jka1217
New member
Basics
The Safety 1st Avenue is a 5 point harness seat that rear faces 5 – 35 pounds and forward faces 22 – 40 pounds. It has EPP foam and a somewhat padded cover, similar the padding of the Cosco Scenera covers. The harness adjustment is in the front. It comes with an infant head support, harness strap covers, and a cup holder. There are currently four pattern options, 2 are available at Sears, 2 are available at K-Mart. The LATCH clips are the standard clips. The harness is all one piece that loops underneath the seat. The cover is fitted to the seat and then has elastic loops that go around tabs on the seat to keep it in place, similar to how the cover is on a Cosco Scenera.
Comparison to Safety 1st Uptown
The Avenue appears to be a follow-up seat to the Safety 1st Uptown. Both of these seats have almost identical shells. The Avenue has some added nubs to hold the elastic bands for the cover and also a large cutout on the bottom. Otherwise, the harness slots, harness adjuster, and EPP foam are all the same.
Avenue and Uptown next to each other with covers
Avenue and Uptown next to each other without covers
Avenue and Uptown from the side. Note that the Avenue (on the left) has a cut out on the bottom.
Close up of underneath of seat, Avenue on left, Uptown on the right.
Pink arrows show locations of nubs for elastic straps on Avenue. These nubs are not on the Uptown shell.
Measurements
Please note: I took all of the following measurements with the cover removed. For the slot measurements, I gave the measurement for the bottom and top of the slot. The cover is not very thick, maybe about .25". All measurements are as accurate as I could get, I’m not a professional by any means!
All the measurements are the same as the Safety 1st Uptown, which has almost the identical shell.
First Harness Slot: 9.5” – 10”
Second Harness Slot: 11.75” – 12.25”
Third Harness Slot: 14” – 14.5”
Fourth Harness Slot: 16” – 16.5”
Shell Height: 25”
Shoulder Room at Top Slots: 10.5" inner, 13" outer
First Crotch Strap Slot: 3.5” – 4”
Second Crotch Strap: 4.75” – 5.25”
Third Crotch Strap: 6” – 6.75”
Seat Depth: 10”
Seat Width: 12”
Overall Seat Widest Point: 18”
Overall Upper Seat Width: 17”
Overall Lower Seat Width: 17”
Weight: 11 pounds
Installation – Rear Facing
I only tried to install this seat once rear facing. In my vehicle, a 2006 Chevy Equinox, I found it difficult to get a 45 degree angle for installation. This, of course, would vary by vehicle. Also, the cut out at the bottom does make it a little challenging to get pool noodles to stay in place, which are most likely needed to get a correct installation angle.
I have not had a chance to install this seat again. It was a back up seat I purchased, but have not had in regular use. However, the installation is fairly straightforward for rear facing, the belt path is fairly easy to access and use.
Installation – Forward Facing
I did not try to install the Avenue forward facing, but the installation is identical to the Uptown that I do have installed. The belt path is clearly marked and easy to access. You just need to make sure the foot is put in the down position, route the seat belt or LATCH strap through the belt path, secure it, and tighten. I can get tight installs forward facing fairly quickly with this seat.
Installation - Harness Adjuster Access when Rear Facing
The harness adjustment when rear facing for the Uptown was a concern for some people, depending on the installation angle of the Uptown and the slope of the vehicle seat. In my experience, I haven't had a problem with it. There is an indent in the cover of the seat where the flap for the harness adjuster is, making access to it easier. Plus, the flap is nice and large right at the adjuster to access it. Refer to pictures below of seat installed rear facing in a 2006 Chevy Equinox.
At first glance of the Avenue, it appears that they moved the harness adjuster because of the location of the access flap on the cover. Refer to the “Comparison to Safety 1st Uptown” section which has a picture of the Avenue and Uptown side by side and note the location of the access cover for the harness adjuster. However, if you remove the covers (refer to the same section above with the picture with both covers removed), you will see that the harness adjuster is still location in the same place on the shell. Now, when the Avenue is installed rear facing, you can get to the access flap much easier, but the harness adjuster is low and you have to reach your fingers down into the narrow access flap. See pictures below.
Not the best of design, but a way around this is to do minimal harness adjusting. So, adjust the harness on the child and do not loosen the harness to remove the child from the seat so that harness will be in the same position the next time the child is put in.
Conclusion
Even though the harness adjustment is not ideal for rear facing, for the price and other features of this seat, tall shell, fairly high harness slots, fairly narrow, lightweight, EPP foam, it is really a good value seat. You won’t find another seat on the market at this point in time in this price range that has all the same offerings.
The Safety 1st Avenue is a 5 point harness seat that rear faces 5 – 35 pounds and forward faces 22 – 40 pounds. It has EPP foam and a somewhat padded cover, similar the padding of the Cosco Scenera covers. The harness adjustment is in the front. It comes with an infant head support, harness strap covers, and a cup holder. There are currently four pattern options, 2 are available at Sears, 2 are available at K-Mart. The LATCH clips are the standard clips. The harness is all one piece that loops underneath the seat. The cover is fitted to the seat and then has elastic loops that go around tabs on the seat to keep it in place, similar to how the cover is on a Cosco Scenera.
Comparison to Safety 1st Uptown
The Avenue appears to be a follow-up seat to the Safety 1st Uptown. Both of these seats have almost identical shells. The Avenue has some added nubs to hold the elastic bands for the cover and also a large cutout on the bottom. Otherwise, the harness slots, harness adjuster, and EPP foam are all the same.
Avenue and Uptown next to each other with covers
Avenue and Uptown next to each other without covers
Avenue and Uptown from the side. Note that the Avenue (on the left) has a cut out on the bottom.
Close up of underneath of seat, Avenue on left, Uptown on the right.
Pink arrows show locations of nubs for elastic straps on Avenue. These nubs are not on the Uptown shell.
Measurements
Please note: I took all of the following measurements with the cover removed. For the slot measurements, I gave the measurement for the bottom and top of the slot. The cover is not very thick, maybe about .25". All measurements are as accurate as I could get, I’m not a professional by any means!
All the measurements are the same as the Safety 1st Uptown, which has almost the identical shell.
First Harness Slot: 9.5” – 10”
Second Harness Slot: 11.75” – 12.25”
Third Harness Slot: 14” – 14.5”
Fourth Harness Slot: 16” – 16.5”
Shell Height: 25”
Shoulder Room at Top Slots: 10.5" inner, 13" outer
First Crotch Strap Slot: 3.5” – 4”
Second Crotch Strap: 4.75” – 5.25”
Third Crotch Strap: 6” – 6.75”
Seat Depth: 10”
Seat Width: 12”
Overall Seat Widest Point: 18”
Overall Upper Seat Width: 17”
Overall Lower Seat Width: 17”
Weight: 11 pounds
Installation – Rear Facing
I only tried to install this seat once rear facing. In my vehicle, a 2006 Chevy Equinox, I found it difficult to get a 45 degree angle for installation. This, of course, would vary by vehicle. Also, the cut out at the bottom does make it a little challenging to get pool noodles to stay in place, which are most likely needed to get a correct installation angle.
I have not had a chance to install this seat again. It was a back up seat I purchased, but have not had in regular use. However, the installation is fairly straightforward for rear facing, the belt path is fairly easy to access and use.
Installation – Forward Facing
I did not try to install the Avenue forward facing, but the installation is identical to the Uptown that I do have installed. The belt path is clearly marked and easy to access. You just need to make sure the foot is put in the down position, route the seat belt or LATCH strap through the belt path, secure it, and tighten. I can get tight installs forward facing fairly quickly with this seat.
Installation - Harness Adjuster Access when Rear Facing
The harness adjustment when rear facing for the Uptown was a concern for some people, depending on the installation angle of the Uptown and the slope of the vehicle seat. In my experience, I haven't had a problem with it. There is an indent in the cover of the seat where the flap for the harness adjuster is, making access to it easier. Plus, the flap is nice and large right at the adjuster to access it. Refer to pictures below of seat installed rear facing in a 2006 Chevy Equinox.
At first glance of the Avenue, it appears that they moved the harness adjuster because of the location of the access flap on the cover. Refer to the “Comparison to Safety 1st Uptown” section which has a picture of the Avenue and Uptown side by side and note the location of the access cover for the harness adjuster. However, if you remove the covers (refer to the same section above with the picture with both covers removed), you will see that the harness adjuster is still location in the same place on the shell. Now, when the Avenue is installed rear facing, you can get to the access flap much easier, but the harness adjuster is low and you have to reach your fingers down into the narrow access flap. See pictures below.
Not the best of design, but a way around this is to do minimal harness adjusting. So, adjust the harness on the child and do not loosen the harness to remove the child from the seat so that harness will be in the same position the next time the child is put in.
Conclusion
Even though the harness adjustment is not ideal for rear facing, for the price and other features of this seat, tall shell, fairly high harness slots, fairly narrow, lightweight, EPP foam, it is really a good value seat. You won’t find another seat on the market at this point in time in this price range that has all the same offerings.
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