baby gear

You know you're an experienced car seat installer when you actually get giddy over a new seat that claims to fix your biggest issues with the whole product category. Last Fall, Chicco (which if you don't know is actually pronounced kee-koh) briefly walked us through its companion seat to the KeyFit infant car seat at the ABC Kids Expo. Inspired by the KeyFit's easy installation system, the Chicco NextFit Convertible (available for preorder, $280) uses a unique LATCH pulley system — called Super Cinch — to significantly reduce the effort needed to tighten the seat's LATCH straps. Suitable for kids from five to 65 pounds (and with a rear-facing weight limit of 40 pounds), the seat also features nine (yes, nine!) recline positions and a great leveling system so parents can easily tell if the seat is installed properly.

With a number of innovative car seats coming to market this year — the LATCH-less Britax Frontier 90 and Pinnacle 90 and mobile-synced First Years I-Alert Car Seat to name a few — my 3-year-old and I put the NextFit Convertible's easy installation claims to test as we drove around town. Here's what we thought.

Who is this product designed for? A NextFit is a convertible car seat designed for children weighing between 5 and 65 pounds (up to 40 pounds rear-facing) and who are less than 50 inches tall (meaning, for most tots, it can be used immediately from birth).

What sets it apart? While plenty of car seats claim to have an easy installation process, the NextFit truly owns this title. The company says that the SuperCinch LATCH tightener "uses force-multiplying technology to help achieve a secure fit with a fraction of the effort." In layman's speak, that means the person installing the seat just needs to follow the instructions on the LATCH connectors (that are labeled Pull 1st and Pull 2nd) and then simply pull on the tightener, which quadruples the force of your pull to ensure a tight and proper fit with very little effort — I mean very little exertion. I've always fought my way through the installation process and was able to securely install this one in less than three minutes!

Keep reading to see more about the seat, and what we think can be improved.

As any parent who's ever struggled over installing a car seat knows, it's not typically a fun task. In fact, it can take a normally calm, reasonably intelligent, and in-control mom or dad, and nearly reduce them to tears (not that I'm speaking from experience . . . ). And while companies are always touting their new and improved editions of baby gear, the upgrades are often subtle, and sometimes even undetectable to the average user. But not this time.

This May, Britax is introducing an all-new ClickTight technology in its Frontier 90 and Pinnacle 90 models. Having tested ClickTight out on one of the actual car seats — in an actual car — I can attest that the seat can really, truly be securely installed in less than a minute. The system eliminates the use of the LATCH system, and instead uses your car's seat belt system. An unmistakable "click" sound ensures that the seat is securely in place, and you're good to hit the road — no questions asked.

While easy installation is important, safety is still number one. The bases of both models are equipped with SafeCells, which compress in the event of a crash, lowering the center of gravity and reducing forward head movement. Integrated steel bars strengthen the seat's connection to the car, and a patented stage-release tether slows down forward movement. Both seats also offer extensive side-impact protection, which is important, as the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration reports that three out of four car crashes occur from the side.

The Frontier 90 will retail for $330, and the Pinnacle 90 will be $370 at the time of their release in May.