Maxi Cosi Pria Chill All-in-One Convertible Car Seat, Gray

This car seat stands out for its premium-feeling and breathable fabric. I love that the fabric is light enough in color that it won't get super hot on sunny days, but still grey and dark enough that it won't show every speck of dirt either. It has a nice feeling to it and the parts of the car seat where your baby or toddler will be most nestled in are mesh, so that they will still cool. My little guy tends to run very hot so I think that especially in the warmer months, this will be a game changer for him. Of course the coolest feature of them all on this car seat is the built in fan and "chill" factor. Unfortunately it is December right now so I have not had a chance to really test this meaningfully, but it seems like it'll be extremely useful come spring and summer. My little one seems very comfortable in it. In terms of other features, I love the double cupholders. Adjustability seems on par with other car seats of a similar price point-- no need to rethread the harness which is great. I don't love how the chest buckle works because it's a little tricky to do one handed, but my biggest gripe is that there is nowhere on the sides of the car seat to insert the straps/buckles to hold them outwards. Some car seats have little pockets you can tuck the straps and/or buckles into so that they don't get in the way when you are putting your kiddo in-- this helps so that you don't have to then dig the straps/buckles out from under them. I think this is a big oversight at this price point personally. However, I think if you have a little one who runs hot, this is a really innovative car seat that will keep them a lot more comfortable than any other I've seen. I was given this all in one car seat to try as part of the Stellar Product Testing Panel. All opinions are my own.

We tried the Maxi-Cosi Pria Chill car seat with our newborn in July in the Midwest. We were excited to try it because our Honda Odyssey's a/c vents are in awkward spots and we worry about our rear-facing kids in car seats getting adequate cooling. The car seat looks plush, but is pretty bulky (I'm guessing partly because of the embedded fans?). I didn't find the install to be particularly easy in our Honda Odyssey's second row. The 3-levels of recline weren't enough to get the seat level to the ground for our newborn who can't sit up unassisted, so I had to use a pool noodle to recline the seat further. This made me feel like the seat was less secure, even though it passed the 1 inch of movement test. Once the seat was reclined sufficiently, it took up so much space that no one could ride in the front passenger seat. That said, once I was used to it, the seat was pretty easy to use and my newborn seemed comfortable and happy in it. For parents looking to use a convertible seat at birth, I'd make sure your stroller can be used with a newborn if you don't have a bucket seat. I'd also recommend double-checking the newborn's fit with the harness strap covers - they may need to be removed for the chest clip to fit properly and the straps to pass the pinch test. The fans turn on right away in hot weather and the indicator light makes it easy to see they're running. Although the fans make a little noise, it's unnoticeable over the road noise once you get going. I like that the harness and headrest adjust automatically and that a lot of little details are thought of - like making the cup holders easily removable for cleaning. I suspect we'll like this seat a lot more once we have an older infant that is outgrowing the infant bucket and doesn't need such a deep recline. It's probably great as a forward-facing seat. Overall, I would recommend this seat to parents living in warm climates who are looking for ways to keep their children comfortable in their car seats.