Blooming Shopper’s Guide: Car Seats

Our Boutique is Stocked with the Best Car Seats — Here’s What Makes Them Special

Of all the baby products out there to purchase, your child safety seat could possibly be the most important — and stressful. Car seat shopping can be overwhelming, especially when you are a new parent. There are so many choices on the market and they can all start looking the same. If this is your dilemma right now, you’ve come to the right place.

Not to toot our own horn or anything, but our boutique is stocked with some of the best child safety seats in the industry. While we stand by our belief that there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to car seats, we are breaking down what makes each model we carry special to help narrow your search.

Looking for a little more guidance, be sure to drop in to the boutique and chat with any of our Bloom Girls, or schedule a Car Seat Education and Inspection appointment.

Uppa Baby Mesa

The Uppa Baby Mesa has grown in popularity very quickly in the last couple of years! There are some key features of this seat that are responsible for drawing new parents to this car seat. The Mesa offers Performance fabrics made moisture-wicking material for their base model Mesa’s and they also a chemical flame retardant free fabric option on their covers that are made from merino wool. This has been a huge draw as people are wanting to try and move away from the use of potentially harmful chemicals. The Mesa also boasts a no re-thread harness and adjustable headrest, which is much less common among rear facing car seats on the market. The main draw to this car seat, for many families, is the ease of install both with and without the base. The Mesa base features red-to-green tightness indicators and a self-ratcheting LATCH connector that makes the installation with the base fast, accurate, and most importantly, EASY. And, for the vehicles where a lower anchor install is not an option, the base also features a built in lock-off to make seat belt installation a breeze.

Clek Liing

The Clek Liing is the newest infant seat offering to our boutique, however, it was one of the most anticipated seats for us. We have long loved the Clek line and this seat does NOT disappoint. One of the main features that Clek has become known for is being narrow. If you need a narrow seat for a three-across set up, or you just drive a car with a narrow backseat, these car seats are for you. At the widest point on the Liing, the seat measures just over 17″ wide, which is right in line with the rest of their offerings. Comparatively, the Liing is one of the most narrow rear facing only car seats available on the market. Other amazing features of the Liing are the rigid lower anchor installation, which makes installation a dream, as well as a built in seat belt lock off with red-to-green indicators telling you when everything on the seat is properly locked into place. Another HUGE feature that we love is the addition of the metal load leg. While not required for use with this seat, or any other seat in the US, the added safety benefit with the addition of the load leg is one that speaks for itself. We all want our kids to be as safe as possible. The clincher for this seat, however, is one that is unique to this seat, and is something that actually made me squeal with glee when I first saw this seat revealed at a trade show. The Liing base features a 7 position, POST INSTALLATION, recline adjustment that makes achieving the correct angle for any baby, at any age or weight, just impossibly easy. No other infant seat on the market currently offers anything comparable to this feature. You top that off with Clek’s multiple fabric options that range from mostly to 100% chemical flame retardant free, and this really is like the King of our infant seats right now!

Clek Foonf/Clek Fllo

Of the seats we currently have available through us, these 2 from Clek are what we have sold the longest, and it’s pretty apparent why. Parents are drawn to the sleek and streamlined appearance of Clek seats, there is no denying that these seats are PRETTY, but they are then sold on the seats when they learn all of the features of the seat itself. Clek was one of the first brands to introduce a 50 lb weight limit to their rear facing convertibles in the US and really helped to spearhead the extended rear facing movement. They were also one of the first brands to bring an Anti-Rebound bar to a US seat, a feature that is pretty standard, and often required, in other countries. What REALLY impresses parents though, is the built crumple zones in both seats that essentially aim to take the bulk of the crash forces off of baby in a collision, and put them back on the seat itself and the vehicle. The goal of this feature is to reduce the instances of any type of injury in any collision, and obviously keep baby as safe as possible. Their REACT/EACT systems (crumple zone systems) are, again, something that is completely unique to Clek.

Nuna Pipa Series

Nuna is a much loved brand among parents due to their quality and breadth of gear offerings. Nuna can really be your one stop shop for gear. The Pipa series has been available on the market for years now, and has been a top seller since it’ release. There are three versions of the Pipa: the Pipa, Pipa Lite, and Pipa Lite LX. The orignal Pipa is what people fell in love with, with it’s micro knit covers, store away Dream Drape in the canopy, and plush infant insert that truly allows even the smallest of babies to safely ride. The Pipa Lite is next in the series, and it still has most of the things listed above, BUT Nuna managed the shave 2.5 pounds off the weight, making the Pipa Lite one of the lightest infant seats on the market. Two notable features missing from the Lite are 1, the Dream Drape, however, parents can find that back again on the Pipa Lite LX and 2, the option for a baseless install. Both Lite options must be installed using the base. The real draw to this series of infant seats comes from the base. This base is compatible with all 3 Pipa seats, comes with a load leg, rigid lower anchor connectors, built in lock-off, and a flip out recline foot. I am not joking when I say this base often installs in under 1 minute, in many cars. SO. EASY. The base is also FAA approved, so if you are planning to travel with your Pipa Lite/LX, you do have the option to take your seat and base on board the plane to keep baby safe and secure while in the air.

Nuna Rava

Rounding out our car seats offerings here in the store is the Nuna Rava. The Rava and the Foonf go back and forth for which seat is my personal favorite convertible. The Rava has all the benefits that you get from Nuna, including being completely chemical flame retardant free on all their fabrics. They really thought of everything with their convertible, from buckle tongue holders on the sides, so no more digging around to find the buckled, to included shoulder AND hip pads, to a flip out calf extension panel that allow for extra leg room for bigger kids, and built in store away cupholders. The Rava also boasts a 50 lb rear facing limit and 65 lb forward limit, much like it’s Clek counter parts. One of the details unique to Nuna, is that there isn’t a built in lock-off on this seat, but rather what they call their tensioning panel. Don’t let that distinction scare you though, because this seat truly has one of the easiest seat belt installs out there!