We went w/the Compass over the Chicco for our tiny baby for price ($80 on albee), full EPS liner, and weight (light!).
We LOVE how the base installs sooo easily in any vehicle. It occasionally needs a pool noodle or two, even w/the recline foot out all the way, but it goes in rock solid in everything. The lock off is nice and tight, so tight that it's almost impossible to get it back open. Once it's closed, it's closed! With the lower anchors, the base is an absolute breeze to install. The hooks are like Britax and they easily snap back into the base for storage.
The carrier/carseat is nice, too, but I think for our tiny baby I would have liked the Chicco much better. The shoulder harness slots are low enough for our 5.5 lb, 18.5" baby--sitting just below his shoulders. But the crotch strap only has one position, and it's out too far, so it's harder to get the harness straps across his thighs properly. It wouldn't hurt either if the harness straps that go across his thighs came out of the seat further towards the back, so that they set across his thighs properly. It's tough to get the harness adjusted snugly on his body the right way. The retainer clip is pretty wide for a tiny baby, but that's not a big deal. The harness adjusts reasonably well, but sometimes gets hung up in the back on one side, so you have to adjust that.
For a preemie, you can make this seat work, but honestly, even though it has a minimum of 4 lbs, it really isn't a great fit for that small of a baby. Maybe when they get a bit taller 20" or so and over 6-7 lbs, it works really well. I'd prefer the Chicco, but we can make the Compass work.
I'd recommend it definitely for a full term newborn, but if you pay full price for it, you might prefer the Graco SafeSeat 1, so you get more use out of it. The Compass only goes to 22 lbs and only has two harness slots.
Overall, a really nice seat that we will use until baby outgrows it.
henrietta
We LOVE how the base installs sooo easily in any vehicle. It occasionally needs a pool noodle or two, even w/the recline foot out all the way, but it goes in rock solid in everything. The lock off is nice and tight, so tight that it's almost impossible to get it back open. Once it's closed, it's closed! With the lower anchors, the base is an absolute breeze to install. The hooks are like Britax and they easily snap back into the base for storage.
The carrier/carseat is nice, too, but I think for our tiny baby I would have liked the Chicco much better. The shoulder harness slots are low enough for our 5.5 lb, 18.5" baby--sitting just below his shoulders. But the crotch strap only has one position, and it's out too far, so it's harder to get the harness straps across his thighs properly. It wouldn't hurt either if the harness straps that go across his thighs came out of the seat further towards the back, so that they set across his thighs properly. It's tough to get the harness adjusted snugly on his body the right way. The retainer clip is pretty wide for a tiny baby, but that's not a big deal. The harness adjusts reasonably well, but sometimes gets hung up in the back on one side, so you have to adjust that.
For a preemie, you can make this seat work, but honestly, even though it has a minimum of 4 lbs, it really isn't a great fit for that small of a baby. Maybe when they get a bit taller 20" or so and over 6-7 lbs, it works really well. I'd prefer the Chicco, but we can make the Compass work.
I'd recommend it definitely for a full term newborn, but if you pay full price for it, you might prefer the Graco SafeSeat 1, so you get more use out of it. The Compass only goes to 22 lbs and only has two harness slots.
Overall, a really nice seat that we will use until baby outgrows it.
henrietta