Disney Minnie True Fit C650 Convertible Car Seat

After reading strong reviews of the The First years True Fit, I took a chance on the 2nd version, the Recline, one of my best online purchases ever. My 16-month son, who was sittling in a rear-facing Graco baby carrier, has been itching (more like crying) to get into a forward facing seat. After much prodding from my wife, I researched all the typical web sites ([...], consumer reports, IIHS) and was intrigued with the much cheaper True Fit as compared to the Britax Marathon. Best purchase I’ve made on Amazon and about $100+ cheaper than a Britax.

First, the seat is BIG. I installed it in my Mazda 3 (small car, but live and park in Chicago) and it fit no problem. I did do what everyone said about the original True Fit, READ THE DIRECTIONS front to ocver. At first, I was thinking that this seat is way too complicated, but after about 20 minutes of finally knowing all parts, I got it installed. After pulling the anchors and the front latch, this seat is not moving anywhere. I put my son in it and I think he was amazed at seeing things going forward at first….but then fell asleep like a light. The existing padding (without the supplemental padding) and the size of the seat made me realize how much safer I felt with my child in a big seat. I would recommend that if your kid is greater than 25lbs, I would pull off the extra padding and buy a seat saver (indentation) to prevent seat damage. Hope this review helps.

After much debating I chose this car seat as an additional car seat so my son can ride in my husband’s vehicle. I was hoping it would fit in my car rear facing which it did. I was very impressed by the features prior to purchasing and am as impressed with them once we received the seat. It is relatively easy to install, has newer and better features than previous models. I like the level at the bottom which tells you how reclined your seat is. I like the no re-threading feature. I love how comfortable the seat is! I must say it is much more cushioned than the other seat we have, the Britax Marathon. It is also roomier and wider. I like that this seat goes to 50inches as opposed to 49 with the Britax Marathon. I also like the option of using it without the headrest for infants and the included insert for infants. I like the price, lower than the Britax seats. I get 7 years of use out of this one, 6 years with Britax. So far no complaints, we chose the Urban Life and it’s a little darker than I thought but not too dark. Overall I would highly recommend this seat.

Overall, a good seat (high safety ratings) EXCEPT when used in a mid-size sedan or smaller in the rear facing position.
Also, if this is your child’s second seat because they outgrew their child carrier/car seat (e.g., Chicco 30), then do NOT pay the extra money for the “Recline” feature… get the base model “First Years True Fit”. See my reasoning below.

STRENGTHS
+ Great safety reviews from independent organizations — that is a reason to buy it.
+ Allows you to adjust shoulder straps height through the seat back within SECONDS… EXTREMELY easy and fast.
+ Roomy – Lots of space/width (just like adults, kids like some space).

WEAKNESSES
- Roomy – Lots of space/width (not good in a midsize sedan or smaller)
- Nearly impossible or impossible (depending on vehicle) to loosen and tighten shoulder straps before and after placing child in seat in the rear facing position. (not good in a midsize sedan or smaller)
The strap is plenty long, but the problem is that strap exits the child seat below the front “lip” of the seat. At this location, the metal strap release lever and strap are not accessible because they are wedge against (and binds against) the vehicle’s seat back. In order to use the child seat, you then have to place your other hand behind the child seat back to pull the strap first to make slack/take-up slack and then use your other hand like your supposed to tighten/loosen the strap between the child’s legs.
In our minivan with captains chairs, this is less of a problem because I can put the captains chairback in a nearly fully reclined position which make the vehicle car seat bind less on the child seat strap. However, when we tried it in the Grand Am sedan, the child seat is impossible to use.
- “Recline” feature only good if you have an infant who has NOT outgrown their child carrier/car seat (e.g., Chicco 30)… that is the, child is a newborn up to 30in or 30 lbs. WHY? Most vehicle rear seats are “sculpted” which means the recline feature (per manual, good for only 5 degrees change) is “lost” filling the sculpted cushion. Besides, according to the instruction manual, you can use towels or pool noodles to raise the seat to the level needed. We loved our Chicco 30 until our son outgrew it (> 30″), at this point, the “First Years True Fit” recline feature and level indicator is not used (worthless).

My 7 month old out grew his infant seat and after MUCH research, I purchased this wonderful seat. I have 3 kids in all, and I have had many cheap car seats that I hated. First, I’ll tell you what I love about the seat.

It has a large interior. Plenty of butt space. My kids were all chubby babies, and toddlers. My 60lb 8year old can fit in this seat just fine.

No rethreading the harness. Adjusts easily.

Easy off cover. First time your kid pukes in his seat, you’ll understand why this is such a wonderful asset.

Takes less space,(width), in the back seat. My 10 year old, and 8 year old in a backless booster, have more space than they did with the infant seat back there.

He falls asleep in it easily stays asleep longer.

Now what I didn’t like…

I didn’t have to use the extra padding, and I’m not sure if I would have liked it. It’s kind of stiff.

You have to watch the straps. They will twist in the buckles, but this happens to all of the other car seats I’ve owned. Just be careful.

I had to get a neck pillow to keep his head from falling too far to the side when he sleeps. It didn’t seem to bother him, but I didn’t like it.

Over all this is a great seat. It is pretty tall, but I drive an 06 Kia Sorento, and it fits no problem.

Love it. Just ordered the seat and it was so easy to install. I’ve had a eddie bauer 3 in 1 (now the Alpha omega elite) and I never took it out because it was a pain- this seat I feel confident I could install with out hubby’s help. Love that the cover is easily removable- I used to just hose down my old one because it was so hard to clean. The best feature is the removable headrest- our evenflo carrier gave us little room in the front seat, but this seat gives us tons. I don’t know why other car seat manufacturers haven’t done this.

I was afraid the seat would be really wide, but its not- its is just deeper than others.

Only improvement I would make is to have the infant insert fabric be softer. It is kind of scratchy- not really bad, but not soft- the rest of the seat fabric is softer. However my 7 month old doesn’t seem to be bothered. The colors were true to the picture.

This seat was recommended to me by car-seat.org car seats safety experts. The price is great- no need to drop big bucks on a Britax and this seat definitely beats the safety first air protect in my opinion. There is lots of side impact protection & baby can still see out.

My daughter is 10 months old. We used the car seat from the Graco Flip It line up to this point but I found she was stretching her neck and squirming in the seat to look forward and to see who was in the drivers’ seat. I decided to do some research (as I do with everything I buy for her!) and trust me when I tell you I was SUPER picky!

I’ve had the seat for about 2 weeks now and this is what i can report so far:

PROS:

- VERY SPACIOUS (a huge plus since my daughter is a chunky, healthy munchkin)
- HARNESS HEIGHT IS EXTEMELY EASY TO ADJUST. You can move the harness higher or lower depending on the height of your child or the poitioning of the seat.
- VERY EASY TO INSTALL. Despite a super complicated manual, I found this seat very easy to install and once installed, it felt very secure!!
- SEEMS COMFORTABLE. My daughter sits and relaxes and genuinely looks very comfortable in the seat. The material seems easy to clean and is soft to the touch but not too soft that it is smothering.
- DESIGN AND COLOUR CHOICES. I opted for the black/lime green model which is very neutral and looks times more expensive that it really is!
- OPTIONAL CUPHOLDER. Very useful! There’s no such thing as too many cupholders!

CONS:
- Manual is very mind-numbing. Could be more user/reader friendly.
- suited to larger vehicles (I have a jeep) but once you don’t mind the space, it’ll work with most vehicles.

I was inclined to give this 5 stars… but because I’ve only had the seat for 2 weeks and there are two VERY MINOR “cons”…I decided to give it 4 stars.

I am VERY happy with this purchase!

I am surprised these aren’t available everywhere. I really liked what I read about them but was still skeptical about buying without seeing. I love so much about it. My car doesn’t have latch system so I like that they have clamps to make it fit extra tight with the seatbelt. I like that harness is adjustable without taking it out. I like that you can remove the cover to wash without taking the car seat out. I used it rear facing for a long time and just recently turned it around. This car seat is going to be used for a long time.

This is our second TrueFit car seat. We also own the original TrueFit. This carseat is very easy to install and has the same great features as the original, with some updated features as well. The recline indicator on the front of the seat is great for rear facing. I would definitely recommend this seat to anyone. It also fits great in the 3rd row of a vehicle, such as a mini van or SUV. Plenty of leg room and the kids love how comfortable this seat is.