Baby Trend Flex-Loc

We purchased this carseat because it was the most affordable and highest rated according to the American Academy of Pediatrics website. We love it! It is easy to use and very convenient to get in and out… of the car without disturbing baby. We also purchased the Snap n Go Stroller and I highly recommend it! It is very lightweight, easy to operate, and easy to manuever. We can take her anywhere without disturbing her if she is sleeping and we don't have a huge stroller to lug around....I really love it at the dr. office when all the other moms are trying to manuever their HUGE strollers and carseats and we have a nice, easy compact duo! It's great!

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We bought this seat rather blindly based on it's good safety rating on Consumer Reports. Bad idea... Not that this seat won't do what it's intended to do, mind you. But it is a painful ordeal to install… the base in our cars, which do not have the LATCH connectors for the middle-back-seat (i.e., the only position that works well for this seat+base). The painful problem with the base is two-fold: 1) The place where you thread the seat belt is VERY narrow and not channel-like. Thus very hard to thread a belt through w/o rasping your knuckles. 2) The place where you thread the seat belt is VERY close to the crook of the seat, which makes it VERY hard to tighten properly unless your shorter belt-buckle-strap is shorter than our cars (2000 and 2001 sedans). Besides the major aggravation with installing this seat there are two other issued worth mentioning. It is also very difficult for me (partly due to my back problems) to unclasp my child from this seat while kneeling in the backseat. This is due the two things: 3) The two latches for positioning the handle are VERY tough to dis-engage. 4) Both the upper and lower buckles are hard to dis-engage one-handed. We also don't like how heavy the seat is, though the handle-shape clearly helps. Lesson learned: don't trust good safety ratings alone. Try it out first.

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I got this carseat because I loved the look of it and it had a high safety rating. My son was born 10.5 lbs and 21 inches long...he was a moose! He stayed in that carseat until he was 10 months or so with… NO problems. The straps still fit him, the only issue was that he got a little long for it and he got so heavy that I didn't want to carry him in ANY carseat, I started using a sling. Not the carseat's fault. The fabric is easy to clean and he was a super spitter! It was heavy but so was he. The carseat also attached nicely in the car and strollers - even the shopping carts at the grocery store. The only reason I gave it 4 starts instead of 5 was because as a newborn, my little guy seemed to sit very upright. Not a big issue if you get a headrest for it. Also, the handle is a little stiff but nothing I couldn't handle, and I have small hands. We are now pregnant with twins and I'm looking to get the SAME carseat again.

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This carseat was a dissappointment. I figured that Baby Trend would have atleast made a decent design, but they have failed at this carseat. The handle is too difficult to release, even for my husband.… Also, in the winter you cant have the canopy on and use a cover for the carseat or the handle won't go down. The design for the buckle is horrible, super hard to hold together and get locked when you have a crying baby. Also, the shoulder straps don't allow enough room when your child gets to the upper end of the weight limit. My son is 18 lbs and the straps don't have any movement for when he grows a little bit more. We are getting rid of this and looking for another for our next child. The matching stroller was a peice too. Overall, good looking, easy to clean, but a VERY poor design. Not worth the hassle.

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I got this based on it's high ratings. I found a few problems with it, but overall it was a good buy. The car seat was a little heavy, by itself, add an infant into the mix, you have to be very strong to… lift and carry for any amount of time. I didn't like the handle either. It was awkward to maneuver into a carrying position. However, the features that I did like, the material, the easy adjust straps, ease of cleaning and getting unattached from the base totally override the bad things. I am expecting again and am looking to buy a Baby Trend car seat again, just can't beat those ratings for the money!!!

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