9 Best Convertible Car Seats, According to Parents and Experts

We like the fit of this seat for babies and big kids. The ClickTight system, which you access by lifting up the seat pad, makes it simple to thread the seat belt and get a tight front-facing fit, or you can easily find the LATCH connectors to install this rear-facing. Nine recline positions help you lean it all the way back for a young baby, then tilt it incrementally upright as your child develops. The headrest and harness straps smoothly adjust up and down together to 15 different positions, so you'll never have to rethread the straps to get the right fit for your growing kid.

Other parent pleasers: The fabric comes off and is machine-washable, and the removable cupholders can go through the dishwasher. If your goal is to keep your child rear-facing as long as possible, this checks that box, too. "My son stayed comfortably rear-facing in this past his third birthday," says our Chief Technologist & Executive Technical Director Rachel Rothman. One caveat about this going up to 120 pounds: Some tweens ages 9 or 10 may want to switch to something backless and less babyish, especially if they're large for their age or have older siblings.

Our tests showed this to be an easy-to-install convertible car seat at an amazingly low price. This one is certified for airline use, and as the most narrow (less than 16 inches wide) and the most lightweight seat on our list, we can see it being good for carrying onto a plane for use on a standard seat, which is usually 17 inches wide. That said, as your baby grows, you will need to rethread the harness on the Scenera NEXT to keep it fitting correctly, and there is a limited amount of recline with this seat. What's more, it only works up to 40 pounds, so you'll need to invest in a booster later.

When it comes to keeping up with inevitable crumbs and sticky baby fingers, you'll find that cleanup is a breeze, thanks to removable machine-washable seat pads and a removable dishwasher-safe cup holder.

Maximize backseat space with this ultra-slim, all-in-one pick which has nearly 39K five-star reviews on Amazon. Many families like it because it fits well in a small sedan or opt for three of these to sit three kids in a row. Use it rear-facing for an infant, forward-facing for a toddler and then turn it into a high-back booster for your big kid up to 100 pounds. In our evaluations, we found the no-rethread harness and 10-position headrest to be extremely easy to make adjustments to, and loved that it reclined to four positions to find a more comfortable angle for your child. In fact, we gave it one of our Parenting Awards.

Our experts also love how easy it is to install this seat, thanks to a clever belting system and one-click LATCH system. But our freelance editor Yolanda Wikiel noted as her preschooler hit age 4, "this feels small in general and might be better if your kid is petite." She's not a huge fan of the harness straps, which she says tend to get twisted and tangled. On the plus side, the padding can come off and you can run it through the washing machine on cold, then air-dry it.

The price on the Nuna Rava is a bit steep at first glance, but this sleek pick has a lot going for it. Aside from its stylish look, its high rear-facing weight limit helps you keep your child in that safe position longer (up to 50 lbs). The adjustable footrest gives your tot some added legroom while the 10-position recline and 10-position headrest helps you personalize the seat to your child's size, making it among the most comfortable car seats on the market. Many parents also like that the fabric is not treated with fire-retardant chemicals.

Our Lab experts found this car seat particularly easy to install. It's one of the smaller convertible car seats on our list and more manageable to wrangle (it's also another that's certified for use on an airplane). The brand's Simply secure installation features recline-angle guides to help ensure correct setup. The no-rethread harness allows the seat to grow with your baby and colored belt-path indicators leave little room for error. For a classy finishing touch, it comes with retractable cup holders.

Knowing that so many parents start with an infant car seat, UPPAbaby has gone ahead and designed the Knox with ages 1 to 6 in mind. It does start rear-facing, with an additional insert for babies from 14 to 25 pounds, and can remain that way up to 45 pounds. Then it can be turned forward-facing with its five-point harness until 65 pounds. This seat does not become a big-kid booster; it's simply optimized for those prime little-kid years.

During testing, our pros found that installation requires a bit more attention to the instructions, and it can be tough for small parents to maneuver it into place given that it's the tallest car seat on our list (32.5 inches tall). Even so, it fits well in a range of vehicle sizes and the brand’s SmartSecure System offers a great visual to confirm a secure fit since the colors change from red to green when when the seat is correctly installed. Features include a multi-directional tether to reduce seat rotation, a no-rethread harness, eight-position headrest and four-position recline. While it's definitely on the bulkier side, we do feel that additional features, such as the side-impact pods that aid in crash absorption, make it an exceptionally safe option.

Avoid throwing your back out trying to get a baby in a rear-facing car seat with this rotating option. Easily swivel the seat to face the car door so you can slip baby in and buckle them up without having to contort yourself. When rotated, it brings your little one about 10 inches closer to you, too. In testing, we agreed the 180-degree rotation makes loading and unloading easier and we appreciated the no-rethread harness and plush padding that made it exceptionally comfortable for little ones.

Note that you can't use the swivel option for the forward-facing setup. But this has a 10-position headrest and five-position recline so you can customize the fit, though we found the recline a little bit awkward to use. Due to its swivel base, this seat is large and doesn't fit in all vehicles, so if you have a small car, consider the seat's dimensions.

Ideal for bigger kids and fast growers, this Maxi-Cosi model is approved for children up to 100 pounds and 52 inches tall, offering a more generous height range than many convertible car seats on the market. (Only our best overall choice on this list has it beat in that department.) That also means it's a tall seat, so some testers have noted it's better for an SUV rather than a sedan. You can switch it from its rear-facing configuration to a forward-facing mode and eventually make it a belt-positioning booster.

Our testers appreciated the practical features of this seat, including the removable, washable seat cover and integrated cup holder. It also comes in 11 gorgeous colors, like this purple or a coral shade. Not to mention, it costs a little less than most of the other choices on this list. There are only three recline positions and five headrest heights, but the brand's QuickFit system makes it practically effortless to pick the correct position for your child.

Chicco offers straightforward installation via LATCH or your vehicle’s seat belt with nine recline positions as well as nine headrest positions to help achieve the best angle for your baby. Its SuperCinch tightener secures the car seat in your vehicle using less effort by easily multiplying your force. A mesh-fabric backrest makes the seat soft and pillowy for your child's comfort while adding additional ventilation; it's a great seat if you live in a hot climate and are concerned about keeping your child cool.

Our pros particularly loved the washable, zip-off seat padding that can go in the washing machine. Combined with the dishwasher-safe cup holder, this car seat is ideal for germaphobes (we say that with love) or anyone who appreciates keeping their backseat neat. If you want to travel with this, Chicco sells a popular, wheeled car seat travel bag.

With a steel and magnesium substructure, Clek boasts that its model is “built like a tank.” The Foonf is easy to install with a rigid LATCH and has an array of safety features including an anti-rebound bar in the rear-facing position and advanced side-impact protection. Your little one can remain rear-facing through the preschool years, making it one of the safest convertible car seats on the market. It also offers three recline options and fabric that's Greenguard Certified.

"This is definitely durable. My younger child is still in this at age 5," says Textiles, Paper & Apparel Lab Executive Director Lexie Sachs, a mom of two. "Per her, it's not comfortable for long car rides. But my older one never complained. It's also very heavy, but I feel that's a fair trade-off for the safety." Though it weighs 38 pounds, it's not wide; this fits in many sedans and in many backseats, you can even line up three Foonfs across. It has a rethread harness, meaning you must manually adjust the seat belt harness as your baby grows. If you use this from infancy, purchase the infant insert, sold separately. Notably, Clek has a recycling program for car seats nearing their expiration.