The Best Car Seats of 2026

Buying an infant car seat can feel like the moment when things get real during pregnancy, particularly your first. Look at the car seat installed in your car, it may hit you that a tiny person is showing up to join you soon. And indeed, this car seat will be your baby’s first ride home from the hospital or birth center, and then they’ll spend many hours in this seat over the first year of life.

Lily Ray, our littlest product reviewer, rode in each infant car seat we tested for several hours during her first four months of life. After countless car rides and seven different installation sessions, we found the UppaBaby Mesa V2 to be the best infant car seat overall, because it was comfortable for her and easy for her parents to use.

For a more budget-friendly choice, the Chicco KeyFit 35 (available at Amazon) doesn't disappoint, though it’s significantly heavier than our top pick, and not nearly as attractive.

Car seats are rated for safety by the U.S. Department of Transportation Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and crash tested independently. You should also check those ratings before making a decision on which infant car seat to buy. We do not test for safety in the same way, so for this guide, we selected infant car seats that were already highly rated for safety and tested them for ease of install, comfort, compatibility and more.

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Other Car Seats We Tested

How We Tested Infant Car Seats

After selecting seven highly-rated car seats, our testing started the day we brought our newborn daughter home from the hospital. Over the course of the next 4 months, we tested each car seat for at least a week.

The Tester

I’m Jenni Gritters, a journalist with a decade of experience writing about all things health and science. I previously edited longform product reviews about the outdoors, parenting and travel at The New York Times' product review site, Wirecutter. You can also find my bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, the REI Co-op Journal, Gear Patrol, and more.

I had my first baby—a boy named Liam—in December 2019, and since then I’ve been reviewing baby gear and writing about the psychology of parenting. During the summer of 2022, I had my second child, a girl named Lily Ray. I currently live in Oregon with my children, a puppy and my husband, and we take road trips around the West Coast quite often. A good infant car seat is a must for making these trips as painless as possible.

The Tests

We installed the car seats, carted them around town, took them on hour-long drives throughout Central Oregon, and attempted to clean them after our daughter spit up. During this time, we took notes on everything from ease-of-use, to weight, to Lily’s preferences.

What You Should Know About Buying an Infant Car Seat

It Needs to Be Easy to Install

Some car seats require an intricate system of belts and buckles to be secured into the seat. Many have a kickstand, or foot, that rests on the floor of the car to brace the seat. And most also have a leveler, to show you if the base is flat. At a basic level, you should always look for a car seat that’s highly rated for safety. But beyond that, you’ll be grateful for a seat that’s easy to properly install and remove (strap-based systems tend to check this box), as you’ll probably find yourself needing to remove the seat every so often for cleaning or switching cars.

It Should Be Easy to Adjust

Once your baby is in the seat, you’ll need to clip the harness across their chest, then tighten the straps. Some brands made this process easy; others, not so much. And if you’ve ever struggled to tighten a harness on a crying baby, you know that ease of adjustment is key. The best car seats offered a smooth tightening mechanism that didn’t get caught or require too much wrenching.

Your Baby Needs to Be Comfortable

This is, of course, subjective. But we noticed that our baby loved some car seats, especially those with padded harnesses and seats, and hated others. Her preferences tended to track with customer reviews, too. It’s worth noting that some seats work well for older babies but can be restrictive or uncomfortable for infants and newborns if the straps and harnesses are narrow or tight.

It Needs to Be Easy to Clean

Spit up, blow out poops, food stains and beyond—if you know, you know. You’ll want a car seat liner that’s easy to clean with a soapy cloth, or that can endure a ride in the washing machine.

If It's Compatible With Your Stroller

You’ll want to check compatibility before purchasing a seat; some seats, like the Chicco KeyFit 35, can be made to fit many strollers with an additional adapter bar. But others, like the UppaBaby, are meant to be used with that brand’s system. The seat's website should indicate which strollers it's compatible with; if you already own a stroller system make sure it can accommodate your new car seat.

How Much it Weighs

Lugging a carseat around can be painful, especially if it’s too heavy. We liked seats that were reasonably lightweight, while still maintaining National Highway Traffic safety standards. And if you have other children, you’ll appreciate thinner car seats that allow you to fit two or three kiddos in the back row of the car.

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