Britax Chaperone Infant Car Seat Review

• Rated from 4 to 30 lbs.
• Includes low birth weight foam to improve fit for smaller babies.
• No-rethread harness system.
• Sturdy head wings for added side-impact protection.
• Built-in seat belt lock-offs.
• Push-button LATCh connectors.
• Bubble level indicators (Britax website says they're on the base, but they're on the seat itself on the model I reviewed.)
• Anti-rebound bar on base minimizes rotational force in some types of crashes.
• Compatible with Britax Chaperone stroller automatically, or with many other stroller brands using an adapter strap.

The no-rethread harness is easy to adjust and provides fewer opportunities to mis-route those harness straps when it's time to move them up for a growing baby. To adjust the harness height, you just lift up on a flap on the back slide it to the next slot.

For a car seat that caters to a fairly wide weight range, the Britax Chaperone actually does a pretty good job at both ends of the spectrum. The lowest harness slots are around 7 in. The head wings travel along with the adjustable harness, so baby's head is well-cradled. The Chaperone is rated for babies as small as 4 lbs, and thanks to a special "low birth weight foam" piece, it provides one of the best fits for smaller babies I've ever seen. The foam goes under the cover of the car seat and lifts baby up a little to fit the harness better.

The top harness slots are around 11 in. The top of the shell is about 20 in. Those two factors could mean some kids will make it to age two in this car seat. No, you won't want to carry your 25 lb. 18-month-old through the mall in it, but it will do the trick in the car.

The bubble levelers are outstanding, but they're in the wrong spot. They're on the infant seat itself when they should be on the base. I didn't have a lot of trouble in my car, but in some vehicles, getting the angle right can take several tries. It would be a lot less annoying to be able to see that it's right or wrong with a level on the base versus needing to put the car seat on the base again and again to check it.

The length of the seat that is necessary for the range of kids it accommodates, plus the anti-rebound bar on the base, makes the Chaperone a poor fit in some vehicles. If your car has a narrow seat, front to back, or you need to install the car seat behind a seat where a tall person normally sits, I'd suggest trying it out before you buy. The Chaperone may be too long for some situations.

Britax tethers their instruction manuals to their car seats, which I actually like, but the position of the book on the Chaperone is inconvenient. The tether is too short to allow much motion or readability, and stowing the book under the seat cushion is awkward. Once I got the booklet under the cushion, I kept getting paper cuts from it when I adjusted the harness. I can see a lot of parents cutting that tether out of annoyance, thereby defeating the whole purpose.