Rear facing-only infant car seats tend to be the first type that most parents use when bringing their new baby home from the hospital and, for that matter, when transporting their baby for a while. It’s important to choose a good seat for that very first ride, when the baby is most vulnerable.
But it can be tricky to tell which seats are better—not to mention safer—as you shop. Not to worry: We’ll go through what you need to know when choosing that first car seat and spotlight the best infant seats in Consumer Reports’ car seat ratings.
While all child seats have to meet federal safety requirements, our ratings are designed to provide information on those that provide a greater margin of safety.
“Based on almost 5,500 individual car seat installations and nearly 600 crash tests, these infant seat ratings represent a comprehensive and rigorous program that allows us to make distinctions between the car seat models and clear recommendations,” said Michael Bloch, child seat test project leader at Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center. “They show the importance of buying based on test results rather than brand name or marketing slogan.”
The seats listed below did well in our crash tests and scored well for ease of use and in our fit-to-vehicle ratings, which improves the odds that you’ll install and use them correctly—because it’s not always intuitive.
Our ratings include 11 load-leg infant seats, meaning a “leg” extends from the seat’s base to the floor of the vehicle. Load legs make the seat more stable, help integrate the car seat into the vehicle during a crash, and reduce the amount of impact a baby would experience.
Load-leg seats are becoming increasingly common in the U.S., but our tests reveal that not all designs are created equal. In general, there is an advantage to having a car seat with a load leg in a crash. But depending on the car seat’s overall design, our tests show that there may still be cases where the baby’s head can come in contact with the back of a front seat, increasing the risk of injury. That impact against the simulated front seatback in our tests takes away points from the seat’s crash protection score. And some load-leg seats are easier to use than others, which can also affect the car seat’s fit-to-vehicle and ease-of-use scores.
Seats are evaluated for their crash protection on a scale of Basic, Better, and Best. Seven of the load-leg car seat models score “Best” for crash protection.
See our comprehensive car seat buying guide for more information, plus a breakdown of other car seat types, as you shop.
Or, use our Infant Car Seat Finder. Answer a few questions, and we’ll provide options for infant car seats that fit your lifestyle, vehicle(s), and budget.
How to Install a Car Seat
Child seats have come a long way over the years, but proper installation is key. On the “Consumer 101″ TV show, Consumer Reports expert Jennifer Stockburger shows host Jack Rico what to do to keep little ones safe in a car.