Easy to Install AND Clean Chicco #NextFitZip Convertible Car Seat {Review}

I believe a car seat is one of the most important baby items you will purchase.  I want to make sure that my kids are 100% safe and protected in the car.  Everyone is so busy driving here, there, and everywhere.  A safe, and easy to use car seat is so important!  Car seats have changed so much, and even just between my two kiddos that are 5 years apart there are major differences!  Chicco has gone above and beyond other car seats.  They have come out with the NextFit Zip convertible car seat that is not only the easiest to install, but also the easiest to clean!  Since my kids are in their car seats so often they take quite the beating.  Cheerios, and goldfish get smashed into every nook and cranny.  My kids have a real talent to make those “leak proof” zippy cups spill everywhere and make lovely circular sticky stains.  Even worse is when their car seats have been blasted by a blow out diaper or the contents of a sick tummy.  **shudder**  Cleaning a car seat can be down right scary y’all.  You want to keep your investment clean, but you also don’t want to break it or ruin anything making it unusable!  Thankfully when Chicco offered to let me test out the new NextFit Zip it was an answer to all me car seat cleaning woes.

First of all I absolutely love Chicco.  When Halli out grew her infant carrier we purchased the original Chicco NextFit.  I LOVED that car seat.  I didn’t think I could love a car seat anymore until the NextFit Zip.  It has all the amazing features of the first NextFit plus a few more that are life savers.

Just like the original the NextFit Zip has a steel frame, and has really super soft durable fabric.  It is such comfy chair!  The shoulder pads are nice and cushioned so her straps won’t rub on her neck. They are also easy to unvelcro and remove for cleaning. The buckle is also padded which is one of my favorite features!  The padded buckle makes it impossible to accidentally pinch her chunky thighs or get her skirt stuck in the buckle.  Also during the summer time cars get so hot the padded buckle protects her from any metal that might accidentally touch her leg while I buckle her in.

It is super easy to get the perfect fit for Halli and is easy to adjust while she grows.  There are 6 different headrest positions that you can easily adjust by squeezing the orange button at the top.  I love that I don’t have to rethread the harnesses every time we need to bump her headrest or straps up.  It is so quick and easy to slide it up and then make sure that the straps are at or below her shoulders.  The 2-position chest clip will easily grow with her while she rear and forward facing.

Another one of my favorite new features is the kid ready ComfortFlex harness.  The straps have a padded flex out design so it is always ready for me to just set Halli in.  No more fighting with straps to get them out from under her back and bum.  The straps are already out to the side and I can just set her in the car seat and buckle her right in.  Then when I need to get her out, I just unbuckle her and the straps flex out.  Getting her in and out of her NextFit Zip is a breeze!  It is amazing!

 Installing the Chicco NextFit Zip is so easy.  It has 9 different recline positions.  There is no need for any pool noodles or towels to get it in the correct position to install in your vehicle. The dual level indicators also help make sure I have her car seat at the correct angle.  The two RideRight bubble levels are both for rear and forward facing.

The LATCH system is so easy to just slide onto the latches in my car and the SuperCinch LATCH tightener makes it so easy to tighten.  My husband who doesn’t have a passion for car seats quite like I do even said “Wow, that is really amazing!”  It is by far the easiest car seat to tighten and install.

And now….my VERY most favorite feature!!! The ENTIRE seat pad zips out and can be thrown in the washing machine!!!

I’ll be honest, I was pretty skeptical on how in the world the entire seat pad could come out and be washed.  I have tried to clean our car seats and have failed miserably.  Chicco sent us some snacks to test out with our NextFit Zip.

Everyone has cheerios, fruit snacks, and juice in their pantry right?  They are easy to grab and go, but leave my kids car seats a disaster!  I decided I would really put NextFit Zip to the test and let my kids go crazy.

Halli did not disappoint and there were Cheerios everywhere.  They were mostly mashed into every little crease of her car seat.  She also had shaken her milk out all over her one day.  She was a soggy mess and the milk left a big stain on the bottom of her seat.

I don’t give her fruit snacks yet, but Hayden will eat them sometimes.  I found a melted and sticky fruit snack in her car seat.  Im assuming Hayden being the sweet brother he is tried to share the green fruit snack with her.  Because as he likes to tell me often, “the green ones are yucky and everyone knows that no one likes them….”  He is such a funny boy.

The seat cover unzips similar to a sleeping bag.  Behind the headrest is super stretchy fabric that stretches up over the top of the headrest and then the rest slides off.  It was sooo easy to get off!  Then I put it in my washing machine on delicate and hoped for the best.  I was so anxious while that thing was washing, and after it lined dried.  It washed up and looked like it was brand new again!  Getting it back on the car seat was just as easy as taking it off.  It slipped back on, and I stretched it up over the headrest.  Then zipped it back up and done!  Bam, perfectly clean car seat!

You know you’re a mom when you are in love and over the moon about a car seat.  The NextFit Zip car seat is comfortable, easy to install, will help me keep Halli rear facing for a really long time, AND is a breeze to clean.   It is seriously the best car seat ever.  I don’t have to be afraid of cleaning my car seat anymore.

You can purchase the Chicco NextFitZip Convertible Car Seat exclusively from Babies R Us! Make sure to add it to your registry!