Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My husband and I are expecting our first child in December. To prepare, we ordered the following car seat/stroller combos: Britax B-Agile/B-Safe travel system, approx. cost $336 + tax Baby Jogger City Mini Stroller, Chicco KeyFit 30 Car Seat, and the Baby Jogger Car Seat Adapter, approx. cost $495 + tax We tested the systems to determine which would be the best for our baby. As engineers, we approached the tests in full scientific fashion by creating a specific list of points to evaluate. I marked the winner of each criterion (if there was one) with a “*” below. ----Car Seats---- --How easily each car seat base could be installed in our Honda Civic and into our Toyota Highlander-- Britax B-safe – Took less than five minutes to install properly after watching a YouTube video showing how to do it. *Chicco KeyFit 30 – Fewer steps and adjustments required than the B-safe. It’s touted as being the easiest car seat to install on the market. While I haven’t tried to install every car seat available, it was very easy! --How much room was left in the front seats with the car seat and base installed (my husband is 6’4” and requires ample leg room, whereas I am 5’4” and can handle more compact spaces). My husband tends to drive when I am in the car, so we put the car seat behind the passenger seat. It would be impossible to fit a 6’4” man and car seat in a row.-- Britax B-safe – For both the Civic and the Highlander, the passenger seat had to be pulled forward from the position that I normally ride with it in. The Civic resulted in about 3 inches between my knees and the dashboard, whereas the Highlander had a more comfortable 7 inches. Thankfully we have the Highlander to use primarily with the car seat and I won’t have to be crammed in the Civic with the car seat- or I will learn to love the back seat next to the baby. Chicco KeyFit 30 – Basically identical result to the B-safe. Perhaps a smidgen more clearance left for me than the Britax. --How easily the car seat could be installed into and removed from the base-- Britax B-safe – The car seat drops into the base and feels secure immediately. Getting the car seat out of the base proved trickier, since it seems like the seat was designed for bigger hands than what I have (average size for 5’4” female). I had to use one hand to hold the car seat and one to lift the release handle. Once the baby is in the car seat, there might be enough weight to hold the car seat steady so I can lift the handle with one hand. Otherwise, I’ll stick with the two handed approach. *Chicco KeyFit 30 – Just like the B-safe, the car seat dropped into the base and felt secure immediately. Removing the seat from the base was easy to do one-handed, since the release handle seemed better designed for female hands. It was a bit smaller than the handle on the B-safe and could be squeezed/released with one hand. My husband agreed that, for his big hands too, the KeyFit detached from the base more quickly and simply than the B-safe. --Comfort and weight of carrying the car seat-- Britax B-safe – The car seat is reported to weigh 9.8 pounds. It is noticeably heavier than the Chicco seat, however it still was manageable. I could get it through doorways without too much hassle and carried it around a few other obstacles. It will be more difficult to maneuver with an infant in the seat, but that just means that I will get more toned arms and core. *Chicco KeyFit 30 – The car seat is reported to weigh 9 pounds. It does feel lighter than the Britax. The handle was comfortable enough on my arm with the seat empty, though I expect it will feel heavy and cumbersome when there’s a baby in it. --Other Features: Color-- Britax B-safe – Comes in black, red, and sandstone (like a brown khaki). I’m not happy with any of the three options, as black would attact the hot SoCal sun, red is so intense, and the sandstone is quite boring. While I don’t expect to make a fashion statement with the car seat, it would be nice to have decent looking one. Britax convertible car seats come in much better colors. It would be nice if they offered some of those for the infant car seats. *Chicco KeyFit 30 – Several great options that should suit any parent. None are “too girly” or “too boyish,” so they could be happily used for any gender. --Other Features: Sunshade-- *Britax B-safe – Easily folds down to give ample coverage for a baby’s face. The inner frame seemed sturdy enough that I didn’t have to be too careful when moving it. Chicco KeyFit 30 – A bit flimsy to fold down. I used both hands to move one side of the shade and then the other, slowly inching it down. Perhaps after using the shade more often, I’d become more comfortable with it and not be afraid of it breaking; however, it seemed a bit flimsy. The shade didn’t extend as far as the B-safe and I could see the need to have a big hat and sunglasses on the baby if he was in the KeyFit. ----Strollers---- --Ease of attaching car seat and sturdiness-- *Britax B-agile – We LOVE the click and go system. There are two little adapters that click into the stroller for the car seat to hook into. The car seat slides right on to the adapters and is instantly secure. Any type of movement that might be encountered on a walk with the baby would be no issue for this stroller/car seat combo. The car seat removes from the adapter and stroller with equal ease – just squeeze the handles and lift the car seat out. City Mini – The Baby Jogger adapter wasn’t TOO difficult to install, once I made sense of the directions. The instruction book had pictures that were not extremely clear due to the shading. A basic line drawing instead of a fancier image would have sufficed. As it is, the images took a few minutes to decipher before I realized how simple the set up was. Once I got the KeyFit attached to the adapter and the stroller, I took it for a test ride. Even without a baby in the car seat, I was nervous about the ride. The car seat jiggled around a lot. I had the strap tight holding the car seat- the jiggling appeared to come from the joint between the adapter and the stroller. --Pushing comfort for a tall man (6’4”) and average height woman (5’4”)-- Britax B-agile – The stroller height is comfortable enough for both my husband and I to push. It would be nice if the handle height were more adjustable, but we can make do. When the stroller seat is lowered to put the baby in a more lay flat position, my husband’s knees hit the seat. This will be avoidable just by being aware of the issue and being more careful. City Mini – Identical results to the B-agile, HOWEVER there is a bar between the back two wheels. I was most concerned about the bar for my husband with his long legs and big feet. My husband’s big feet almost caught up with the bar a few times, but it was actually a much bigger issue for me since my arms are shorter and I had to walk closer to the stroller. The bar annoyed me when I was pushing the stroller around, as I repeatedly kicked it. --Ease of folding the stroller up-- Britax B-agile – This is quite simple. You first push a button on the side of the stroller, then grab the handle on the seat and pull up. The button stuck a little bit when we first tried to collapse the stroller, but after some small jiggles it freed up. It seemed as though this was due to the fact that the stroller was new. I don’t expect it to be a repeat issue. City Mini – Easier than the B-agile. There’s no button to push first, you just grab the handle on the seat and pull up. --The size of the stroller folded up-- Britax B-agile – Fits easily into the trunk of the Honda Civic or the back of the Toyota Highlander with the third seat up or down City Mini – Same as the B-agile --Other Features: Color-- Britax B-agile – Same as the car seat. Comes in black, red, and sandstone (like a brown khaki). I’m not happy with any of the three options, as black would attract the hot SoCal sun, red is so intense, and the sandstone is quite boring. *City Mini – Several great color options so anyone could find one that they like. I don’t understand why so many of them have dark interiors to soak up extra heat, but at least there are a few that are light. --Other Features: Sunshade-- *Britax B-agile – The sunshade on the stroller is a snap to adjust. Since the stroller is designed to work with the B-safe car seat, the sunshades meet up. At the fully extended position, the sunshade for the stroller and for the car seat intersect to form one large shade. I could see this coming in handy if it’s a very sunny day and I’m walking with a sleeping baby- or if I need to put up a protective shield from an annoying neighbor. Without the car seat installed, the sunshade still provides ample coverage for a baby or child riding in the stroller seat. City Mini – The stroller sunshade does not function when the adapter and car seat are installed. When just using the stroller seat, the sunshade is ok. It’s not huge and doesn’t provide as much protection as I would prefer, but at least it’s something. Ultimately, we decided on the Britax B-safe/B-agile combo because of the click and go system convenience, and the lack of a bar between the back stroller wheels. We will go with the BOB B-safe car seat for a bit better color options and the B-Agile 4 for slightly better maneuverability. Both have the same safety and convenience features of the Britax B-safe/B-agile combo, but have a few winning features. Our local Babies R Us has the Britax B-Agile 4, which is the standard B-Agile but with 4 wheels instead of 3. The 4th wheel adds some weight, but also significant stability and maneuverability. It comes in a gray/black combo which I like better than the 3-wheel color options. We will still have to be careful to cover it at the park so it isn’t blistering hot when we put the baby in it.