 1994 - 2019 - State : USA.” Accessed December 12, 2022.
15. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Revised Estimates of Child Restraint Effectiveness,” December 1996. Accessed December 12, 2022.
16. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts Annual Report, “Lives Saved by Restraint Use and 21‐Year‐Old Minimum Legal Drinking Age Laws, and Additional Lives That Would Have Been Saved at 100‐Percent Seat Belt and Motorcycle Helmet Use, 1975‐2017,” March 24, 2020. Accessed December 12, 2022.
17. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Traffic Safety Facts, 2018 Data,” January 2021. Accessed December 12, 2022.
18. Governors Highway Safety Association, “Child Passenger Safety.” Accessed December 12, 2022.
19. State of Rhode Island State Police Department of Public Safety, “Seat Belt Laws & Car Seat Recommendations.” Accessed December 12, 2022.
20. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “Child Safety,” June 2022. Accessed December 12, 2022. 
21. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Quick Facts 2013,” April 2015. Accessed December 12, 2022.
22. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Quick Facts 2019,” May 2021. Accessed December 12, 2022.
23. Mayo Clinic, “Car seat safety: Avoid 9 common mistakes,” February 2022. Accessed December 12, 2022.
24. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Car Seat Recommendations for Children.” Accessed December 12, 2022.
25. Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute, “49 CFR § 571.213 - Standard No. 213; Child restraint systems.” Accessed December 12, 2022.