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Graco Safe Seat Step 1 infant car seat

$124.99 - $164.99

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Our Review of the Graco Safe Seat Step 1 infant car seat

Quinn and Meteor fashions on Clearance! 
Quinn priced at $124.99 - Regularly priced at $147.99. Save $23 (16%)

The Graco Safe Seat (Step 1) - if you couldn't gather from the name - is intended to be the first of a three-seat process. The Step 1 is for infants in a rear-facing position; the Step 2 is for bigger, older kids in the forward-position; the Step 3 is a belt-positioning booster seat without the safety harness of the previous two.

The Safe Seat (Step 1) stands out in the field because its the only infant car seat on the market engineered for children up to 30 lbs. and 32" tall in the rear-facing position. Since children should stay in a rear-facing car seat until they're both at least a year old and 20 lbs., the Graco Safe Seat (Step 1) fits a total of 97% of all one-year-olds according to recent statistics. This means you'll get more use out of this Graco infant seat than you would the average infant carrier.

The Safe Seat (Step 1) has a base that stays in the car while the carrier can be removed easily without disturbing your sleeping baby.  A belt lock-off system on the base holds the seat belt in place when you're installing the seat. One thing to note is that a removable base does offer a measure of convenience for a while, but just like any other portable car seat, as your child gets up to the 20-30 lb. range, it won't exactly be a light load combined with a nearly 10-lb. carrier.

In addition, there's a one-hand dial adjustment on the base to get the proper angle both for your child's safety and for easier installation. The ergonomic handle makes it easy to carry, and a special 5-point harness has a front adjustment for buckling that's quick and convenient to use. The Safe Seat (Step 1) also has a 180-degree rotating sun canopy and removable head support.

The G Collection and Samba patterns include an all-weather boot with integrated blanket to keep your baby comfortable in all conditions. It's also compatible with a wide assortment of strollers, making it easy to convert to a total travel system. After your child has reached the age and weight limits for the Step 1, Graco recommends their Safe Seat (Step 2) for bigger kids moving into their toddler years.

Find a stroller to work with this Graco Safe Seat (Step 1) infant car seat

  • Graco Safe Seat Step 1 infant car seat
    Gianni
  • Graco Safe Seat Step 1 infant car seat
    Gianni swatch
  • Graco Safe Seat Step 1
    Ionic
  • Graco Safe Seat Step 1 infant car seat
    Laguna Green
  • Graco Safe Seat Step 1 infant car seat
    Laguna Green swatch
  • Graco Safe Seat Step 1 infant car seat
    Meteor
  • Graco Safe Seat Step 1 infant car seat
    Portica
  • Graco Safe Seat Step 1 infant car seat
    Portica swatch
  • Graco Safe Seat Step 1
    Quinn
Graco Safe Seat Step 1
Click here to download instruction manual. (Adobe Reader required)

Car seat specs

Min child weight
5 lbs.
Max child weight
30 lbs.
Rear-facing minimum weight
5 lbs.
Max child weight - Rear Facing mode
30 lbs.
Min child weight - Forward Facing mode
n/a
Max child weight - Forward facing mode
n/a
Max harness weight capacity
30 lbs.
Min child height
n/a
Max child height
32"
Min child height - Forward facing mode
n/a
Max 5-pt harness child height capacity
32"
Installed w/o Base?
Y

Car seat dimensions

Product weight
15.53 lbs.
Seat Base / Foot Width
19"
Interior seat width
11.75"
Interior seat back height
20"
Bottom to lowest harness slot
7"
Bottom to highest harness slot
11"
Seat weight (without base)
9.75 lbs.
Base weight (without seat)
5.78 lbs.
  • Engineered and Crash Tested to Meet or Exceed: U.S. Compliance Standard FMVSS 213, Side Impact ISO Method, w Car Assessment Program (NCAP) - peak Crash Force approximately 2X Car Seat Standard, Extreme Car Interior Temperatures
  • Includes EPS, Energy Absorbing Foam Liner
  • Fits a 97th Percentile of Year Old Children
  • 5 Point Harness with easy, up-front adjust
  • Convenient, Stay in Car Base features an Innovative Belt Lock-off Design and
  • Dial Adjustment which eliminates the need for a Locking Clip
  • Light Weight Carrier with Rubberized Ergonomic Handle Provides Premium
  • Cushioning and Comfort
  • 2-Piece Chest Clip Visually Indicates Proper Positioning on Child
  • Easily Snaps into Most Graco Strollers, with a Child's Tray
  • Easy to Read Level Indicator for Proper Installation
  • LATCH Equipped for Easy Installation
  • Deluxe Seat Pad for Premium Comfort
  • Removable, Infant Head Support Cradles Infant's Head and Neck
  • 180° Rotating Canopy for Weather Protection
  • G Collection and Samba also comes with an All Weather Boot with Integrated Blanket to protect your baby from the elements
  • Carrier weight is 9.75 lbs, Base weight is 5.78 lbs.
  Ionic Jenny Meteor Quinn Rittenhouse Truffle
Infant Head Support X X X X X X
Removable Weather Boot - - X - - -
GracoPedic Memory Foam - - - - X X
Price $147.99 $147.99 $169.99 $147.99 $169.99 $169.99

Graco Safe Seat Step 1 infant car seat Reviews

Graco Safe Seat Step 1 infant car seat

All Customer Reviews

Average Rating:
Star Rating
Highest Rating:
Star Rating
Lowest Rating:
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Number of Reviews:
31
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Distibution of Ratings
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Showing 1 to 9 of 31
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BEWARE, SMELLY, and SWEAT causing

2
Reviewer: Leah , Hurst, Texas Date: June 27, 2008
The seat is cool looking but my son sweats so bad I'm afraid he will dehidrate. The first thing I do is give him water after traveling a while in it. Bad for long trips. Or for new borns sitting in it too long. The other thing is the straps are uneven on his sholders. I have read the directions and put the straps in the correct settings and the straps are still uneven. I think it is a safety hazard. There are times the straps are correct but they have been a hassle. I wish I had better reviews like everyone else, but I have struggled with this seat. Plus it stinks. I have washed and washed it trying to get the wierd funky smell out. I have even lysoled it trying to get the oder to go away. It's fabric is the culprit to dehydration and odor.
0 of 3 people found this review helpful
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Love it!!

5
Reviewer: Anonymous , Derby, NY Date: April 27, 2008
I think this car seat is fantastic. So many people are not aware of the MANY benefits of keeping a child rear facing as long as possible. I am so sick of people saying "but baby's legs are crunched..." Wake up people, a baby is COMFORTABLE in that position for one, and two, Um would I rather have a baby that can be internally decapitated in an accident or MAYBE have a broken leg, which actually doesnt statistically happen anyway. I am so glad Graco has made this product so that those who choose not to do the research for their childrens saftey at least subconsiously will be making the decision to keep their children rear facing as long as possible. I have a 2007 Saturn Vue and it fits great, along with a convertible carseat also rear facing (yes my 1 1/2 year old is still rear facing and has NO problems with it! He and the new baby will remain that way until they are 2 1/2-3 as long as they are within the weight and height sfatey guidelines!). As for those who say you will have to buy a convertible anyway as this gets to heavy to carry baby around in; DUH, if it is too heavy for you just dont remove the carseat from the base! Just because you CAN doesn't mean you HAVE to! Its just silly to buy a convertible for this reason alone when it works THE SAME whether you remove it from the base or not. Hello McFly! LOL. I highly recommend this seat. I have the Kelsey fabric which is soft as can be and breathable.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful
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Best Car Seat I've Bought

5
Reviewer: Anonymous , Snohomish County, WA Date: April 20, 2008
I have four children, with one on the way. Needless to say I've gone through my share of car seats. The SafeSeat has been the best one I've had yet, bar none. I've always liked certain features on Graco seats, and I've trusted their quality and safety for each of my children at their different ages and stages - but for infant seats nothing has come close to the SafeSeat. We bought it for my youngest before she was born in Dec. 07, and I couldn't believe how easy it was to get the base in our minivan and adjust its height. It was worth the price merely for that, ha! And the seat itself is awesome. I love the bigger height and length limits - my daughter was nearly nine lbs at birth and she's still using the seat at 16mos. When my new baby is born in July, (s)he will be using the seat and my daughter will move up to a convertible seat, but I bet she'd still fit in this for another 8 mos. or so. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. (The stroller that goes with it is awesome, too.)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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This seat is AWESOME!

5
Reviewer: Anonymous , Savannah, GA Date: February 21, 2008
I love this seat. My son is 6 months old and weighs 20 lbs. I am so glad that we invested the extra money for the higher weight limit. We recently purchased a convertible seat, as this one was getting extremely heavy with him in it. We live in an apartment so we have a little farther to walk than just to the driveway, which makes moving the seat from one car to the other very inconvenient. However, we are planning on just leaving it in the car attached to the base and using it for as long as possible in our other vehicle (until our son reaches the 30 lbs mark). As for it being too large, it fits just fine in my Honda Accord. You have to move the passenger seat forward a little (LATCH is not available in the middle seat for rear facing), but my average height husband can still sit comfortably in the passenger seat with adequate legroom. I would highly recommend this seat to anyone. In the long run, it will save you money. If we had purchased a smaller seat, we would be buying two convertible car seats this month rather than one.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
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Lack of legroom for the baby

3
Reviewer: Concerned Dad , Vancouver,BC, Canada Date: January 24, 2008
We bought the SafeSeat because our son outgrew the SnugRide at 7mths. The supposedly larger (30lb) SafeSeat actually has 2 in. less of legroom for the baby. This is due to the vertical front of the base that makes the actual carrier footrest almost touching the back rest of the vehicle's rear seat.We have a fairly large vehicle (Honda Pilot) so there is lot of space to move the base forward. This could be accomplished by putting something the size of a phonebook between the base and the rear seat's backrest. Is there any SAFE aftermarket adapter that could accomplish this? Thanks in advance. Concerned Dad

Comments from The Staff:

Hi there Concerned Dad,
In my experience as a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians, most all infant seats installed touch the back seat. As far as your baby's legs not having room this should not be a concern. Regardless of how it appears to you, this is actually confortable for baby and still safe. There used to be a best practice in existance that stated to turn the child around forward facing once the child's feet touched the seat back of the car. This is no longer the standard used. Rear-facing is safe because it reduces the risk of traumatic head/neck and spinal cord injuries. The explanation is fairly technical - but here is a GREAT article detailing all you need to know: Rear-facing car seats: What you need to know
Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions or concerns.

Thank you,

Kelly
EliteCarSeats.com

5 of 7 people found this review helpful
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Tiny Babies like it too!

5
Reviewer: Anonymous , Holly Springs, NC Date: December 31, 2007
With all the comments on big babies, I thought I should give some love to the tiny ones too! My daughter was full term and weighted only 6lbs. She fit in the seat very well and always looks secure and cozy despite the oversized seat that allowed for bigger babies. At 9 months she is now in the 5% (15lbs) and still doing great in the seat. Based on the way she is growing this seat is going to be a great money saver! She doesn't look like she will be hitting 30lbs any time in the near future (maybe 2 years!) She will be facing backwards for as long as possible since it is safest and this carseat will allow her to do that for some time to come. The material does appear to sweat more than cotton does but not to an extreme and it did seem to fit well in my car (trailblazer). My only complaint is that the side bars that hold the handle on are bigger (wider) than a normal infant seat. I have trouble fitting it into restaurant booths that my other friends fit theirs into. It also didn't fit well on top of grocery carts or highchairs that were turned upside down. (Not that either is very safe anyway. I would definitely recommend this car seat for all size babies.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful
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One Year Old

5
Reviewer: Anonymous , San Jose, CA Date: December 30, 2007
We were able to use the Graco Safe Seat up until our baby's first birthday. He was still ok for weight but at 32 inches we needed to move on. Yes, it was getting heavy BUT we now miss the ease of the portable car seat. Overall great purchase and very convenient if you get an extra base.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful
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Great Seat

5
Reviewer: Sabrina , Fayetteville, NC Date: October 15, 2007
This is a great seat! I have always loved the Graco infant seats. It is very easy to use and is safe.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful
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Buyer Beware

2
Reviewer: Anonymous , Stanford, Illinois Date: October 10, 2007
Although I love the fact that this car seat accommodates my big baby, it is very heavy, especially when lifting it in and out of an SUV. It fits fine, but has to be in the middle or else my average size husband (5'10")cannot put his seat back far enough to drive (or sit comfortably if he is in front passenger seat.)Additionally, the all weather boot DOES NOT fit snuggly over the baby's legs as suggested in the pictures. It is held on loosely by little elastic loops that loop around the belt hooks. It barely covers the baby's feet, and my baby kicks his feet out and over the boot altogether. (Great idea, but poor design.) The canopy is constantly falling backwards and getting stuck on the base or on the stroller (that I purchased separately) so I usually just take it off. Additionally, the attractive metallic material does not breath. On a comfortable day, my baby is drenched in sweat and often screaming, I believe due to the material. Unless you are sure that you will need a carrier for a large baby, I would consider an alternative.

Comments from the Staff

Relative to most other infant car seats (which range in weight from 7.7 - 16.4 lbs) the Safe Seat Step 1's carrier is no heavier than the average of about 10 lbs. See our infant car seat comparison chart for more details on the weight and size of the car seat we carry. The Safe Seat Step 1 is a bit larger than other infant seats, but that's a reflection of it's high weight capacity of 30lbs. Most infant seats top off at 22lbs. It won't fit in every vehicle, but the center of the backseat is the recommended position to install any infant seat. As for your issues with the materials of your Graco car seat, note that the company is known for products that are safe, reliable, and economically priced - not necessarily of flawless quality.

Thank you very much for the review

7 of 10 people found this review helpful
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