Graco Size4Me vs. Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 5/70

Hi there,
Thanks to all the advice received on this forum, I decided to get the Graco Size4Me and the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 5/70 to try out in person. I thought I should share my side by side comparison to help others in a similar situation (trying to ERF a very very big baby in a little car, while needing to remove the seat a couple of times a week). Here are my findings:

In favor of Graco Size4Me:
- Retails for $180 (vs. $330 for Peg)
- taller harness height position (officially measures 17.5" vs Peg's 17", but as far as I can tell the Graco is at least an inch taller - more like 18" vs 17")
- up to 27.5" torso+head height, since it says up to 1" below the red adjuster which is 28.5" (vs. 24" with headrest at top rearfacing position for Peg)
- VERY nice LATCH release mechanism - "InRight": pull on red loops to release (vs. push button for Peg)
- seating area is much lower/closer to the car's seat so in some ways easier to get in and out
- has two reclining positions when forward facing (vs single reclining position for forward-facing on Peg)
- forward-facing belt path a bit easier to fit hands through
- cupholder (vs none on Peg)
- weight a bit lighter (19lbs vs Peg's 21.5 lbs)

In favor of Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 5/70
- MUCH nicer fabric (vs. the Graco's which feels extremely cheap and appears to be almost intolerably unbreathable)
- lower-profile edges on the seating area, so easier to sit cross-legged and in some ways easier to get in and out
- 45 lb weight rear-facing weight limit (vs 40 lb for Graco)
- cushier padding throughout (vs standard, possibly uncomfortable padding on Graco though both apparently use EPS foam)
- Made in Italy (vs. Graco made in China)
- harness retaining straps to hold harness out of the way (vs none on Graco)

Similar for both:
- Similar LATCH attachment mechanism
- Similarly easy mechanism to raise/lower headrest and adjust the harness tightness
- Side impact protection, with squishy padding at the head
- Single recline position for rear-facing
- Two crotch belt positions
- 7 year lifespan
- Same internal shoulder width and bottom width
- Fit in the middle position in our 2012 Focus without adjusting the seats from where we normally have them (for 6' 2" and 5'10" people). The Graco fit in the outboard position by adjusting the seat tilt by about 1-2". I didn't try Peg in the outboard position.


Honestly, the Graco's cheap fabric was ALMOST a deal breaker on this; my baby is a chubby little toaster and I'm predicting it to be very uncomfortable, plus it looks shabby and cheap already. But the higher height allowances on the Size4Me won me over. I liked the LATCH connectors and reclining option when FF. The savings didn't hurt either (especially because I found mine on clearance at Target for $125!) I'm just hoping, hoping, hoping Graco offers replacement covers made out of something decent and breathable (because I've read other posts here about the dangers of after market seat covers). But I'm at least going to sew some harness holders onto it!

Feel free to ask other Qs!

Glad to see you're really doing your research here! I know all kids are different but overall I haven't heard many complaints about Graco's fabric, you may find that your DS may not have a problem with it. I followed the curve that your DS is currently on at it looks like he'll be almost 3 when he hits 40 pounds so if you're comfortable FF then it sounds like this is a good seat for you. Have you heard of Lula clips? http://www.lulaclips.com/

For what it's worth, J was 97th+ percentile for quite a while and I thought there was no way he would make it to 3 rear facing. He hit 36 pounds at 22 months and surprisingly he's still 36 pounds- he'll be 3 in less than a month. There's a chance your little one may drop in percentiles too.

I can't say which is for you... I think probably making this post probably helped you figure which one you are leaning toward more.

I'm just going to also suggest other seats to look at... I'd look at the Britax convertibles because they also have nice and breathable fabrics and you can find them on sale on sites like albeebaby.com

I'd also look at the Diono Radians because they have the 45lb rearfacing weight limit and nice tall slots, and the seat sits lower for easy in/out

Thanks for the tips (especially the Lula Clips - they look helpful!)

I will go with the Size4Me for now and I suppose reassess things between 40-45 lbs once we see how tall my daughter is. I would guess she will always be tall but will likely thin down (wow, Brianna, that's an amazing trajectory and plateau for your LO!). I am pretty sure she would have outgrown the Peg by height by then anyway. Who knows what will be on the market at that time!

(p.s., while packing up the Peg, I noticed it *does* have two reclining positions, contrary to my initial post. Not sure if for RF or FF but wanted to correct the record for others interested!)

I have a just turned 3 year old who is huge. She has the same torso as her 5 year old sister. She's all but outgrown the peg since you can only use the headrest to the 8th? can't remember exactly position.

With the new height rules on the graco, she would have YEARS of room left height wise.

Brianna said:

Have you heard of Lula clips? http://www.lulaclips.com/

Click to expand...

I don't have much input on either seat (although it is nice to see a comparison) but wow those clips are cool! I want some. I hate having to fish straps out from under DS's bum!

I just got my s4m yesterday and I am not digging the fabric or the infant padding either. It feels extremely cheap but other than that I like it so far but I haven't had DD to put in it yet.

A little update: finally made my final, final decision (was waffling a bit there for a while due to comfort issues, see below) -- the fact that the top 3 headrest/harness positions aren't allowed RF for the Peg Perego P.V. 5/70 totally ruled it out height-wise for me. My 24 lb 8 month old already has a height of 12" to her shoulders so this carseat would only give her 2 more inches before having to turn FF (harness position 7 gives a top height of 14.2", as mentioned on some prior thread here). Yikes! She might hit that before age 1!

As an aside, on the Peg, I have to say it's very frustrating to even figure out whether you are IN one of the top 3 positions. I honestly cannot figure out how to discern other than trying to push it down one slot at a time and letting the mechanism catch each time, but it isn't that obvious whether you've skipped a slot. There are holes in the back you can count, but they aren't labeled and it's not really clear whether you count open holes or the one that it's stuck in. Sorry - I know it seems like it must be obvious to figure out... I'm a PhD, but I'm rather sleep deprived so I guess maybe we can at least agree it's just not that user-friendly? Disappointing because the fabric and padding feels SO nice, but obviously RF past age 1 is kinda more important.

Another note, my daughter seems to really despise being in the Size4Me, she scrunches her face and arches her back, etc., whereas she was generally fine in her Babytrend (?) infant carrier. Unfortunately, I have no idea if she just doesn't like the bigger type of seat in general (perhaps due to the side impact things around her face?) or whether the Size4Me is just uncomfortable due to the cheap fabric/padding. It's disappointing to buy a new seat and have her hate it, but I don't know that it would be different with another convertible so I don't think I can/will do anything about it. I had her sit in the Peg Perego and she was pretty contented for a while, but eventually had the same response. Took about 10 minutes for her to be frustrated vs. 1 minute in the Size4Me - not very scientific with just one test, but I thought I'd mention it that the Size4Me seems to be less comfortable.

Shoulders can be above the straps for RFing, so you have until the head is 1" from the top of the headrest in the peg.

Yes, 14.2" is the top usable slot for rf but the shoulders can go above that until there is at least one inch of headrest above the top of their head, so it rf just a little bit less than the Radian. Also, rest assured that your baby will not have a 14" torso by age 1. That would be off the charts huge. Torso growth is a lot slower than overall growth so she may very well be 12" for quite some time. My son was built very similarly and his torso stayed on the bigger side. It was over 12" by 11 months old and was around 15" by 2.5 yrs old. He still would have fit rf in the Viaggio though.

I hope she grows to love the S4M. I can't wait until we need to get ours!

Oh, and I love your breakdown of the 2 seats. Very helpful!