You may not have heard of the brand new Graco Trio Grow Snuglock LX 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat but you will love all of the features including safety, comfort, and transitioning. Many car seat companies have moved toward creating car seats that last the life of a child’s use of a car seat and Graco has done so while also making the transition easy for both parents and children. Take a look at all of the benefits of the newest addition to the Graco Family.
Overview of Graco Trio Grow Snuglock LX 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat
- Installs in the Car in Less than One Minute with SnugLock Technology
- Can Use Seat Belts or LATCH or Both
- 3-in-1 Positions: Rear-Facing Harness, Front-Facing Harness, and Highback Booster
- Rear-facing 5 lbs to 40 lbs
- Front-facing 22 lbs to 65 lbs
- Highback Belt-Positioning Booster 40 lbs to 100 lbs
- 6 Reclining Positions 4 Rear-Facing and 2 Front-Facing
- On-Board Harness Storage for Booster Seat Position
- Steel Frame with Foam Padding
- Two Cup Holders
- 10-Position Headrest
- Machine-Washable Cover that Removes Rapidly in 1 Minute
- Fuss Free Harness Storage Pockets
- No-Rethread Harness
- Graco ProtectPlus Engineered – Rigorous Safety Testing
- Side and Rear Impact Tested
- Structural Integrity Test
- Certified for Airplane Use in rear or forward-facing
- Ten Year Life Span
- Measurements 19.25″ L x 22.5″ W x 25.5″ H
- Weighs 21.5 lb.
Features
Graco’s latest luxury car seat comes with a host of feature from extra padding to cupholders, and more. Take an extensive look to find out if this is the best seat for you and your baby.
Harness and Headrest
Like all car seats, the harness on the TrioGrow is a five-point harness going over the shoulders and clipping at the chest then going over the waste and buckling fully at the crotch for full safeness with less mobility. When the child grows older, switch to using the seat as a highback booster and use the car’s seatbelt.
Even better, gone are the days were moms need to waste time rethreading the harness to new positions. Yes, you still have to as your child grows but the process is much easier now with one hand! Thank you, Graco!
Use the harness for the first two modes of the car seat both rear-facing and later forward-facing. That’s from 5 pounds to 65 pounds! The seat includes harness pockets to move the belt completely out of the way when moving your child to the high-back booster for added convenience. No need to completely remove the integrated harness when switching to booster mode.
Finally, adjust both the harness and the headrest to ten different positions in one swift motion to accommodate your child’s width and height. Get the best fit possible and the safest position for your child with little to no effort at all. Move the harness out of the way to the built-in compartments to easily remove your child from their seat.
Recline
With six recline positions, you can adjust the seat to meet your baby’s needs and also the needs of your unique car. What could be better than knowing you can make the car seat fit no matter which car you put the seat into? Gone are the days where you need to roll up a towel to adjust the fit of the seat in a steeply inclined seat.
When in a full incline don’t worry about your baby’s head sliding down to settle on their belt buckle with removable infant head and body inserts. Babies will love the perfect cradled position to keep them comfortable on both long and short journeys.
Comfort & Appearance
Graco’s products often come with almost excessive padding and foam to cushion your baby even for a flight to China, this is one of those seats. Have you ever gone to a furniture store and upon walking in spotted by accident one of those heavenly reclining chairs with enough cushion to make you feel like you were sleeping on a cloud? That’s what this car seat looks like for a baby.
Start out in the rear-facing mode with the newborn inserts and move on to forward-facing without the first layer of padding. Don’t worry, you still have two layers of padding for your baby at this point including double headrests for sleepy tots.
Next, remove the second layer to reveal a full thick layer of padding integrated into the seat. Of course, the first and second layers remove easily and whenever your child needs the added space for a growth spurt.
Finally, the seat only comes in two colors and both are black mixtures. The first, Thatcher, focuses on deep grays and black with a hint of bright blue. The second color, Sonic, stays black and gray.
Safety
All of the padding mentioned above helps to keep your baby safe along with all of the other safety features. From the Simply Safe Adjust Harness System to the adjustable headrest to position the seatbelt in the right place over your child’s shoulders, you can keep your baby secure and protected.
Next, the LATCH system seat and easy methods of buckling and adjusting the seat allow you to keep your child both comfortable and guarded against danger.Graco ProtectPlus Engineered ensures a combination of strict crash tests to ensure your baby the best outcome in case of a frontal, side, rear, or rollover crash.
Finally, make sure to use the stickers on the car seat base to ensure a secure fit in the seat of the car. The stickers include colored guides to show you where to position the seat for the safest fit in the seat.
Washing
Life gets messy, that’s why Graco made the Rapid Remove cover. It removes in just one minute without removing the harness or uninstalling the car seat.
The padding machine washes in cold water on delicate cycle. Allow to drip-dry and avoid bleach. The hard parts of the seat including the integrated cup holders wash with mild soap and a damp cloth. Do immerse the straps of the seatbelt in water as tye can fray or disintegrate.
Installation
Installing car seats has never been easier with Graco’s SnugLock Technology which allows you to install in under sixty seconds with either the vehicles seat belt or the LATCH system. Simply buckle or latch, then remove the slack, and finish with locking the seatbelt in the Snuglock. Done!
The InRight LATCH system allows you to easily attach the belt with an audible click for a secure installation in just a second or two. Also, the multiple seat reclines and head positions allow you to ensure the best installation as well.
Transitioning
Transitioning between the three modes is easier than baking a pie. The stickers on the base of the seat help you to rapidly change the seat. This allows the car seat to meet your child’s growing needs with ease.
Start with the seat in the rear-facing with the infant inserts. When the baby grows, remove the inserts in less than a minutes. Next, turn the seat around when the baby reaches 22 to 40 pounds and runs out of legroom. Take out the second layer of padding when your child needs more room. Finally, transition to the high back booster seat with a click of the headrest when your child is tall enough.
Other considerations
Graco’s Triogrow 3-in-1 car seat is certified for use in an airplane in both the rear-facing and forward-facing harness modes. However, you cannot use the SnugLock on the airplane. Also, you cannot use the booster seat on the plane either. Check with your airline for further information.
To get the car seat around the airport easily, use the Holm Car Seat Travel Cart to turn the car seat into a stroller or just to make carrying the seat through the airport easier.
The car seat has a life span of ten years from the date of manufacture. This seat could easily last for two kids if you do not use the seat as a booster for an older child and instead transfer them to a backless booster. Also, the seat comes with a one-year limited warranty.
Issues
While all-in-one car seats solve a lot of problems, they do not allow you to remove the car seat and put it into a stroller. Also, at a high price, this would need to be the main car seat for many families. If you use another car on a regular basis you may want to consider a more affordable car seat like the Cosco Scenera or APT 50.
Another minor issue is your baby needs to be five pounds and up to use the seat. If your baby is a preemie you may not be able to use the seat for the first few days or weeks depending on how quickly your baby puts on weight. Some car seats are better for preemies, read here for the best preemie car seats.
Next, as the seat measures 22.5 inches across, this is not a good option for parents who need to fit three car seats across. Preferably for three across you would want a narrow car seat around 17 inches in width. While the seat comes with lots of padding and comfort, you may not even be able to fit two of these and a booster or any other configuration. If you only need one or two seats across, then the Trigrow remains an excellent option.
Also, the car seat while extremely comfortable does not come in any fun or even brown colors. The seat could blend into brown or tan interior cars with the right fabric but this seat only comes with two extremely similar color options. Also, the colors are neutral but boring. Fun colors with a pop would be nice.
Final Thoughts
The anticipated Graco Trio Grow Snuglock LX 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat will soon be on every baby store shelf as a wonderful addition to the car seat world with ease of use in mind. Keep your baby say with new and innovative safety measures and easier ways to properly fit a car seat in any vehicle. Take the seat in the air for plane rides all with lots of padded comfort for your little one. Graco does not disappoint with the seat but a few minor stylistic issues could frustrate a few parents. Overall, the seat will work beautifully for one or two children families.
