When I found out the new Signature Series™ Smart Seat™ was being introduced, I quickly asked if they were looking for volunteers to try it out. I was so excited when they told me they would be giving me a seat to test out with Jed! I was even more excited when they told me they would install it for me too. (Little did I know how easy it was going to be to install!)

There are so many things I love about this seat, simply as a parent.

First, this seat has a weight range of 5-100 lbs. You could essentially bring your newborn home from the hospital in this seat and never need to buy another as your child grows, since the expiration date is 10 years. (Yes, car seats do have expiration dates, see here for more details.) It’s definitely a heavy duty seat, but being reinforced with steel tends to do that, and makes it pretty awesome.

Second, the seat has a detachable base feature that can stay in the car. It was very easy to install the base. We all know sometimes getting a toddler seat tight enough is tough while maneuvering in the back seat. Face it, sometimes there is not that much room between your head and the ceiling of the car. From a mom who has hit her head more than once, installing this base was much easier. The base can either be installed using LATCH or the seat belt lock off. It’s your choice.

We tested the Smart Seat out rear-facing in our Honda Pilot and Jed fit quite comfortably, even showing off his I’m so tired this cookie is NOT helping tears. We did have to move the front passenger seat up quite a bit though, not leaving a ton of leg room there.

Another awesome parent-friendly feature is the no re-thread harness, which means you can move the head rest up and down easily to adjust the height you need while the child is in the seat. I think this is a great feature, especially if you occasionally have other children using the car seat that are a different size than your own.

After a few tickles from Mommy, Jed was his usual happy self smiling away in the new seat and ready to go for a test ride. Too bad it was actually bed time. Yes, those are footed pajamas he is wearing.

But rest assured, we will soon be getting some major mileage on the new seat come the weekend!

Are you looking for a new seat for your little one?
The Smart Seat is exclusively available at Babies “R” Us, and you can order yours now.