Safety 1st Custodian Plus I

Unsafe – I have had the seat for about 6 months now. I am very concerned about the fact that my 2.5 year old can unbuckle the harness by himself. This should not be possible for a car safety item. Safety is the #1 priority for me in a car seat so I am very disappointed. I was on the freeway yesterday in an area where I could not stop safely to buckle… Read more

him back in, so he was not restrained for about 10 minutes. This is not on.

Have you had your seats tested by toddlers? Are you aware that they can easily unbuckle themselves?

Terrible – This seat is terrible! My 2 year old can reach the lever to loosen the straps and climbs straight out! Of course Safety 1st want nothing to do with this and all they can say is, "She is smart." All I want is a store credit to go and get a different seat! And another design fault the kids cant even use the cup holders because the arm rests are in… Read more

the way and the holder is too small for most water bottles anyway! WORST CHOICE EVER! And I have 3 of them!

Good buy – I shopped around and checked reviews before settling on this seat. So many of the other brands had too many things i wasn't happy with. I had originally planned on buying the Custodian Plus (previous model) as i liked the look of it better, but the shop assistant talked me out of it. The look of the seat has grown on me. It's still not the look i… Read more

would like but it will do. It has a nice narrow design that fits well in the car i have (Kia Rondo) and i love that it reclines although it would be nice if it locked into position. Too many booster seats don't do this. I have another child on the way and i'm pleased that i know i can fit 3 child seats next to each other in my car. I found the seatbelt path extremely confusing even after searching for a video on how to install it. The video made it look easy and frankly it's not. I dread having to take the seat out and moving it. This won't be an issue once my daughter stops using the safety harness. That's another plus, how long she can use the harness for. Her shoulders still have a ways to go before she reaches the line that says she has to swap to a seat belt. Another plus is the seat is suitable from 6 months old. I wish the headrest was adjustable like her old seat though (Maxi-cosi complete air protect) I loved that i could adjust it to fit any of my kids without having to re-thread the harness. Maybe they can do this for their next design? Also the seat has cup holders that fold away underneath the chair, pretty cool but kinda useless if they are next to a window with another seat next to them or if there is 3 in the car as you can't access them. I like the armrests. Nice and soft and at a good height. Love that it reclines and that it's suitable from 6 months. Won't need to buy another seat either as it's good until she is 8. Narrow design so you can fit 3 in your car side by side. Also it has a nice smooth base so it doesn't damage the leather on my car seats, meaning no need for a protector mat Confusing seatbelt path and difficult to thread the belt through when using the 5 point safety harness. Fabric is a poor choice as it makes my daughter sweat. if we are in the car too long. Can't adjust the harness height without removing the car seat from the car, which means i have to re-thread the seat belt again.

Great seat – A great seat, narrow for putting three across the back seat. Probably better for an older baby though, not much padding/support for a 6 month old. The straps are really easy to extend and tighten making it safe I think. I have ad other seats that were so hard to adjust I probably ended up being a bit slack. narrow, easy Probably not the best seat for a younger baby eg 6 months Show 4 replies

Great and Versatile – The Safety 1st Custodian Plus is very generous in size. My son is 4 and I think I will be able to keep him harnessed for at least another year, which gives me peace of mind that he is well protected. I also love knowing that his little head is well protected by the Air Protect head rest. We protect ourselves with air bags in the car and it is… Read more

nice to know that I can now offer the same protection to my son.

Very Happy with this car seat and my 4 year old said it is very comfortable which is great as we do allot of long drives. The thing I like the most it is so versatile as they can be in this car seat for many years as it grows with your child and that it is narrow is a bonus. N/A

Pretty good! – I quite like this car seat, it's very lightweight and easy to install, i'm happy with the padding and it looks good. My daughter is quite happy in it when she's awake but since it doesn't stay in a reclined position (when you tighten belt it pushes it back to upright) it's not very good for sleeping. She's 2 and a half and not very big but her… Read more

shoulders only just reach minimum shoulder marks so I would think a younger child would need to be quite tall to fit. The crotch strap is quite far back so is a bit awkward to find when strapping in as daughter is always sitting on it but not a major problem, just annoying. My smallish 8yr old can also fit in it so it could last a long time.. If I could just get it to stay in recline I would give it higher rating as that is my only gripe, if you have a slightly older child who isn't inclined to sleep in the car it's probably a good choice. Lighweight, easy to istall, comfortable, good safety rating, fits for wide age range. Doesn't stay in recline so child can't sleep very comfortably.

Follow up review – I have had the seat in use for a couple of weeks now. I still like it for comfortability. I have, on the recommendation of a professinal fitter, changed the lap/sash path and used a belt clip from Infa-Secure to prevent the sash from slipping back causing the lap to loosen. Works well, seat is rock solid. Now for the real bad news. It doesn't… Read more

fit 3 across unless you have an internal width of at least 1.5 metres. Yep it is narrow at the base, but the top is 500mm. I returned the 2nd seat for a refund. If you need 3 narrow seats, have a look at the Infa-Secure Neon (available at BigW only). See my review on the Jeep Compass 2012 model for further comment. Easy to use It is considerably wider than the manufacturer implies and WILL NOT fit into most modern cars