An older toddler needing a harness, but on their way to a booster- will the MyFit car seat fit the bill?
Chicco has been on their A game, y’all. They have been releasing new products, one of which is the MyFit Harness + Booster Car Seat. Coming after the KeyFit and the NextFit, the MyFit is the next logical step in your baby’s Chicco gear journey. This car seat goes from a harnessed forward-facing seat for your toddler to a belt-routing booster for your big kid. With the utmost in safety, installation, and ease of use, the MyFit is Chicco’s amazing answer to the much-sought after 2-in-1 harnessed booster seat.
This Seat Does Double Duty
There’s this strange time where your child isn’t old or big enough for a booster seat, but the car seat is getting smaller every day and is certainly on it’s last leg. Chicco has given parents a much-needed answer to the question: Do I buy a car seat or a booster seat for my older toddler/preschooler? Buy them a 2-in-1! Buy them a Harness+Booster car seat!
Phase 1: The Car Seat
The first way you can use the MyFit is as a forward-facing car seat. It is made for kiddos who have turned 2 years old. The right candidate for this car seat should weight between 25 and 65 pounds and should be under 54 inches tall.
There is a padded 5 point safety harness in the car seat mode. It has an easy-to-adjust expansion system that allows the harness to grow with your child. All you have to do is move the headrest up to one of 9 different positions to get the shoulder straps at the proper height. To help achieve that elusive perfect belt fit with your toddler or preschooler, you can move the crotch buckle to 2 different positions as well.
Another perk of the harness is the fact that it’s easy to tighten. There’s a big red button on the car seat that allows you to loosen the harness, and then you can tighten it once your child is strapped in. Just give it one tug and you are good to go!
Phase 2: The Booster
Though law varies by state, your child should use a booster seat once they outgrow the car seat. As always, follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for size. In this case, you can switch to the booster mode once your kiddo has hit 4 years old and is between 40 and 100 pounds and 37 to 57 inches tall.
The harness can be adjusted so that it’s stored away in an attached compartment for later use. You’ll still have the adjustable headrest to keep your child safe and comfortable. Then you can use the brightly colored vehicle belt paths to help your big kid get the safest fit in the car.
A Few Safety Credentials
Chicco is a safe brand. All 4 of the other booster models they make are on the IIHS list of Best Bet Boosters. And this booster is well on it’s way to making that list once it hits the market and gets evaluated.
Installation=Easy
The one thing about this car seat/booster seat that is ridiculously safe and easy is the installation. After all my experiences with car seats, I thought that safety and ease of installation were mutually exclusive, but it turns out, they aren’t!
You can install this car seat with either the latch system or your vehicle’s seat belt. The latch system is the safest bet for kids under 40 pounds, per the owner’s manual. If you are using the harness of the car seat for a kiddo between 40 and 65 pounds, then don’t use the latch anchors and instead secure with the vehicle belt and the top tether. If you are in booster mode, you can definitely still use the LATCH anchors to keep the seat secure, then put your kiddo in the seat and use the vehicle belt for them to buckle up with.
The MyFit features the awesome latch connectors that have a release button, which is so much better than having to get the clip in the right spot. And releasing them is insanely easy, which is good parents with busy schedules and little patience.
Not using the latch straps? There’s a storage compartment for them. There’s also a lovely little spot for the oft-forgotten tether strap.
For when you can’t use the latch system in your car, you can still install the car seat using the vehicle’s seat belt. For this mode, the seat uses the LockSure vehicle belt lock-offs. The vehicle belt routing path is wide too, so that you can get a really secure and tight fit in your vehicle. No wiggling or wobbling.
Whether you latch or buckle, you can make use of the 4 position recline to get the MyFit to fit in your vehicle. There’s a handy guide on the side where you can use the bubble indicator to help you get the car seat to the safe angle. It’s practically foolproof.
Sitting in a Safe Spot
The seat itself has safety integrated into the design. Just one glance at this car seat and you can tell that it’s thicker and more padded than most other 2-in-1s. That’s because Chicco gave this a much nicer seat design than their KidFit booster. (Side note: we don’t go over it in this review but the KidFit actually made our best booster seats list.)
The seat, which is a deep ErgoBoost seat, reminds me more of the KeyFit. It has dual density foam padding, which is A) safe, and B) extremely comfortable. The rigid shell, which sounds downright painful to sit in, is actually contoured and sloped to be really lovely for your child to sit in. The deep seat design means that older kids with long legs will have plenty of space since their bottom sits so far back in the seat.
And while it may be deep, this seat isn’t wide. It’s only 12 inches across on the inside of the seat at its widest point, so it really won’t take up your whole back seat. As with all narrow car seats, though, be aware that a thicker and stockier child will outgrow this seat more quickly. As with all Chicco car seats, it seems better suited to skinny kiddos.
Besides that comfort foam, the MyFit has EPS foam around the head and torso portions. This absorbs impact if you are in an accident. If that weren’t enough for safe design, the seat has a steel-reinforced frame for integrity. That steel-reinforcement does make this puppy weigh 25 pounds though, so brace yourself before moving this beast from car to car!
Perhaps the biggest safety feature is the DuoGuard side impact protection. This is a unique design feature that protects your baby in two different zones. These deep winged zones focus on the head and torso, and offer two different layers of protection.
The seat is safe enough to keep your young toddler safe, but still sleek enough to be comfortable for your big kid. That’s a great design.
Chicco’s Quality Touches
Any Chicco car seat is not complete without a few extra touches. That’s what makes their products so amazing and useful. Not to mention their longevity. Here’s what makes this car seat the best:
- A soft and durable fabric cover that can be machine washed and line dried
- An extra padded 5 point safety harness, including shoulder pads, a pad around the chest clip, and a pad around the bottom buckle
- 2 large cup holders that can be easily removed with the push of a button and are dishwasher safe
- 9 position headrest with one-handed adjusting and no rethreading of harness straps
- 4 recline positions that are easy to identify and easy to change, making the comfort and safety of your child simple
- Storage compartments for both the latch straps and the safety harness when not in use
- 6 gorgeous color combos to choose from, each with contrasting accent colors that make the features easy to find and use
- A competitive price- not low, but not outrageously high
Customer Reviews
None yet! This car seat literally went on the market this month! Some sites are still in the preordering phase. Check back soon to see what others are saying.
Pros
- Can be both harnessed car seat and booster seat
- Easy installation with either latch or vehicle belt
- Safe design, with deep sides and a steel reinforced frame
- Movable headrest and reclinable seat
- Washable fabric and removable cup holders
Cons
- Heavy to move around
- Narrow seat not great for thicker kids
What’s the Verdict?
My first impression of this seat was that it looked awfully comfortable. It had the soft look of a car seat, while somehow still looking like it could make a great booster. The 2-in-1 design of the Chicco MyFit Harness + Booster Car Seat is genius, since it solves a problem for a lot of parents with kids in that in-between age (growing out of a car seat soon, but still too young for a booster).
Chicco has good, award-winning safety. This car seat has a fantastic latch system, complete with push-to-click (and unclick) latch connectors. There’s lock offs for using your vehicle belt while still remaining safe. An adjustable seat and RideRight bubble make getting a secure fit truly simple.
That thick padding makes the seat not only cozy but safe as well. I love the ErgoBoost seat design with the EPS foam, energy-absorbing base, and DuoGuard safety zones around the head and torso.
Add in a few top-notch features, and the seat is complete. Things like machine washable and cute fabrics, storage compartments for the latch straps and the safety harness, and 2 dishwasher-safe and removable cup holders make the seat user-friendly. The 9-position, no-thread headrest and 4-position recline, together with a totally padded seat and a generously padded safety harness, mean that your child won’t complain of discomfort.
When I first looked at the price and couldn’t believe it! The brand new Chicco MyFit was retailing for half of what some of the fancier brands’ comparable seats were. It was competitively priced with the lower-cost value brands, while still offering all of the luxury features that the expensive brands have.
So far, I can’t find anything about this seat that I don’t like. It’s user friendly, has great safety, and looks and feels nice. Its sturdy, with a steel frame, and durable, with thick fabrics. If you want a harness car seat for your toddler that will last until they can be buckled up like a big kid, then the Chicco MyFit Harness + Booster Car Seat is a wise purchase.
