Please stay tuned for Kecia’s Graco Snugride 40 Click Connect full review. Until then, I have a couple photos and video previews of this great new “Rear-Facing” seat.
*UPDATE – see our complete SnugRide 40 Click Connect review here.
First, will it really fit our baby until they are 2-years old?
Great, but what about my tiny newborn?
Below you can see how well it fits a 2-year old girl (also seen in the first video) who is around 26 pounds and just a hair over the 35″ standing height limit stated in the instruction manual. It is a good demonstration that this seat should accommodate many kids at least until their second birthday. (CarseatBlog does not advocate that parents exceed any published limits from the manufacturer, our images are for demonstration purposes only!). The other photo demonstrates the excellent fit to a 10-pound newborn, even with the harness height adjusted up from the minimum a few notches and the crotch strap adjusted to the longer length.
Will it fit my car? I found installation to be pretty typical. Perhaps a little easier than average for seatbelt installs, with a nice, narrow seatbelt path and a great built-in lockoff in case you don’t have LATCH. LATCH wasn’t difficult, but the basic hooks are sometimes a little harder to attach and often more difficult to remove. I’d have liked to see Graco’s great InRight LATCH attachments on a carseat in this price range, but otherwise I had no specific issues. As for size, it’s a bit larger and heavier than most infant seats, but of course this is necessary when you need to fit kids up to 35″ and 40 pounds! So, while it will probably fit your 2-year old in your minivan, it might not fit your 2-year old in a sub-compact car!
Advantages:
Fits many kids kids up to 2 years old!- Comfy newborn inserts and crotch strap adjustment provide fit to low birthweight infants
- Innovative 8-position adjustment with recline indicator on both sides of base
- Dual zone indicators allow for older kids to be more upright
- Older kids get more legroom as they become more upright
- Easy adjustments for harness height, no strap re-threading required
- Side impact head wings
- Built-in lockoff for seatbelt installations
- Extendable footrest
Disadvantages:
- Not compatible with older Graco strollers
- Basic LATCH hooks
- Second harness buckle tongue can be hard to insert
- Made in China, yet costs $219.99. Only available at Babies R Us.
For those kids that do make it past 2-years, they could well move from this carseat into a combination harness/booster child restraint, skipping a convertible seat altogether. Parents who want to keep their kids rear-facing beyond 2 years may still opt for a larger convertible, of course, but for most parents, this is provides a very nice step beyond the 1 year, 20-pound minimum requirement for forward-facing.
Apologies for the delay. The full review is here: https://carseatblog.com/24604/
Like Jodi, I’m wondering when the full review will be out?
I already own it (and am very pleased overall). My daughter will be 2 in a few weeks and has plenty of room still to grow. She’s a petite one though (she outgrew the 22 at 18mo).
I would assume this car seat is FAA approved?
Does anyone know when the full review is expected to be published? I’ve been excited to see it since this post came out!
Do you know if graco is coming out with a twin stroller for the click connect 40. My daughter is having twins due in April. The car seats are great it she would really love a double stroller to go with them
My daughter was the newbie used in the photos above and I felt like the seat was a great fit for her at 10lbs. We did move the straps up a few notches so I’m sure it would fit a preemie/newborn quite well. Like other graco buckles I found the crotch buckle a bit difficult to secure. As a parent of preemies I would have loved the 2 crotch strap positions when my twins were first home. When I removed the seat from the base it didn’t feel any heavier than my Chicco Keyfit. Cost… well it’s only $30 more than the Keyfit so it would be a good investment IF it were to get you to 2yrs and you were going to FF at that point.
I am a little concerned that you would demonstrate with a child that exceeded the height limit of the seat. This could lead parents to think “It’s ok not to follow the instructions of the manufacturer and I can fudge some”. Parents already look to your site for up to date and accurate information. As a CPST Instructor who checks hundreds of seats a year parents as hard as they try make mistakes. I don’t really think you should encourage this common mistake of exceeding the height or weight limit of the seat. I suggest you re do and remove this video and provide an accurate demonstration.
Also I am discouraged that many people have asked questions on this blog and have not had any response from you. I too would have the same questions. I do belive this is a great seat and options for parents with low birth weight babies and those who wish to keep their children rear facing longer!
Hi jz- you make a couple very valid points. We always suggest that parents follow all instructions present in their owner’s manuals! For our product reviews, we have many readers who want to know a very basic question: what range of child will fit in the product? As we often have a limited number of children available who can be photographed/published, sometimes we have to make minor exceptions to demonstrate a feature. In this case, the exceptions were clearly noted in both the text and video, and now in this comment as well! Also, I can refer you to this great entry from the SafetyBeltSafe USA technical resource, “Child restraint systems are engineered with a margin of safety, and they are tested under very severe conditions. It is therefore not necessary to move children out of their CR the moment they exceed either the weight specified or the recommended head or shoulder height. The concern is not that the harness or shell will break, but that, at some point beyond the limits, the CR will not provide optimal protection. The same applies to turning a convertible from rear- to forward-facing. However, with so many choices available today, it is a good idea to plan ahead for the next CR or belt system in time to get and install the best product for the child.” (http://www.carseat.org/Technical/tech_update.htm#heightweight).
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In my defense, I note that the height provided by the parent was an estimate and that the manual did not specify the 35″ standing height limit to be 35.0″. So, without the extra precision, one might ask whether a 35.49″ (a scientific convention) or 35.99″ child is technically within this 35″ limit. Also, in that torso height is not considered, one could imagine that a 34.0″ child with a very tall torso might not fit well, while a 36.5″ child with long legs could fit safely. These are all fair considerations when only a standing height limit is provided with no significant digits beyond the decimal point. In any case, thank you for noting this. I have added an extra disclaimer in italics to make it more clear that this was just for demonstration purposes, even though I do not believe our images suggest an unsafe situation.
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As a blog, we welcome reader comments, but we simply do not have the time to provide a comprehensive advice or answer service. So, unfortunately, we cannot promise to respond to all the questions we receive, though we do try our best to respond to many of those for which we have good answers. On the other hand, if someone needs a quick response on an issue, our forum at http://www.car-seat.org is a much better place to ask specific questions. Our blog readers, many of whom are technicians, instructors and advocates, are also welcome to respond to questions from other visitors here!
Looks great, but that price range is a little steep- IMO, I hope they didn’t cheap out on the sun canopy I would love the option to offer a sleep baby/toddler some shade in my car.
Unfortunately, I’ve already shipped the seat off to Kecia for a full review, so she will have to answer questions regarding weights, measurements and other details!
Are there any weight restrictions on installing without the base?
This seems to be a great addition to the category. Along the lines of Christinaka’s request to know the weight of the seat alone, I’d like to see a PICTURE of this seat being carried by an average sized woman. I hated carrying DS in his infant bucket, and it was just a Snugride *22*!!!
What is the internal shell measurement in the highest headrest position?
What an awesome seat! And I love the fashion too! I do agree that at this price range, I expect to see push-on LATCH connectors–that’s a disappointment. Do you foresee any problems with base overhang like we had initially with the Britax Chaperone? It does overhang a bit and that tends to panic folks a bit. Is there mention of it in the manual?
There really isn’t any other restrictions for rear facing other than 40lbs and 35″ listed in the manual?
Loving the look of the seat!!!
How heavy is the seat alone?
Love that there is an infant seat that will let almost all babies rearface to the new minimum… makes it so much easier for parents not to have to switch seats so often, too.
Sold my first one this weekend right after I pulled it out of the box (to a tiny newborn who fit very well in it!). Everyone stopped to ooh and aaaah over it. Nice to see such a big kiddo in there with so much legroom!