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Evenflo Embrace LX Review

Evenflo Embrace LX
0
Overall Score
Ease of Install - Latch
Ease of Install - Belt
Ease of Use
Comfort & Quality
Weight & Size

Bottom Line

Our review found that the Evenflo Embrace LX car seat offers exclusive comfort and safety to infants and convenience to moms. Its removable plush head pillow, together with the pivoting canopy, provides excellent comfort and protection to your bundle of joy. The up-front adjust makes harness adjustment simple, easing your movement with the baby. However, Evenflo Embrace will not be useful on your baby’s second birthday.

What We Like

  • Lavish head pillow
  • Low birth weight accommodation
  • Up-front harness
  • Friendly price

What We Don't Like

  • Short useful period
  • Canopy is not fully adjustable
  • Short warranty period

Most new moms often worry about finding perfect infant car seats to hold their newborns as comfortable as their arms. It’s indeed an uphill task, especially if you’re unsure about the car seat’s specifications.

With numerous infant car seat reviews available, you may feel overwhelmed. Fortunately, we’ve taken the burden off your back with our reliable car seat reviews. Walk with us through this Evenflo Embrace LX review to see if it’s a perfect choice for your baby.

Overview of Evenflo Embrace LX Infant Car Seat

Evenflo Embrace LX Infant car seat is comfortable for infants and easy for moms to carry because of its lightweight. It easily secures using standard latches in its stay-in-car base that’s included in the purchase. Most parents love it for its easy handling features and excellent protection for infants. It has a fine energy-absorbing foam liner, which shields the baby from side impact energy.

Evenflo Embrace also features a pivoting canopy to shield babies from elements and an up-front adjust for convenient adjustment of the harness. Besides, it has 3 harness positions that are suitable for supporting babies as they grow.

Additionally, Evenflo Embrace LX offers the flexibility of using it with or without its base. This is a great feature, especially if you want to travel with it in an aircraft or a taxi. Its removable head pillow provides comfortable support to help you position the head of the baby properly. But you can do away with it once your baby has grown.

We shall revisit these features later on in this review.

Things to Consider before Buying an Evenflo Embrace LX Infant Car Seat

It’s always good to check out car seat reviews before spending your bucks on any infant car seat. We’ve discovered that many parents return infant car seats shortly after purchasing them because they don’t fit their babies perfectly.

This problem arises mainly because they fail to look at objective reviews of the car seat before buying. Seats that don’t fit children well cause them discomfort and pose a danger to the kids.

Evenflo Embrace LX is suitable for newborns and infants. If your baby weighs between 4 – 35 pounds and is at least 17 inches tall, you’re its ideal customer. You can only use Embrace LX for a short time, usually less than 2 years.

If you’re looking for a car seat to serve your child for a more extended period, Evenflo Embrace LX is out of the equation. You can consider alternatives, especially the convertible ones. One good alternative is the Britax Advocate ClickTight. With this, you won’t have to buy another car seat as your infant grows.

However, child fit is not the only factor you think about when buying an infant car seat. Most people search for car seats that are affordable, safe, easy to install, and easy to clean. Other parents consider the expiry period and warranty duration as equally important factors to keep in mind.

Therefore, before buying an Evenflo Embrace LX Infant car seat, review the following:

  • Age of your baby.
  • Height and weight of the baby.
  • Design features of the seat.
  • Safety of the seat.
  • Ease of installing the seat.
  • Ease of cleaning it.
  • Its expiration period.
  • Warranty terms.

It’s helpful to look at customer reviews of your selected car seat before rushing to the store to purchase it.

Key Features of Evenflo Embrace LX

Design features of the Embrace car seat are geared towards making this infant car seat user-friendly. Let us review these features by taking you through its installation process, its core features, how to clean it, its price, and specifications.

Installation and Set-Up Process

As an infant car seat, Evenflo Embrace LX is only used in the rear-facing mode. It’s easy to install it in this mode with or without the base. If you choose to install it with the base, you can use the lower anchor connector or the seat belt. Let’s take a quick look at these installation options.

Installing the Base Using Lower Anchor Connector Assembly

 

  1. Park your car level surface and place the Evenflo base on the vehicle seat that you’ve chosen for installation. Check the level indicator and adjust the base until the indicator turns from red to green.
  2. The base has two lower anchor assembly openings, one on either side. Route the lower anchor connector assembly harness and then hook it through these openings. The lower anchor connector assembly can either be a SecureRight or Quick Connector type. The former has a hook while the latter uses a clip.
  3. Locate the lower anchor bars on the vehicle seat and attach hooks or clips appropriately. Attach the left hook/clip to the left anchor bar and the right hook/clip to the right anchor bar.
  4. While pulling up on the strap, push the base firmly into the vehicle seat to tighten it.
  5. Review your work to ensure that the lower anchor connector assembly harness is tight enough by trying to move it sideways if it shouldn’t move more than an inch. When it does, then it’s not tight enough, so you have to redo your work.

Installing the Base Using Vehicle Seat Belt

  1. Park your car on a level surface and place the Embrace LX base on the vehicle seat that you’ve selected for installation. Check the level indicator and adjust the base until the indicator turns completely green.
  2. Secure the base onto the vehicle seat by routing the seat belt through the base openings.
  3. Remove any slack or excess from the lap portion of the belt by pulling the shoulder belt tightly. At the same time, push down forcefully on the base with your full weight.
  4. Review your installation to ensure that the base is secure and the belt is tight by trying to move it. It shouldn’t move more than an inch front and back or sideways. If it does, it’s not safe for use; therefore, you should try installing it again.

NOTE: Always route any excess seat belt through the base openings before attaching the carriers. This prevents it from interfering with the metal retainers when you attach the carrier to the base.

Once you have securely installed the base, you can attach the carrier. But how do you do it? Read on to find out how easy it is…

Fixing the Carrier to the Base

  1. Place the carrier into the base and press it down on the front and back sections. Make sure it’s locked securely in place.
  2. Confirm that the level indicator is completely green before reclining the carrier for the baby’s safe and comfortable head position.
  3. Squeeze the two handle releases and move back the handle until it locks securely in an appropriate position.

How to Install Without the Base

If you choose not to use the convenience base, the first step is to secure the baby in the carrier.

Securing the Baby in the Carrier
  1. Place your little one in the carrier with the back and bottom flat against the seat. Slide each harness strap over the shoulders.
  2. Slide the buckle tongues into the buckle and pull up on the strap to ensure that they are appropriately engaged. The buckle strap should always snug against the infant’s crotch.
  3. Align both sides of the chest clip and snap them together. Ensure that you position the chest clip at the baby’s armpit level.
  4. Pull the harness adjuster strap on the front of the carrier to tighten the harness straps.
  5. Review it to be sure that it’s secure.
Attaching the Carrier to the Seat

Once the baby is safely in the carrier, you can attach it to the vehicle seat. Follow these steps to do it:

  1. Place the carrier in the vehicle seat and adjust it so that the level line is parallel to the floor.
  2. Squeeze the handle releases to move the handle backward out of the way.
  3. Route the lap portion of the seat belt through its slots on the carrier. If your car has a shoulder belt, lay it across the vehicle seatback.
  4. Using your full weight, push down on the carrier bottom as you tighten the seat belt.
  5. Review your work to ensure that the carrier doesn’t move more than an inch sideways or front to back. If it moves, repeat the procedure until you get it right.

Age Range: Newborns and Infants Only

Being an infant car seat, the age range for the Evenflo Embrace LX is limited. The height ceiling for the baby that Evenflo recommends for Embrace LX is 30 inches. On the other hand, it suggests a maximum baby weight of 35 pounds. On average, babies at the age of 2 years weigh between 22 and 34 pounds.

However, the height at this age is in the range of 31 – 37 inches. Therefore, most 2-year-old babies won’t fit in this car seat even though their weight is within range. This is because their height exceeds Evenflo’s recommendation for its Embrace LX infant car seat.

Why does child height matter? It’s for safety reasons. The child’s head top must always be at least 1 inch below the child’s top restraint back. So, the Evenflo Embrace LX Infant car seat is suitable for newborns, infants, and toddlers below 2 years. But always review your child’s height-weight before using this seat so that you achieve the best fit.

Design: Baby’s Comfort and Mom’s Convenience

Evenflo designed its Embrace LX infant car seat for the baby’s comfort and mom’s convenience. Let’s review some of its outstanding features.

At less than 8 lbs without the base, Evenflo Embrace is way lighter than similar infant car seats. This lightweight makes it easy to carry around. Moreover, its exclusive CarryRight Z-shaped ergonomic handle makes it comfortable to carry in the bend of your arm.

Unlike most infant car seats, Evenflo Embrace LX allows for an up-front harness adjustment, making harness tightening easy and quick. The 5-point harness allows you to fasten your little one securely while its stay-in-car base improves flexibility. This makes it easy to take the car seat in and out of the vehicle.

The level indicator, on the other hand, enables you to get a proper and secure installation.

There is also sufficient lush padding throughout this infant car seat plus a removable infant plush pillow—these help keep your baby comfortable during your ride. As your little one falls asleep while on the move, the pivoting canopy offers protection against weather elements such as excess sunshine, wind, or even drizzles.

The fabrics are not only durable but also easily removable and machine washable. This helps in keeping them ever clean.

Cleaning: Machine Washable Fabrics for Easy Cleaning

It’s easy to clean the Evenflo Embrace LX since its fabrics are machine washable. You can machine wash the head support, cloth pad, and pillow in cold water with a delicate cycle. 10 – 15 minutes of tumble drying on low heat will drain out all the water.

The rest of the parts, such as the canopy, the harness adjuster, straps, and buckles, are equally easy to clean. Simply wipe them with a warm damp cloth with mild soap and air dry them.

Inspect the crotch buckle to see if there are any food crumbs or liquids. If there are, clean it so that it latches properly.

To clean the buckle, dip it in a cup of warm water and agitate it gently to and fro. While the buckle is still in the water, press the red button several times. Make sure that you don’t submerge the harness strap. Don’t use soap or detergents, or any lubricant to clean the buckle.

Safety: Exceeds Applicable Safety Standards

Evenflo car seats perform slightly above government testing standards. Embrace LX Infant car seat meets its proprietary side impact standards.

For structural integrity, the Evenflo Embrace car seat is designed and tested at energy levels, roughly 2X those of the federal crash test standard.

It meets the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards 213 (for child restraint systems) and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards 302 (for flammability of interior materials). It also meets the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (CMVSS 302) and Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (CMVSS 213).

However, it helps to note that the safety of infant car seats depends on how well you follow instructions on their use. Most of our reviews show that safety issues arise because users fail to adhere to guidelines. You should always adhere to instructions so that you install the seat securely for your baby’s comfort.

When using an Evenflo Embrace LX car seat, adhere to the following safety precautions:

  • Adhere to the seat use instructions strictly.
  • Stick to the child’s height-weight limit.
  • Never use this car seat in a forward-facing mode.
  • Never use it in the front seat of a car if it has an airbag.
  • Always use it on the back seat of your car.
  • Never put the carrier in any position on a shopping cart.
  • Use Evenflo Embrace car seat only on vehicle seats whose backs lock securely in place.
  • Never use Evenflo Embrace LX car seat in a vehicle with lap belts that only lock during a sudden stop or crash.
  • When using the lower anchor assembly connector, don’t use the vehicle seat belts.
  • Always make sure that the lower anchor connector assembly connectors are perfectly engaged onto the vehicle anchor bars.
  • Never attach more than one lower anchor assembly connector to one vehicle’s lower anchor bar.
  • Always ensure the correct positioning of the handle. For carrying, always use position 2, but when traveling in the vehicle, use positions 1, 3, 4, or 5. Canadian versions have position 1 only.
  • Avoid dressing your baby in bulky clothes when riding in the Evenflo Embrace LX car seat because this will interfere with harness tightening.
  • Remember to buckle the harness at all times.

Price of Evenflo Embrace LX: Affordable for Many Families

Currently, this seat is not available on the market. We are not sure how soon it will be back. However, it used to retail roughly in the range of $60-$80. This is affordable for many families.

Unfortunately, you should be ready to purchase another seat by the second birthday of your baby. This is because Evenflo Embrace will not serve your baby beyond two years.

Product Specs

  • Product Name: Evenflo Embrace LX Infant Car Seat
  • Product Brand: Evenflo
  • Child Weight: 4 – 35 lbs
  • Child Height – 17 – 30”
  • Product Dimensions: 16.5” X18.9” X27.8”
  • Product Weight: 13 lbs with base; 8 lbs without base
  • Package Dimensions: 27” X22.5” X19”
  • Color: Blossom, Gavin Grid, and Meadow
  • Expiration Period: 6 years from the date of manufacture
  • Warranty: 90 days

Competition: Alternative Car Seats Perform Better

With Evenflo Embrace LX car seat out of the market, we have conducted reviews on other alternative car seats. You may want to consider these…

Chicco KeyFit 30 Infant Car Seat

This is a popular car seat with favorable customer reviews. It features a ReclineSure leveling foot, RideLight bubble levels, and a SuperCinch LATCH tightener. These features make it easy, accurate, and secure to install. KeyFit 30 designed for a convenient travel system since it’s compatible with Chicco’s strollers.

It also features removable head and body support for infants supporting babies from 4 to 30 lbs with a maximum of 30 inches. It has a 5-point harness with an easy-pull tightener and a 2-position carry handle for comfortable portability. With EPS energy-absorbing foam lining the carrier, your baby will be well protected against side impact energy.

However, unlike Evenflo Embrace LX Infant car seat, Chicco KeyFit 30 costs an arm and a leg. On average, it retails on the range of $199 – $210. This notwithstanding, the comfort and safety features of this seat make its cost reasonable. Besides, customers who have used the KeyFit 30 give it favorable reviews.

Baby Trend Ally 35 Infant Car Seat

Like Chicco KeyFit 30, Baby Trend Ally 35 features higher and deeper side wings. The wings are lined with EPS energy-absorbing foam for maximum protection against side impact. It also has a 5-point safety harness with an easy one-hand harness adjustment plus a push-button release.

Also, it has a LATCH-equipped, 4-position height-adjustable base for stable installation and support for infants. Its 2-panel canopy provides sufficient protection of babies against excess sunshine. This car seat has the same child weight limit as Evenflo Embrace LX. But unlike the Embrace Infant car seat, Ally 35 comes equipped with an infant insert for a better fit of infants.

If you’re on a tight budget, we recommend Ally 35 for you. Its retail price ranges from $90 – $100. It also has favorable customer reviews who give it a high rating.

Maxi-Cosi Mico 30 Infant Car Seat

This is another excellent alternative infant car seat to consider in place of Evenflo Embrace LX. It’s convenient for travel system use because it’s compatible with many premium brand strollers.

It’s also a lightweight seat just like Evenflo Embrace Infant car seat. However, this one has a contoured handle that easily curves around your hip for enhanced comfort while carrying it.

Similarly, it has an adjustable stay-in-car base for improved fit in the vehicle. Additionally, it comes with an Anti-Rebound Bar to improve protection, while its one-click LATCH system makes its installation super easy.

Unlike Evenflo Embrace LX Infant car seat and Ally 35, Maxi-Cosi Mico 30 fabric is self-wicking. It’s able to deodorize and draw liquids and moisture away from the baby’s skin. This keeps the baby dry and comfortable. It’s not surprising that most customer reviews give it 5 stars in their rating.

Because of its superior quality, Mico 30 retails between $250 and $260, so it may not be friendly for some families. Despite its high-end price, our review of this seat leads us to conclude that it’s a superior product.

The Final Verdict: Evenflo Embrace LX

What do you make of this review? You’ll agree that Evenflo Embrace LX is a good infant car seat that is safe and comfortable for your baby. It’s also convenient for parents because it is lightweight, and the price is on the lower end. Unfortunately, it’s currently not available on the market. It looks like Evenflo no longer produces Embrace LX Infant car seat.

Fortunately, from our reviews above, you have other alternative car seats you can choose from. If you don’t have budgetary challenges, you can gift your little one a Maxi-Cosi Mico 30. However, if you’re financially constrained, Baby Trend Ally 35 is a good car seat for your baby.

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