Review of Graco MyRide 65 Convertible Infant, Baby, and Toddler Car Seat

The car seat we registered for and received for Froot Loop was the Graco myRide 65. I wanted to only have to deal with ONE car seat that would get him from infancy to a booster seat. I really love this car seat. As with most car seats, it was a pain to install the first time, but the instructions were very clear and helpful. We used the latch system. After installation the first time, it was pretty easy afterward.

The MyRide 65 has great weight limits, although Froot Loop has outgrown it because of his height. (He is off the growth charts for his age) The car seat can handle the tiniest of babies from 4 pounds and holds kiddos rear facing until 40 pounds. The height limit for rear facing is when your child’s head comes within an inch of the top of the back of the car seat. Froot Loop reached that height limit just after he turned 2, which was a little upsetting because I wanted to leave him rear facing longer, but most kids can stay rear facing for quite a bit longer. This is one of the taller seats on the market, too! 

The car seat comes with an insert for newborns. The insert stays in the carseat for the shortest two strap positions, and then it comes out easily. The MyRide 65 is inclined just enough so that your baby’s head doesn’t flop forward while seated and sleeping. That was peace of mind for a worn out, stressed out new mom on a LONG car trip with a new baby. 

The harness has 5 point and is easy enough to latch and unlatch, but not so easy that your toddler/preschooler can do it himself. I did not have any issues with the recall regarding the “sticky” latch, but I don’t think my specific seat was included in that recall. I ordered the replacement anyway but never installed it. 

I love the Color coded installation straps- one for latch, one for the seatbelt. It made it very easy to figure out where to put what. When we had a rental car without latch, I could easily just strap in the carseat with the seatbelt. It literally took about 10 seconds.

The seat has a nice bubble level with color indicator so you know the carseat is level. This is a very important safety feature. The car seat needs to be level for maximum safety. 

When your little one is tall/heavy enough to flip around (please wait as long as possible before switching to forward facing!), flip down the feet underneath the seat. This easily adjusts the incline for forward facing. Click- click- DONE! The weight limits for forward facing are 20-65 pounds. Your child will probably grow too tall before getting too heavy. Once their shoulders creep above the top strap slot, it’s time to get a new seat. 

The crotch strap is very long so it’s not a total pain to get your older baby/toddler into the seat. My parents didn’t have a problem getting Froot Loop in and out of the car. Also, even though the car seat is wide, I didn’t have any issues with the front seats having it rear facing in a small car (a Neon). 

This seat is not perfect. My two issues are that you have to take the whole seat out to adjust the strap position.The last time I had to do this was a nightmare and let me tell you, it was NOT fun. I had the carseat in the car SO PERFECTLY and SO TIGHTLY that it took about 20 minutes for me to get the dang thing out! I had to take out Cocoa Puff’s car seat (not a convertible) in order to get to the buckle to loosen the straps for the MyRide! Then I had to unlatch the back strap and turn the seat over, dump all the goldfish crumbs on the floor (oops), and unthread the straps, remove them, put them in the TOP slots (geez I had a tall 3 year old), and rethread them. Then I had to reinstall the latch! I knelt in the seat with all my weight and pulled the latch clip over and connected it then tightened it as much as I could. Then I relatched the back strap. DONE. When forward facing, the straps need to be at or above the shoulder level. I moved him to a booster seat about a month ago because he had another growth spurt and his shoulders were suddenly above the top slot! 

The other issue is that the seat is very wide. VERY. WIDE. I didn’t think this would be an issue until we had to install another carseat! We got a small convertible Graco seat (Graco Snugride 35-see post HERE) and it was a hoot trying to get the two car seats to fit in the car (I wanted to leave the MyRide 65 in the center since it’s the safest place for the older/larger child). Seriously, the base is one of the widest on the market. But, it’s also one of the safest! 

I love the two cup holders. Froot Loop had his snacks in one and a toy or two in the other. He usually just held his water bottle, but that fit just fine too. He’s napped in this carseat countless times and he hasn’t appeared uncomfortable. Occasionally he’d get a small red mark on his neck from the straps, but there is padding on the straps to prevent this. 

I decided on this car seat because of the extremely high ratings on Amazon and other vendors. I also looked up information on the testing standards and safety levels, and found this seat to be one of the safest out there. Also, the price was affordable. I ordered it in green (a color no longer available) because we didn’t know Froot Loop’s gender before he arrived! 

I decided not to get a second one for Cocoa Puff because of the wideness issue. Also, I wanted a seat that I could take out if he fell asleep since I knew I’d be driving around more and taking Froot Loop to playdates/events/church/etc/etc/etc and I didn’t want to disrupt Cocoa Puff’s sleep. This was a good idea on my part, and I just moved Cocoa Puff out of it and into this Graco 65 seat.

We’ve taken several long car trips with this carseat and it has been in two different cars (other than the rental). We had it in a Dodge Neon and it is currently in a Chevy Equinox. I was able to sit next to the seat (remember we had it in the middle), but not for a super long time since it gets uncomfortable. There’s enough room for the dog though! 

When I switched Froot Loop over to the booster seat, I could no longer fit a carseat in the middle. Cocoa Puff sits rear facing in this Graco MyRide 65 behind the passenger seat and the Graco Turboboost Booster Seat behind the driver seat. They really don't fit well next to each other, but that's okay. 

Overall, I like this car seat. It has served us very well. We will likely get a couple more years out of it and definitely our money's worth! 

By the way, I have a post about car seat safety HERE. 

How many car trips do you take a year?