Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2 in AE

Customer Reviews

ComfortSport was a Good Choice for us Rear Facing
We really enjoy our new Graco ComfortSport car seat. Our son is 7 months old and has been using the seat in the rear facing position for about 1 month now. We loved his infant carrier, but he grew over the maximum length specified for the seat (26"), so we knew we needed to move up to a convertible car seat and that we would have it in the rear facing position for 6 months.

We tried some other seats, but we had problems getting them to fit in our small cars in the center middle seat while rear facing (see my other reviews for details). We also tried the Evenflo Titan which is in the same price range as the Graco ComfortSport. It did fit in our cars, but we had some problems with the straps (see the review under Titan for details.) We had NO PROBLEMS getting the Graco ComfortSport to fit in the center back seat rear facing in both a 2000 Honda Accord and 2000 Saturn SL2 with the driver and passenger front seats adjusted far enough back to fit my 5'-11" husband comfortably. Because our cars aren't LATCH equipped, we installed the seat using the center position seatbelts and didn't have a problem.

In all fairness, we did not try the Evenflo Triumph or any of the Britax seats that many people wrote good reviews for, they were outside of our budget.

However, as with many other car seats, to get the angle correct in the rear facing position you probably will have to put rolled up towels under the front of the car seat (which is explained in the car seat manual.) The nice thing with the ComfortSport seat is that it has a built in level with rolling ball so that you can verify that you have it at the correct angle rear facing. The other seats we tried first just had a straight line that you had to eyeball or put a carpenter's level on. Having the built in level was a nice feature.

Other reviewers felt that the ComfortSport had too much padding and therefore may not fit all babies. We had no problems getting our son in the seat and we liked the padded surface. You cannot put it in the top shoulder strap slot in rear facing position, but our son is tall and still appears to have room to grow "up and out" in the middle position. My husband and I feel that the padding isn't too thick and the straps seem to have many adjustment settings. We do not think that most people will have problems getting their babies in this seat.

The only negatives we have encountered are that the seat is larger than the infant seat and does take up more room in your back seat. This may be a concern for others with small cars. However, the ComfortSport is no larger than other convertible car seats. You will have this problem with all of them. Another negative was the strap adjustments are significantly different in the convertible car seats versus the infant carriers (even if you are buying the same brand.) It took my husband and I several tries before we fully understood how to tighten and loosen the straps. You really need to study the car seat manual.

When the car seat is at the correct angle with towels underneath it, you can access the front tightening strap and lever to loosen the strap. If you can't reach it (like some other reviewers have stated), then you need to check your angle. Also, when tightening the front strap, it helps to take your other hand and pull on the same strap behind the seat. We think when the seat is rear facing, with the towels underneath the seat, at times the towel rubs against the strap making it harder to pull. By putting slack in the strap by pulling on it from the back, you make it easier to pull.

In the May 2005 issue of Consumer Reports Magazine the Graco ComfortSport was only rated 7th out of 9 seats reviewed. That was one reason we did not start out with the ComfortSport in the first place. But the overall score still was in the "Very Good" range and we feel it is a good economical choice for people with cars who need to use the seat in rear facing position.

The reason we gave this seat 4 stars instead of 5 is because in this price range ALL of the seats we tried have challenges putting them in the rear facing position. There definitely could be design improvements.

I also want to add that for a small infant (birth to 6 months) an infant seat is going to be a better choice. All infant seats have a more relaxing angle for the baby, are easier for you to use, and are more convenient. I would not start out with the ComfortSport or any other convertible seat. But when you have to move up, consider the ComfortSport.

Comfortable and Easy to Clean
I have both the Graco ComfortSport and Evenflo Titan. This seat is much better for the same amount of money.
The seat is very soft and comfortable for the baby, where the Evenflo seat is very hard. The cover is easy to remove and clean. The straps are fairly easy to adjust.
The seat does come with a cup holder, but you don't have to attach it if your child isn't able to use it yet.

As for the review about the child's head falling forward, I have the seat in the back of my Honda Accord, and my daughter sleeps just fine (no head falling forward).

Also for rear facing you will probably need a towel, but we also needed that with our infant seat, so not really sure what the big deal is with that. It also protects the seat from getting dents/lines from the carseat.

I think this seat is the best seat for the price if you aren't looking to spend a lot of money on the Britax.

Lots of pros, a few cons, but a good choice for small car and big baby
We did a fairly extensive search for carseats when our 6 month old outgrew her Graco infant seat. We considered quality/safety, size, ease of installation, and comfort/roominess for the baby. In addition to this Graco, we looked at the Britax Roundabout, the Britax Marathon, the Evanflow Titan, and the AlphaOmega Convertable Alpine. We finally selected the Graco ComfortSport and have the following comments about this carseat:

1. Quality and safety: This was the single most important thing for me; I had settled in my mind on a Britax because of the claims that it is the only seat with side-crash testing. My husband and I compared the Britax Roundabout and this Graco seat in the store by removing the seat cover and actually looking at the design of the seats. There was actually no difference in the make of the seat as far as the shape and hardness of the plastic molding, and the shape and extense of the foam pad over that. The only difference I could see was that the Britax Roundabout has a bar that goes across the lower back area, whereas the Graco has several plastic pieces angled across. The safety of the seat is the most important thing for me, and I was convinced after comparing the skeleton of these two seats that they are almost the same. I am thinking right now that the Britax may be hyped up more than it is actually worth. The other issue with safety is that we were told that the middle placement in the backseat is the safest position to protect the child from side-impact crashes, so this is where we placed both the infant seat and this new Graco. The Graco seemed to sink down further- has a deeper recess, than the Britax seats, which to me actually seems safer because the child is more surrounded by the sides, not to mention it's also more comfortable for her.

Finally, the issue with the button to loosen the straps - the Graco and Britax both have the button around the front of the seat, which means that when it is in the rear-facing position, the button faces the back of your backseat. The Graco's is a little harder to get to than the Britax - it is curved around the front of the seat more, which means when the seat is in the rear-facing position, you have to squeeze your finger between the car seat and your backseat more to push it. But there is room to do this, it is just not as convenient.

2. Size: We have a Volvo 850, 4-door, and wanted a mid-sized seat. One person suggested that if you have your children close together, it is wise to buy a mid-sized for the older one instead of a huge convertible, because by the time the second child grows out of the infant seat you will have to buy a second seat anyway, so you may as well have a mid-sized and a big one instead of two huge ones. The other piece of advice we got was that after a few years, these seats all wear down pretty well and if you go with a huge one it may not weather the years as well and you may end up buying a second one anyway. These factors plus our smaller car made us buy this mid-size seat. I was a little concerned about the size of the Graco ComfortSport because it did look bigger than both the Roundabout and the Evanflow Titan (other mid-sized seats), but it fits well into our backseat in the rear-facing position and we do not have to move up the front seats. The reason we also eliminated the Roundabout had to do with size - our baby, who is only 6 months, is very long and her feet were only an inch from the edge of the Roundabout, which means as soon as she grows an inch more, her feet would be hitting the back of our backseat. In the Graco ComfortSport, she has a few inches of space between her feet and the edge of the seat, which I think she will need since she will be in the rear-facing position for 6 more months.

3. Ease of installation: I almost gave this seat 3 stars instead of 4 for this reason, not because the seat is that hard to install, but because there is just no reason why Graco could not make the seat flatter on the bottom so you don't have to roll up a towl underneath it. The ComfortSport is just like the Graco Infant seats, so that it is angled on the bottom, which means you have to roll up a towel to place underneath it. The Britax is easier to install for this reason. The advantage of the angle is that the seat can rock if on a hard surface, but this is really only necessary for the infant seat when you are carrying your baby around in it - it is not an essential feature of the mid-sized car seat. But despite the needed towel, it was not that hard to install this seat and took us about 15-20 minutes (and we don't have the latch system).

4. Comfort: Probably the most comfortable seat out there - the memory foam is great and our baby loves it! I actually don't think the Britax seats are all the comfortable for the baby- one of the Evanflow seats also has memory foam but it was more expensive. Also, I love the fact that this seat sinks down further - I think it makes it safer than other seats (the Britax did not seem to sink down as much and baby did not seem as protected), and it also makes it a lot more comfortable for our baby - and as I said, it gives her more leg room and room to grow, which she needs because she is very long. The Graco ComfortSport is also very nice looking - matches most car interiors.