Where to buy:
You can purchase the Graco Snugride Snuglock 35 DLX on Amazon for about $160.
What I love:
01. Lightweight. This car seat weighs about 8lbs, a little less than other car seats, (many of which ran about 10 lbs). These things get heavy with a baby in them, so I really wanted to minimize the weight component! In fact, this feature was one of the main determining factors for why I chose this car seat over others.
02. Comfortable. From the online images, the padding looked like it was not too bulky around the head, and now after seeing it in person, I’m really pleased with the shape and thickness of the head support. It’s enough to make the ride comfortable, but not overly bulky (like some of the other car seats I’ve seen).
03. Easy to Clean. The support padding is easily removable—for cleaning, that’s a big deal to me—especially in the event of a potty accident! The head support is simply attached by velcro, and the bottom padding easily comes out easily too.
04. Easy to Use. The one-click red button in the handle makes it super quick to adjust where you want the handle to be positioned—with just one hand. I really like this feature because my last infant car seat had to be adjusted with two hands by pushing down on buttons that were on either side of the car seat. That was definitely a pain.
05. Connects to base quickly. This car seat sets into its base easily, and remove from the base easily too—it’s very seamless and smooth. There’s a “click” noise that helps you know whether it’s attached to the base properly or not. This feature is a definite plus for me since I have two other kids and need to be able to get in and out of the car quickly!
What I don’t love:
01. Distance between handle and canopy. The shade canopy comes up pretty close to the carrying handle making difficult to grab the handle when the shade is pulled down. This could become annoying, we’ll have to see. But for now, it’s not a dealbreaker for me since I’ll be using one of my nursing covers as a canopy to help block out light/disturbances from the front.
02. Average Canopy Size. Some car seats have larger canopies that block more sunlight out. (The Elite version of the Graco Snuglock 35 line has this feature). But for the DLX, the canopy comes down about halfway, right about where the handle stops. A larger canopy would be nice, and you can certainly get that feature at a higher price point.
03. Limited ability to adjust straps. Again, this is not a dealbreaker for me, but it will take a little extra effort on my part to adjust the strap height over my baby’s shoulders as he grows. I’ll have to manually unthread the straps through the backside—it won’t take more than a few minutes—but it is an extra couple of steps to make this adjustment. In some infant car seats, you can adjust the belt height with the click of a button, often located somewhere near the top of the seat—certainly a nice feature to have if you do have it!
Additional Comment:
If you’re willing to give up the one-hand adjustable button handle in exchange for a larger canopy AND not having to re-thread the harness when you need to adjust the straps (cons 2 and 3 above)—then check out the carseat that’s one level above: Graco Snugride Snuglock 35 Elite
