Safety is the most important thing in traffic so that’s why you shouldn’t spare any money when it comes to bringing your precious child along with you, no matter where you travel.

It isn’t an easy task to find the perfect car seat for your toddler, but we do hope that this Safety 1st Grow & Go EX Air 3-in-1 review will help you realize that this product is one of the finest out there, which will keep you and your child happy for the remaining toddler years and more.

Read on to find out more about all of its features and options.

As a new parent, you have a lot to learn in a relatively short period of time. If you use your car a lot, you will simply need to learn all about car seats, and fast.

In recent times, we’ve seen numerous car seat manufacturers jumping on the bandwagon of offering seats that will get you through different stages of seats.

The “3-in-1” in this car seat’s name means that it will get you through three different stages of your child’s growth without the need to replace the seat with another product. This will save you a lot of time and money.

The “Grow & Go” part means that the seat will “grow” as your child grows and is adjustable in terms of placement, orientation, and several other features.

In terms of child protection, the seat is equipped with many features. What else would you expect from the brand that patented the “Baby on Board” car stickers and then moved on to make other fine products for a child’s safety?

The harnesses are simple and easy to use, so it will never be any fuss to get your baby in or out of the seat.

Here’s a simple Safety 1st Grow & Go EX Air 3-in-1 convertible car seat video that will give you the basic info on the product:

Besides the obvious fact that it’s a car seat for kids, let’s now get back to the four different stages of car seats. The Grow & Go EX Air 3-in-1 will cover the first three which isn’t a small feat. If you didn’t know this you might be spending tremendous amounts of time and money on three different car seats.

As your child grows, the seat will grow along with them, so it begins at the first, rear-facing stage. Newborns and toddlers from 5 to 50 pounds can travel in a rear-facing seat, as it is the first stage of car seats. The upper limit is set by the rating of your car seat. The Grow & Go is rated up to 50 pounds in the rear-facing configuration.

Once your child grows big enough for the second stage, you can simply turn the seat around so that it becomes a forward-facing one. Children who weigh from 22 to 65 pounds can ride in a seat like that. Again, this weight range is for the Grow & Go. There’s some overlap in the weight ranges so you can customize some.

The third and last stage that this car seat can handle is the so called belt positioning booster. This stage involves car seats which can handle kids of up to 100 pounds of weight. Also, in this mode of transportation, your child can use the factory-installed seat belts for an increased level of safety.

Even though there are car seats that can handle the fourth stage, this one can’t, but the ones that can handle all four stages are usual too bulky to be practical.

When you consider all this, you will easily come to the conclusion that this car seat covers a span of 10 years of a child’s life. If you plan on having even more kids, this will definitely be a tremendous investment before you kids outgrow its limitations.

Also, when you think of the price range where it fits, you’ll easily understand that it provides quite a lot of bang for your buck.

Another important aspect we need to discuss is the seat dimensions and limitations, because not all car seats can fit all car models.

When assembled, the Safety 1st Grow & Go EX Air 3-in-1 convertible car seat dimensions are 24 x 19 x 23.75 inches. It is designed to give you as much legroom for passengers without sacrificing the comfort of your child.

The seat itself weighs 20 pounds, so it can’t really be characterized as lightweight and that’s the reason why most moms may balk at this. Such a bulky and heavy car seat may not be easy to move around before and after the installation process, or when you want to switch it from rear to front facing.

When checking the range of harness height, it spans from 5.5 inches at its lowest to 16.5 inches at its highest. Beside the no-rethread harness, there are three crotch buckle settings to choose from, and these include 4.5 inches, 5.5 inches, and 6.5 inches when measured from the seat bight.

On top of this, you can choose from three different recline positions, although you can’t use them all in different configurations.

The first can only be used for booster or front-facing configuration, while the remaining two can only be used when the seat it installed in the rear-facing configuration.

As far as limitations are concerned, when positioned in the rear-facing configuration, the Grow & Go 3-in-1 can carry a child that weighs anywhere between 5 and 50 pounds. As far as height limitations are concerned, they range from 19 to 49 inches.

Please do make sure that your baby’s head stays entirely within the headrest when it’s extended. When the shell is fully extended, the height is at the 27 inch mark.

When all is said and done, this seat is more limited by weight than height.
In the forward-facing configuration, this car seat can take anything between 22 and 65 pounds of weight. The height limitation ranges from 29 to 49 inches. Keep in mind that your child’s ears need to fit within the headrest when it is extended to its limit.

Although the minimum age required for a child to sit in a forward-facing configuration is 2, it is best to keep things safe by simply waiting until the child outgrows the height or weight limitations for rear-facing configuration, whichever occurs first.

The high-back booster configuration can handle a child that weighs anywhere between 40 and 100 pounds. The height range is between 43 and 52 inches. As with the previous configuration, your child’s ears need to stay within the confines of the extended headrest.

It is strongly suggested by the manufacturer not to switch from the front-facing configuration to the high-back booster until your child reaches the age of 4. Either way, a preschooler should never be on a booster.

When compared to several other models on the market, the Grow & Go 3-in-1 doesn’t have the high- and low-back modes in the booster configuration. It only has the high back mode, and that’s it.

The installation process is fairly easy once you get the seat inside the car, as it’s quite heavy and bulky. The folks at Safety 1st are kind enough to feature a couple of Safety 1st Grow & Go EX Air 3-in-1 convertible car seat installation video tutorials and by doing so, they’ve made it so much easier to explain.

As you might recall, if your child measures between 19 and 49 inches in height and weighs between 5 and 50 pounds, you will want to install the seat in a rear-facing configuration.

In order to do so, you can install it with the latch or with the vehicle’s seat belt. Just keep in mind that when using the latch for installation, the lower anchor can only take up to 40 pounds of weight.

That’s why we suggest installing the seat with the seat belt right away, because that way you won’t to have to do it again, once your child outgrows the lower anchor weight limitation. If safety is your concern, rest assured that seat belts are equally safe as the latch.

All things considered, this is one of the most popular car seats on the market, and it exceeds Federal Safety Standards. You can travel safely knowing your baby will be protected at all times.