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Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat Review

Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1
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Overall Score
Ease of Install - Latch
Ease of Install - Belt
Ease of Use
Comfort & Quality
Weight & Size

Bottom Line

For frustration-free installation and adjustments, choose the Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat. With ultimate safety, comfort, and quality, it is a well-loved choice by many parents.

What We Like

  • Three different configuration options
  • 5-point harness and various recline positions
  • More front-seat legroom
  • Machine-washable pads
  • Ten years lifespan

What We Don't Like

  • LATCH cannot be used with booster mode
  • Cup-holders are not removable and hard to clean
  • Bulky while in the rear-facing reclined position

Having a long checklist of essential gears for welcoming your new baby proves to be overwhelming as you have to observe many aspects. It becomes quite easy to identify the best choice when all of these concerned aspects are brought into a single place. Fortunately, our product experts have brought this for you in this Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat Review to better invest in items that will grow with your child. Let’s have more insights.

Overview of the Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat

The Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Car Seat is an average priced car seat with premium features. It is loaded with plush padding, which makes your kid’s ride comfortable. Two integrated cup holders provide ultimate convenience as these can be used to host their favorite toys or food items. Since the padding is machine-washable and the material is lightweight, you can easily move it from the vehicle to your home. Some of its notable features are as follows:

  • Padded body pillow for infant protection
  • Harness holders for keeping the straps away
  • Can be used on aircraft
  • Easy LATCH and seat belt installation

Do you want to use a single car seat for different children? Due to 3-in-1 conversion options of the Safety 1st Grow and Go Car Seat, you can use it for your infants and newborns in the rear-facing mode while forward-facing and booster mode can be used for the older ones. It proves to be a good parenting strategy to buy one car seat for multiple children. Therefore, a durable option must be considered as this one.

It has a five-position harness system, and absolutely no re-threading is required to use this. Although the Safety 1st comes with a separate newborn position in its five positions harness, which requires re-threading. Its infant insert with extra neck and head support makes it an ideal car seat for infants.

See also: Best Convertible Car Seats

Things to Consider Before Buying a Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat

Are you on a tight budget? Convertible car seats have better durability because they usually can be used for all of the early ages of your little one. The Safety 1st Grow and Go Car Seat is also one of them. It is a cost-effective option with high-end qualities like the adjustable harness along with the harness holders, breathable fabric, and washable paddings, which most of the car seats in this price range are unable to provide.

If you have a small car, then it’s for you because of its less-sharp edges and engineered bottom. You can easily place two to three car seats in a small size vehicle. Although we cannot use the Safety 1st Car Seat as a backless booster seat, your older child might not get that much comfort, which most of the 4-in-1 or all-in-1 conversion-friendly car seats offer.

When it comes to safety, this car seat has a lot to offer in this department. If the harness is properly adjusted and the car seat remains in the appropriate recline position, no crash can easily harm it. Its ease of use is also a huge plus if you are going to be a new parent because its installation is a lot simpler than other car seats. You can also use the harness by just simply following the user manual that comes along with the car seat.

If this is your first child, considering to use an infant seat is also a good decision because some experts believe that very young babies remain more comfortable and safe in infant seats because they are specifically designed for them. Finally, we believe in providing you as much valuable information as we can just to assure you have taken the right decision by analyzing all of the aspects of a car seat.

Key Features

Installation and Setup Process: Smooth and Foolproof

Deciding to use either the seat belt or the LATCH system puzzles you? Well, here comes the importance of a handy car seat manual of the Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat. The manual has been designed with many user-friendly diagrams and color-coded sections, which can help you decide and use the most appropriate setup process for you according to your vehicle’s compatibility and routines.

Connecting this car seat with your vehicle’s LATCH system is fairly easy, as you just have to thread the LATCH connector through the appropriate belt path. It is also quite simple to use the rear-facing and forward-facing installations through this process. You just need to level the recline position according to the ground level while in the rear-facing configuration to support your child better.

Once you have got your desired recline position, simply connect the LATCH connectors to your vehicle’s LATCH anchors and tighten the LATCH belt. Our product experts have found it pretty easy to connect and disconnect the LATCH system as you just need to press the connectors to your vehicle’s anchors for attaching and pushing a button for releasing the connector.

Ensure that the LATCH connectors are attached correctly by tightening the LATCH belt as strongly as you can. In the forward-facing configuration, you can also place your knee on the car seat to add a little more pressure, but don’t push too hard as it can affect the internal structure of the car seat. In the rear-facing mode, we have analyzed that you might have to move your passenger seats a bit forward just to attain more room for the rear-facing position.

Note: Always make sure to check your vehicle’s manual before buying a car seat because the manual contains compatibility checks, dos, and don’ts and the installation instructions.

Are you planning to use the seat belt installation because it seems more familiar to you? The Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Car Seat can be installed using the vehicle’s seat belt seamlessly. Getting the car seat leveled and ready for rear-facing and forward-facing modes are quite the same as with the LATCH installation. As the settings of appropriate belt paths are backed by the color-coded manual, figuring out the best path for your preferred mode is easier than ever.

Make sure you don’t twist the seat belt while feeding the belt through and buckling it because it can affect its strength under the stress of a crash. To gain more confidence over car seat safety, you have to lock the belt. To engage the locking mechanism, just pull the seat belt around and let it retract. You’ll hear a slight belt locking sound as the ring of confidence. If you have an older vehicle, there are chances that it doesn’t have locking belts. In that case, you have to buy a locking clip to ensure proper safety.

Not having more leverage to tighten the seat belt properly in rear-facing configuration has always been a problem. Luckily, the Safety 1st Grow and Go can be installed in the rear-facing flawlessly because of its flexible and lightweight structure. You just have to lean your hips against the back of the car’s seat to tighten up the seat belt properly.

Installing the car seat in forward-facing is also quite convenient because you can simply place your knee in the car seat to compress and tighten the belt. When you try to move it at the belt path, please make sure that the car seat shouldn’t budge more than an inch in each direction as it can be a compromise on safety.

Age Range: Birth Through Age 8

Want your kids to get familiar with comfort throughout their entire childhood? The Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat is a great fit for your little one’s needs. It can provide comfort from their very first “hospital to home” ride with the help of a lumbar support pillow and a head support pillow. Both of the pillows are removable and can be removed when the baby grows out of them.

There is also adequate support between the pillows and the harness to keep your child comfortable. Since the rear-facing configuration is recommended for newborns and toddlers, you have to ensure they are comfortable and safe by double-checking the recline positions, harness and belt tightness. Some of the recommendations are as follows.

  • Rear-Facing – weight range is 5 to 40 pounds, and the height range is 19 to 40 inches
  • Forward Facing – weight range is 22 to 65 pounds and the height range is 29 to 49 inches
  • High Back Booster – weight range is 40 to 100 pounds, and the height range is 43 to 52 inches

Recommendation: Always use rear-facing configuration for children until they are two years old.

The next stage is the forward-facing configuration ride, where your kids will enjoy most of its features like cup holders and the shoulder pads on the harness straps. Eventually, the Safety First Grow and Go Car Seat can be used as a belt-positioning booster. Since the back cannot be removed off from this model, it is a high-back booster chair. Usually, kids can use the high-back booster until they are eight years old.

Extra padding and the five-point harness system can be removed to provide proper sitting to older kids when they switch to high-back booster mode. Though the headrest can also be adjusted, some children didn’t like it because their side view of the window may get blocked. If you properly read the user manual, most of the problems like harness and recline adjustment can be solved instantly.

Design: Style with Perfection

Do you have a mid-size vehicle and concerned about the extra space that car seats usually take? The Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Car Seat has a shorter bottom; therefore, it allows the extra legroom. Since it doesn’t have the extended edges like most of the convertible car seats does, it proves to be a compact one. It can give up to 7 inches of legroom for kids, which is quite sufficient for even a 12 years old child.

Two integrated cup holders on each side of the Safety 1st Car Seat makes it a favorite choice for those kids who like to keep their stuff near them. In that way, it becomes effortless to help them find their stuff. But the height of these cup holders is not quite convenient as getting kids in and out would have been much easier if they were further down a bit.

Do you think adjusting the headrest is tricky? Well, the Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Car Seat has the solution through its quick-adjust headrest feature. At the top of the headrest, just twisting the two levers and pulling it up or down. Without any problem, you can not only adjust the headrest level, but it also adjusts the shoulder height. This makes it pretty easy to help them modify the harness and headrest settings according to their comfort.

Luckily, you don’t get into any mess with the seat straps while putting your kid in and out of the car seat. Thanks to its built-in harness holders, which are little plastic hooks on each side of the seat that holds the straps open to give you ultimate convenience. It saves you from digging behind your kid and finding the car seat straps. Having shoulder pads with the harness proves to be a great addition to its worthy features.

Having three recline positions ranging from straight up and down to laying back at around 45-degree angle makes it a flexible car seat. For smaller babies, it’s an essential feature because sitting up too upright is quite difficult for them. It has an admirable level feature alongside the recline positions that will help you define the proper recline height for your kids.

While most of the cost-effective car seats don’t come with a catchy design, the Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Car Seat has quite sleek looks and comfortable design. It comes with a lot of extra padding that will keep your little one relaxed throughout the journey. It still has enough cushion to make the ride comfortable even if you remove all of the extra pillows in rear-facing mode. Moreover, it comes with various color combinations that let you choose the pattern according to the personality of your kids.

Cleaning: Problem Solved

Are you looking for a machine-washable convenient car seat? Luckily, the headrest and the seat pad of the Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Car Seat is machine-washable. On a gentle cycle, these pads should be washed separately from other items. For infants, the body pillow and head pillow need to be hand-washed and air-dried. By using a damp cloth and warm soapy water, the harness can also be easily spot-cleaned.

Since the entire cover is made of polyester, it is soft and removable, which makes it easier to be machine-washed without any major effort. After the machine-wash, its ability to be dried through the dryer makes it great as the dryer kills a lot of bacteria too. However, the dryer should be used only for about 15 to 25 minutes because extra usage can harm the quality of the infant seat.

Full Guide: How to Clean Baby Car Seat

Safety: Truly Guarded

Does your child feel painful pinching while using the chest clip? Not anymore because the buckle and the chest clip on the Safety 1st Grow and Go, 3-in-1 Car Seat is easy to use and doesn’t cause any pain. Although the five-point harness buckle and the chest clip requires a bit more extra hand strength, it’s pretty good because your little escape artist can’t easily undo them.

Because of its adjustable harness height, you can easily take a strong safety measure by adjusting the height according to the proper height metrics of your little one. The body pillow and a bit of re-threading are required when you are using the convertible seat for your newborn. Eventually, when your child has grown enough to use the upper harness slots, you can adjust the harness and headrest height with simple leavers without the need of any re-threading.

  • Side impact protection
  • Exceeds federal safety standards
  • Energy-absorbing exterior shell

As the name suggests, the Safety 1st Grow and Go 3-in-1 Car Seat prioritizes safety over all of its other features. Thanks to its lightweight exterior shell, which is made of polypropylene plastic. The energy-absorbing polystyrene has been mixed with the plastic to absorb energy in a crash. The fabric is also smooth and soft, making it a blend of safety and comfort.

Our product experts have comprehensively tested and analyzed its crash test performance and evaluated that the Safety 1st Grow and Go Car Seat can keep your child safe from any injuries if the safety guidelines are properly followed.

Are you eager to turn your children forward-facing because you are worried about their legroom? Surprisingly, children are much more relaxed and flexible with their legs bent than adults. You can put your little ones in the rear-facing position, which has proven to be safer in case of a crash. While some parents found it easier to hand food and drinks to children while driving in forward-facing mode. Always choose the best configuration by adhering to the guidelines.

Price: On the Mid-Range

While most of the expensive car seats come with flexible and comfy features, the Safety 1st Grow and Go Car Seat breaks the rules of providing quality features at a high cost. It retails at a price range of about $140 to $180, which makes it a mid-range vehicle seat with so many additional worthy features.

Besides having as many bells and whistles like most of the expensive car seats do, it is user-friendly, safe, and works just like them. Its additional features like harness holders, the ability to be fully reclined, great design elements, and cup holders make it a popular choice among parents.

Specs

  • Product Name: Go and Grow 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat
  • Product Brand: Safety 1st
  • UPC: 884392604943
  • Dimensions: 24 x 19 x 23.75 inches
  • Weight of the Car Seat: 18.66 lbs
  • Colors: Aqua Pop, Blue Coral, Everest Pink, Harvest Moon, Night Horizon, Vitamint, Everest, Carbon Rose, Carbon Wave, Carbon Ink
  • Expiration Date: 10 years lifespan from the manufacturing date
  • Warranty: 2 years under material and workmanship defects

Competition: Outstanding for Quality

Safety 1st Grow and Go Air 3-in-1 Convertible Car SeatWith Air Protect advanced cushion system, this car seat provides more safety. Its removable and dishwasher-safe cup holders are a charm to have. Its price ranges from $150 to $190, which is a bit higher than the Safety 1st Grow and Go Car Seat, but most of the features are the same as three conversion options, quick harness adjustment, three recline positions, and comfy lightweight material. Your child might not like it because it has just a few color and design options.

Graco 4Ever 4-in-1 Convertible Car SeatThe ability of this car seat to be used as a rear-facing, forward-facing, high-back booster, and backless booster seat makes it a versatile option. With the retail price range of $290 to $320, it is a blend of worthful features and a high price. The installation is also quite easy using the LATCH system and the seat belt. Though it is quite expensive than the Safety 1st Car Seat, it can support children up to 120 pounds and can last for about ten years.

Clek Fllo Convertible Car SeatAlthough it’s not that lightweight and convenient as the Safety 1st Grow and Go Car Seat is, the Clek Fllo is an all-in-one seat with better crash-test performance. It has a steel-backed frame and comfortable fabric, which makes it a good choice to consider over the Safety 1st Grow and Go Car Seat. But its lifespan of 8 years and not much ease of use makes it a concern for many parents.

The Verdict

Shop the Value!

The lightweight car seat lets you switch it to different vehicles easily and provide a lot of comfy padding and quality-oriented features. The Safety 1st Grow and Go Car Seat is the best option if you are looking for a cost-effective, durable, and comfortable option with easy installation, simple conversions, and effortless cleaning. But if you are looking for a more powerful car seat with steel frames and better fabric quality, you should look for an expensive alternative.

Didn’t find what you’re looking for? See more: 10 Best Convertible Car Seats

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