When I found myself unexpected pregnant with child number four (don't ever trust a tubal ligation!), my first panicked thought was "I have nothing left!" Since my husband and I were sure we were done after our third child, I had gotten rid of most of my baby equipment, and even the things I hadn't yet gotten rid of were often too old or worn to be used again. At first I was going to get a convertible car seat, but without
Consumer Reports ratings on the seats I was looking at, I decided to wait it out and bridge the gap with an infant carrier, especially since this time around I actually had a stroller that was compatible with infant seats. Hours of online obsessing later, I decided on the
Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat 8647 in the Cynthia pattern.
::: The Basic Specs :::
The
Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat 8647 is your typical infant carrier/car seat, and comes with a base, car seat/carrier with canopy and removable infant head support, and a locking clip for seat belt installation in cars with free sliding latch plates.
The
Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat 8647 features a base with different level adjustments to ensure the right fit, a level indicator to help show whether the car seat is properly installed, a five-point restraint with harness adjustment in the front of the seat, and a plastic peek-a-boo window in the canopy for peeking in on baby. The Cynthia pattern is a pleasant green and natural pattern with floral accents; it's a feminine pattern without being too overly girlie. The plastic parts of the base and car seat/carrier are tan, with the exception of the release mechanisms for the carrying handle and base release, which are red.
The
Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat 8647 can be used from birth until baby is 26 inches long and/or 20 pounds.
::: Assembly and Installation :::
The
Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat 8647 arrived almost entirely assembled with the exception of the canopy, which arrived in five pieces: the fabric canopy itself, and four pieces that snapped together to form two supports for the canopy. It actually took me longer to assemble the canopy than it did to install the seat, as the directions were a bit confusing, and the supports snapped together in an awkward fashion.
It's been a long time since I used an infant car seat, as with my third child, we decided to forgo it altogether and just put him in a
Britax Roundabout from the beginning. LATCH was just coming out the last time I was actually buying seats, and only one of our cars even had LATCH anchors. The
Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat 8647 offers the option of installing the car seat one of three ways: using the LATCH tethers for the base, using a seat belt installation for the base, or using the car seat alone with a seat belt. Since the LATCH anchors are very easy to access in our
Honda Odyssey, I went with the LATCH installation for the base, which was as simple as connecting the tethers to the anchors and pulling the strap tight, or so I thought.
There is no way to check the level indicator until you have the base completely installed and the car seat snapped into the base, Therefore, if at first you don't succeed getting the level correct, you have to uninstall everything and start again from the beginning. In addition, the level indicator is on only one side of the car seat, meaning that when I am trying to install the seat, I have to climb into the van to check the level indicator.
I'm not entirely familiar with how LATCH tethers work with most infant seats, but the
Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat 8647 has one strap with two anchors, that tightens down by pulling the single strap tight, unlike our other seats with LATCH that have two separate tethers. We've found that the tether loosens and has to be re-tightened fairly regularly, although it does seem secure once it's re-tightened, and all car seats should be double-checked before each trip anyway.
::: Every Day Use :::
As with most car seats/carriers of this type, the
Graco Snugride Infant Car Seat 8647 adds a fair amount of heft to carrying baby around, and unless I think I'll need the carrier, I tend to leave it in the car and just put my baby in a sling. The carrier is compatible with all
Graco strollers, however, and I have no trouble placing it in my two-year-old
Graco DuoGlider. It does not, however, have a universal fit in shopping carts, and I've had a few issues with securing it in a cart on shopping trips.
As far as cleaning is concerned, so far, it washes well. I have a refluxer, which means that pretty much any surface she comes near gets covered in baby puke at some point or another, and I've even been able to spot clean the canopy with no staining. The straps also clean up well (I was concerned since this is our first light-colored car seat).
The straps themselves seem to twist quite a bit more than our
Britax seats do, but it's pretty easy to untwist them quickly. The front adjustment is a welcome addition to the infant seat in my book, since I'm able to accommodate the frequent changes of clothing thickness that take place this time of year with no trouble at all. Another great improvement over our old infant seat is how easily you can take the seat off the base; the release is easier to access and seems more ergonomic. It's also bright red, so even my husband is able to find it, which is always a challenge since he uses the car seat much less frequently than I do.
If I had to complain about one issue with this seat, it's the method that the carrying handle adjusts.
Graco seems to have tried to make this frequently awkward process easier by adding finger grips to the lock releases, but it hasn't gotten any easier for me to move the handle, and you think by now I'd be well used to it. I'm not sure if you have to pull on the handle slightly, push on it slightly, or make three circles around the seat skipping backward under a full moon while singing "The Wheels on the Bus" but it's a struggle each and every time I take the seat in and out of the car. When the weather was nicer, we'd actually leave the carrier in the car rather than mess with it, but now that it's getting colder and I don't want to expose the baby to the weather, I'm getting more and more annoyed with how awkward this is.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the
Graco Snugride Infant Car Seat 8647. It's surprising how much I enjoy being able to clip the carrier into the stroller (finally with baby number four I discover the joys of a travel system?), and the seat itself is adorable, and with the baby in it, I've never had the same confusion over whether she is a boy or a girl that I had with my other children. The handle is definitely a pain, but the rest of the features are a nice enough improvement over my last infant car seat that I'm happy with the purchase, and would definitely recommend this seat.
