So you are planning a nice little car seat for your child and there’s already a lot of options available in the market. You have mentally selected the Graco Transitions but want a real user’s perspective and feedback. Also, you want to know how it fares with the competition? You are in the right place. Here in this article, we will take you through the user’s perspective and give you a real feel of using this beautiful product.
The Graco Brand
There is a moment in the toddler’s growth curve when he outgrows the child seat and there is a need to move to a larger product. Here we present you Graco. The Graco brand has been synonymous with good child care products for over 6 decades now. An American brand and truly trustworthy, it has been manufacturing child care products including swings, high chairs, and strollers apart from baby booster seats.
Short Overview of the Graco Transition
Graco Transitions is a 3-in-1 harness booster. It’s an extremely lightweight and portable product with a solid and rigid build. Very comfortable to the touch and also comfortable to the child. It takes care to ensure not only the safety aspect but also the correct posture while riding.
It is designed to be adjustable to a child’s growth and weight factors. In short, it is designed to grow with your child. So this will last a few years and you will not need to worry about upgrading it frequently as the child grows.
Product description
It’s an easily portable system that can go with you wherever you want to travel. As the name suggests, this extremely versatile product can transition from a harness booster to a high back booster and finally a backless booster. Features include the Simply Safe Adjust Harness System capable of 8 different height adjustment settings for the harness and headrest, without any rethreading. Recommended for children from age 12 months onwards up to 7-8 years or until they outgrow or exceed the maximum weight limitations.
Modes of the Graco Transitions
Graco Transitions allows 3 modes of usage with weight restrictions:
- Forward-facing Harness supporting a weight of 22 to 65 lb. 22 lbs. is the minimum weight recommendation for this product usage.
- High back booster supporting a weight of 30-100 lb. 100 lbs. is the maximum weight recommendation for this product usage.
- Backless booster supporting 40-100 lb.
Product Features
Let’s have an overview of the product features below.
- Essentially it’s 3 different seats in one package.
- Weight 12.5 pounds, Depth 10.5 inches, Width 18.9 inches, Height 26.5 inches. Height range can go up to 33 inches with the adjustable height-increasing mechanism.
- 2 Crotch positions at 6 and 7.5 inches.
- Seamlessly converts from a harnessed car seat to a high back belt-positioning booster to a backless belt-positioning booster.
- It has a one-handed multi-position adjustable headrest.
- It has a No-rethread Simply Safe Harness system. The Simply Safe Adjust Harness System easily adjusts the height of the harness and headrest, in one motion. To ensure that Your child is always properly Secured; Harness straps may be spot cleaned.
- Lightweight portable frame.
- Latch Equipped. Can use Latch and tether to secure high back booster.
- Open-loop belt guides to help correctly position car seat belts.
- Machine washable seat pad body support and harness covers.
- Body integrated dual cup holders that are easy to clean.
- Available in 3 different color options to choose from.
- The product has a 1-year warranty.
- The expiration date is after 7 years.
Installation
Installation is a breeze. It weighs around just 12.5 lbs. which is not bad for a portable convertible kid’s seat. The exact product dimensions will depend on the exact model but are robust and will fit any car seat comfortably. But do match the exact product measurements with those in your car to ensure it can fit snugly. The backside has anchors and tethers to fit into the seat.
Process of installing the Graco Transitions
To use the latch system you will need both the lower anchors as well as the tether system located on the back of the seat. Fix the lower anchors to the lower anchors on the seat and tighten them. Attach the tether hook to the back of the seat. Tighten the tether and anchor straps to ensure they are tight and there is no play. Shake the transition front to back and side to side to ensure the seat does not move more than an inch in either direction. If it moves more than an inch, firmly tighten the straps and test them again for tightness. This is how you use the latch system to install the transition system. If the child weighs more than 45 pounds, please use vehicle seat belts to install your Graco Transitions.
Overall, the installation is simple enough after the first time. It only requires getting used to the process. After a few times, you will be able to do it effortlessly. To make the process easy, do read the instructions on the manual carefully.
Usage
Transitions can be used in harness mode. For smaller children remember to use it in rear-facing mode. The one-button adjustment mechanism is very easy to do on the fly. The harness strap covers have a lightly padded body cushion. It has a smooth and convenient harness adjuster mechanism built-in. So it’s very easy to loosen or tighten the harness.
The headrest can be adjusted with a single hand and allows for convenient adjusting the headrest height. The height of the headrest will easily accommodate the average 6-7-year-old. A no-thread harness system allows for convenient higher adjustment of the harness straps as the child grows without removing the seat. The seat has a multi-point harness booster and sometimes your child will outgrow it. In this scenario, you can easily transform it into a high-back booster.
Maintenance and cleaning
The entire seat is made of a smooth fabric that is easy to wipe and clean. The removable fabric is easily machine washable. So you can clean it and maintain good hygiene from time to time. Wash the covers in your washing machine on a delicate cycle using cold water. Easy to wash, quick to dry, and easy to refit, makes it very easy to clean regularly.
How safe are Graco Transitions?
The system has been adequately tested to international quality testing certifications and will safeguard your child in event of crashes from Frontal, Side, and Rear impacts and also during rollovers. It’s a well-engineered, rigorously crash tested and well-used product for your child. The AAP (American Academy of Paediatrics) and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) have certain recommendations when it comes to transition seats. As per them, children should use the built-in harness system until they reach the Maximum forward-facing weight or height specifications for their car seat. This product has been engineered to absorb crash energy very well before it can reach the child.
Instead of using EPS or EPP foam lining, the company’s product design team has used blow-molded plastic in the construction. This results in greater energy absorption in the event of a collision. If you can recollect, this the same light, soft and flexible plastic that is used in car bumpers.
Trustworthy Graco Family
Finally, this product belongs to the Graco family, a brand that has been synonymous with providing extremely safe and comfortable child care products for the last 60 years. Their child care solutions are very practical, affordable, thoughtful, lasting a long time, dependable, designed with the child’s safety and comfort in mind. Their innovative solutions have decades of product design experience around durability and safety.
A Must-Have Product
A very good product and a definite must-have if you are traveling with a kid. Kids are more prone to getting hurt in even minor skirmishes. So it’s best to get this product that keeps them safe in all circumstances and also lasts for most of their growth curve.
