Rear Facing Only Car Seats We Love (and why we love them!)

(Last Updated On: May 8, 2023)

We’re often asked what our favorite car seats are. Usually, this question comes from a caregiver who is trying to choose a seat for the child in their life. The right answer is always “the car seat that fits your child, fits your vehicle, and you can install/use properly every time.” That’s always going to be the right answer so if the seat that your family selected isn’t mentioned on our list, that’s just fine.

We wanted to take a moment to share a short list of our favorite rear facing only seats and tell you why we love them. This list is based on our collective and individual experience with helping caregivers select the right seat for their situation.

Evenflo LiteMax Sport

Evenflo LiteMax. It’s VERY reasonably priced, pretty lightweight, installs without too much fuss and it fits preemies well. All trim levels are solid choices, the LiteMax Sport is usually less than $100!

Century Carry On LX

Century Carry On LX. It’s lightweight, easy to install and use, and extremely compact front to back. It’s also very reasonably priced.

Graco SnugRide SnugFit

Graco SnugRide SnugFit 35 DLX. It has a no-rethread harness with a fairly wide headrest (compared to other, similar versions of this seat) that accommodates older infants well. It has the best small baby/preemie fit thanks to the ability to use a j loop to make the crotch buckle quite small. We also love how low the low harness height is with the insert in. It also has the anti-rebound bar, bubble recline indicator, and lockoff on the base.

We’re also fans of the Graco SnugRide line of car seats.

Chicco KeyFit 35

Chicco KeyFit 35. It has a no-rethread harness, an anti-rebound bar, and is easy to install and use properly. It also, by a very small margin, one of the narrowest infant seats which can make it versatile for small vehicles or 3 across situations.

Graco SnugRide We find them all very easy to use, especially the SnugLock ones. They work in most vehicles. Baseless installation and installation with the base is very easy. They’re compatible with a lot of strollers, the different trim levels are offered at a variety of price points.

Evenflo SecureMax Gold

Evenflo SecureMax – This seat is long lasting, lightweight, easy to install, and has a no rethread harness. All of these features are available at a pretty reasonable price point.