In this post, I have reviewed the best convertible car seats for a girl. If you are a parent with a baby girl, this post is for you as I have spent several hours researching the most ideal convertible car seats for girls in the market today.
There are many convertible car seats in the market, but it’s a tough choice for a baby girl or your granddaughter as there are few options marketed towards girls. But don’t worry; we will help you get a convertible car seat that your girl will adore. To do that, we start by guiding you on how to make the right choice- what to look for and then give you a shortlist of the only seats we could find fit for girls.
Reviews of Convertible Car Seats for Girls in 2022
Disney Baby Apt 50 Convertible Car Seat
Disney has always stayed on top of its game to entertain kids with its delightful characters throughout the years. And we are pretty sure that your little girl would be excited to ride in their Minnie mouse convertible car seat.
The Disney Apt 50 is a great car seat that will last a good couple of years. It converts from a rear-facing seat for children from 5 up to 40 pounds to a forward-facing seat to be used from 22 to 65 pounds. With 6 harness adjustable height positions and 3 buckles, this car seat continues to provide a comfortable fit as your child grows. Plus, it has a good amount of padding, head cushion, and cup holders, which add extra comfort.
The car seat also ensures maximum protection for your child during rides with side impact protection and a 5 point harness. In addition, it is FAA certified for use in an airplane, and being a lightweight and narrow seat, makes the Disney Apt 50 an excellent travel option as well.
Pros
- Fun Minnie mouse design that little girls will love
- Lightweight and easy to carry
- Side impact protection to protect your child from accidents
- Easy installation with Latch system
- Comfortable with infant insert and adequate padding
- Easy care, machine washable, and dryer safe removable seat pad
Cons
- Bulky and takes up a lot of space, especially in compact cars.
Disney Baby Jive 2-in-1 Convertible Car Seat
This one is yet another option for all Minnie and Disney fans, but this time the seat has stripes with little Minnies all over the back, which is so cute.
The seat is designed to give your little girl a comfortable ride with its soft fabric and cushions throughout the years. Rear-facing your child can ride when they are 5 pounds until 40 pounds. It also switches to a forward-facing seat for your child to ride when they hit 22 pounds up to 65 pounds.
Like any safe car seat in the market today, the Jive 2-in-1 is tested and found to exceed federal safety requirements. In addition, it provides side impact protection and a 5 point harness to ensure your child is safe and secure during rides.
The car seat is easy to use with Latch for installation, removable and machine wash friendly, and dryer safe fabrics. So whether you plan to take your little girl for road adventures or air travel to some exotic locations, this seat has got your back. It is lightweight, air travel-ready, and equipped with two cup holders to keep snacks and drinks within easy reach.
Pros
- Adorable design
- Includes a removable head and body pillow
- Side impact protection
- Machine washable and dryer safe fabrics
- Airplane ready
- Latch equipped for easy installation
Cons
- The seat doesn’t feel stable when installed rear-facing. The manufacturer recommends putting a rolled towel, but customers still find it does not get the seat to stay snug.
Graco Extend2Fit Convertible Car Seat, Ride Rear Facing Longer with Extend2Fit
Graco Extend2Fit has consistently been a favorite for many parents because of its high rear-facing weight limit, easy installation and affordability, and ability to fit in any type of car. And now your baby girl will fall in love with the seat because of the soft pink colored fabrics.
The Extend 2Fit has a 50-pound weight limit, allowing kids to ride rear-facing longer than many other convertible car seats. In addition, just like the name implies, it has an extendable panel that provides kids with five inches of legroom to allow them to stay rear-facing more comfortably.
The seat also tends to provide a better fit for kids of all ages, from smaller newborns from 4 pounds all the way to 65 pounds, and switches from rear-facing to forward-facing once your child reaches 22 pounds. Additionally, since the car seat can sit almost upright when rear-facing, it allows taller parents and those with small cars to get a comfortable fit.
The Extend 2Fit is built with Graco Protect plus to ensure maximum protection during a crash and an adjustable 5 point safety harness to secure your child. It also includes other user-friendly features that make it a delight to use, such as fuss-free harness storage pockets, no-rethread harness, and indicators to help with correct installation.
Pros
- Allows extended rear-facing up to 50 pounds
- More recline angles and indicators to ensure correct installation
- Provides great value since it can be used from infancy up to 65 pounds
- Generous padding to keep your child comfortable
- High safety ratings and evidence during a crash
Cons
- The wide seat, not suitable for three across
- Square dual cup holders do not fit sippy cups which defeats their purpose
Baby Trend Trooper 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat
Baby Trend Trooper is one of the best-rated convertible seats as it has great functionality. If your girl loves the color pink, this convertible car seat will be a great choice. However, take notice that once you take out the pink seat pad at 18 pounds, there will be very little pink color left.
The Trooper 3-in-1 is lightweight and very slim, making it an excellent choice, especially for travel because you don’t feel weighed down when lugging around, and the narrow design allows you to fit three in the back and on the plane.
This seat sits small babies from 4 pounds up to 40 pounds rear-facing and from 22 pounds to 65 pounds forward-facing. Deep side wings surround your little one in safety, while the premium cushions provide great support and comfort. There is also a cup holder on one side to keep their sippy cups or snacks within easy reach.
The car seat is equipped with a Latch for easy installation, and there are bubble indicators to ensure the correct recline angle during installation. It also has fabrics that come off for easy cleaning when the mess happens.
Pro
- Can be used from birth up to 65 pounds
- Adequate padding for comfort
- Lightweight and easy to carry
- Can easily fit three in the back
Cons
- Complaints that it’s not true to color
- Buckle straps are hard to adjust
Diono Radian 3R, 3-in-1 Convertible Rear and Forward Facing Convertible Car Seat
Besides having a girly color, the Diono Radian 3R is the one for you if you are looking for a narrow convertible seat that will comfortably fit three in the back seat or one that keeps your child rear-facing longer.
Radian 3R works as a rear-facing, forward-facing, and eventually a belt-positioning booster seat for kids up to 120 pounds or until they no longer need a child car seat. And with a life span of 10 years, this is the only car seat your child will ever need, saving you money in the long run.
Radian 3R is made with a steel-reinforced core and deep aluminum sidewalls that are padded with energy-absorbing foam to provide superior side impact protection.
The car seat also comes with super Latch connectors that make installation quicker and easier. In addition, the connectors produce an audible click indicator to let you know you have installed the car seat correctly. The five-point harness and headrest are also easily adjusted without uninstalling the car seat to rethread it, saving you time and energy.
The car seat is very heavy, but it has the ability to fold flat for easy transportation and storage in tight spaces. It is also FAA approved for use in airplanes.
Pros
- Foldable design for easy storage
- Allows children to ride rear-facing longer
- SuperLatch connectors come with an audible click indicator that lets you know when you have installed the car set correctly
- Advanced safety features provide side impact protection and reduce impact force in the forward-facing position
- Machine washable fabrics
Cons
- Doesn’t come with an infant insert
- Although it has a portable design, it’s pretty heavy to carry
- It takes a lot of space from the front passenger when installed rear-facing
What makes a convertible car seat best for a girl? – Features to look out for
Choosing the right convertible seat for your girl comes down to many aspects such as:
Seat dimensions
Car seats differ in size and shape; some are wider or narrower than others, while others may be taller or shorter. When choosing, make sure the car will fit in your car.
Safety features
Look for features like a sturdy frame with side impact protection, shock absorption, padding, and high-quality materials.
Safety indicators
The best car seats have a built-in leveling system and indicators to show if you have installed the seat correctly.
Ease of installation
Most car seats can be installed using the vehicle seat belt or Latch system. The Latch system is an easier way for installing using built-in anchors and tethers. Remember not to exceed the maximum weight limit of your car seat’s Latch and to switch over to seat belt install once you exceed them.
Higher rear-facing weight limit
Research shows that small children are safer riding in the rear-facing configuration than in the forward-facing mode. If possible, choose a convertible seat with a higher rear-facing weight limit so your child can get the benefits of the safest position as long as possible.
Style
For a girl, you want vibrant and girly colors, not dull, monochromatic ones. In addition, you want to choose a durable fabric that is also easy to clean when it gets dirty.
Why attractive colors are good for girls
We live in a world where gender lines are drawn even with things as simple as colors, and you can see this lot better by just how manufacturers to market items aimed at boys and girls. For example, for girls, it’s always pink while for boys it is blue. If you walk into a room with a newborn, you can certainly tell by looking at their clothes and blanket colors if it’s a boy or girl. Perhaps this comes from deep-rooted cultural influence even though there are no set rules about what colors are exclusively feminine or masculine.
In 2003, Joe Hallock conducted a study and compared color preference across people of various demographics worldwide, and the results may shock you.
Both men and women choose blue as their favorite color, with 35% of female participants being in favor and more than half of the male participants.
However, the most notable difference was that while 23% of female participants considered purple as their favorite color, no male participants chose it as their favorite.
The highest percentage of male participants named brown their least favorite color, while women chose orange as their least favorite.
When it came to choosing mixed colors:
Women participants preferred colors that are closer to red where shades of pink, but both had the same preference in regards to dark and light colors. Again it was shown women prefer softer colors while men love bright colors more.
In another experiment by Mclnnis and Shearer, it was shown that women loved tints more than shades. A tint, in this case, is any color with white added, while a shade is any color where black is added. As you can see, women love colors like pink as they are soft, youthful, and soothing.
Another thing to note is that men have a very limited sense of colors-they keep it very simple while women are more expressive or specific, as shown in the following chart.
So to answer the question, it’s important to choose attractive colors for your girl because colors affect us and influence how we feel and what we like or dislike. Attractive colors promote feelings of calm, warmth, and radiance to personality.
And even if, as a little baby, they can’t tell the difference as they grow, you can be sure colors will affect them as one study showed where one-year-old boys and girls were shown pairs of identical items but with one pink item and another of a second color. The result was that both had no preference to choose pink over any other color. However, at two years of age, girls started liking pink, and by four years of age, boys were determined to reject pink.
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Hi there! I am Ashley Davis, a mom of three kids and the editor here at Motherhoodhq.com. I have been a parent since 2011 and have been doing full-time consulting as a baby sleep expert since 2019. When I am not researching or testing the next baby gear hitting the market, you’ll find me teaching my toddlers a trick or two – especially over the last few months with the lockdown. I hope you’ll find my guides and reviews helpful as you make your next purchase decision. If you have any questions, you can reach me at ashley.d@motherhoodhq.com.
