Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT Reviews (2023)
Table of Contents
While some parents may want to start riding their newborn in a convertible car seat or an all-in-one car seat, either of which can be used for an incredibly long time (up to 10 years), other parents choose to start with an infant seat and decide to go with the Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT.
There are many reasons to start with an infant car seat over a convertible seat.
Some of the many reasons include:
- Portability – the convenience of carrying your baby in their car seat.
- Lightweight – infant car seats are lighter in weight, allowing you to take a stroll in the park with your baby, go grocery shopping, make a hospital visit, etc., without feeling worn out so soon.
- Handle carrier – a convertible car seat does not usually have a carrier handle. But with an infant seat, you can always carry your baby when they are still light in weight.
- Stroller compatibility – the Safety 1st onBoard 35 lt infant car seat is compatible with a stroller and attaches securely with a simple click. It is compatible with any stroller that features QuickClick.
Nevertheless, the Safety 1st onBoard 35 is a good choice for all types of car seats. You are about to read a brutal assessment of the infant seat based on in-depth research and actual feedback from other parents, beyond what the manufacturer says.
Why You Can Trust this Assessment - Basis Of This Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT Reviews and
One of the overwhelming first assignments you carry out as a new parent is getting those baby products to buy. In this case, an infant seat. But where do you start from? What do you look out for? And more.
Here at ParentingWithHumility, with personal experience raising my four beautiful kids, I’ve gone over buying baby products and know where what and how to look out for things.
I’ve taken extra hours to do this research to write a review on the Safety 1st onBoard LT infant car seat. My research is based on how it’d be if I were buying a product for myself; I thoroughly do justice myself.
Beyond just what the manufacturer says, more insight is pulled from other parents’ experiences with the Safety 1st infant car seat.
Before delving into these reviews, I will like to prompt your mind on the basics an infant seat should have for the extra safety and comfort for a newborn;
- Extra padding for best comfort
- Carrier handle for easy carriage
- Recline positions to adjust to a suitable angle for a baby
- Harness system for baby’s safety and should be easily adjustable
- Soft materials for a baby’s comfort
- Impact pads to absorb energy in a crash
- Newborn insert to pad up the seat and fit any size of a child
- Features for easy installation
- Detachable base to easily use between vehicles, carry around, use in a taxi, etc.
- FAA approved for use on an airplane
Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT Review
If you are in a hurry to know what my assessment is, here are highlights of the pros and cons of the infant car seat.
To get the best insight from this review, you may need to read every detail of this article to the latter. It takes a little while to make the right decision if you would like this car seat or not.
Pros and Cons
Unbiased Review on the Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT Infant Seat
While this infant carries great easy-to-use features, is super-lightweight, and offers excellent comfort for a child, there is the issue with securely tightening the seat base.
The buckle straps also can get in between the baby’s thighs. And, it can be challenging to get the seat out of the base or secured back to the base. Hence my total score of 8.0.
Nevertheless, many parents love the seat and didn’t find the issues reported by others in theirs.
- Ultra-lightweight – very easy to carry
- Easily accommodates all sizes of babies, from tiny to tall
- Well-padded and comfortable
- Removable newborn inserts (head and body inserts) to support the baby's size (tiny baby)
- Compatible with strollers with QuickClick®
- Certified for airplane use (label on the side of the seat) – use on forward-facing aircraft seats ONLY
- Long life span (expiration) – 8 years from the date of manufacture
- Affordable – budget-friendly
- 1-year limited warranty
- Bottom buckle strap can pinch in between the thighs
- Difficulty in installing seat base
- Difficulty in getting the seat out of the base
Table 1: Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT Specifications
| FEATURE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
Product Dimension | 15.75 x 18 x 30.5 inches |
Product Weight | 14.99 lbs. (lightweight) |
Recommended Weight Range | 4 – 35 lbs. |
Recommended Height Limit | 32 inches |
Rear-facing Weight Limits | min. 4 lbs.; max. 35 lbs. (enough room for growth) |
Rear-facing Height Limits | 32 inches |
Life span (expiration) | 8 years from the DOM (label on the side of the seat) |
Table 2: Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT Features
| FEATURE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
Safety Features |
|
Installation |
|
Ease of use |
|
Longevity and Suitability |
|
Comfortability for a Child |
|
Who is it best for? |
|
Key Decision-making Factors for the Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT Infant Seat
Here is a quick overview of key decision-making factors to help you decide if the Safety 1st onBoard 35 is the right infant seat for you.
Some of the factors to look out for in an all-in-one car seat include:
- Installation features – When using an infant seat, one crucial factor to consider is the ease of installation. Not only that, if you will be carrying the seat more frequently, you want a seat you’ll be able to remove from the base easily. Installation features include the LATCH/LUAS/ISOFIX system and the seat belt.
- Compatibility with a vehicle – since vehicles are different in size and interior designs, a car seat should be adaptable to a vehicle by unique features. On the other hand, an infant seat should be easy to use in any car if, for instance, you need to use your seat in a taxi (installing without a base)
- Size – this goes side-by-side with compatibility. The bigger a seat, the less likely it’ll be able to fit with just any car. Since this is an infant seat, you’ll be more interested in a seat you can carry your infant in as such a seat should be lightweight and portable.
- Ease of usage – being a first-time parent, you don’t need the stress that comes with handling a car seat. An infant seat should be easy to use, clean, and have extra features to enhance usage.
- Comfort and growing room space – an infant seat should accommodate babies of every size and still offer comfort and not compromise safety. On the other hand, you want to consider a seat that offers enough growing space so your child can keep riding safely rear-facing for as long as possible.
- Weight and height requirement – The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a child ride in a rear-facing car seat for up to 2 years. Many states’ car seat laws require infants and toddlers under 20 lbs. to ride rear-facing. An infant seat should accommodate a child longer than these requirements to ensure the child’s safety.
- Safety features – All car seats produced are made to meet federal safety standards. However, many car seat manufacturers go overboard and exceed these standards, giving parents the trust that a car seat is safe for their children. Beyond this, extra safety features are also included in different models of cars seat, which is a great idea too, and many parents look forward to new and additional safety features.
- Other factors – other personal preferences can fall under here, say color preference, luxury design, and more. These are personal and would depend on an individual basis.
Table 3: Comparing the Factors above with What the Safety 1st onBoard LT Offers
| Key Decision-making Factors | onBoard 35 lt | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
Installation Features |
| Excellent |
Compatibility With Vehicle |
| Very good |
Size |
| Excellent - easy to carry |
Ease of Usage |
| Excellent |
Comfort And Growing Room Space |
| Excellent - for tiny babies |
Weight And Height Requirement |
| Excellent |
Safety |
| Excellent |
Detailed Insight to this Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT Review Based on the Features – PROS and CONS
To give you more insight on this review assessment from actual users and not just word of mouth from the manufacturer, the Pros and Cons earlier listed at the beginning of this review have been expanded with more details.
PROS
Comfort
The cushion is thick and, at the same time, soft, which gives a baby that cozy comfort. Parents gave good comments on the cushion and the comfortable benefit for their babies.
The infant seat also comes with a canopy which some parents assess as looking durable and thick, some complain that it gives a little noise when pulled back or forth, but that isn’t very important. The canopy can also be challenging to put back together.
The infant seat pads are easy to clean and install back.
Newborn Inserts (head and body inserts) to support Baby’s Size
This infant seat comes with head and body inserts that support a baby’s size. So, even if a baby is tiny, you don’t have to worry; the seat will fit well. Many parents appreciate this and cite this as a reason to have bought the seat.
Compatible with strollers with QuickClick®
This is a perfect seat for a travel system. Additionally, it has the QuickClick feature, which makes it compatible with any stroller that has this feature. Many parents love this.
CONS
Where does this product lack?
The Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT seat have some cons you need to be aware of; for some parents, they could get through with it.
Difficulty in Installing
This is a common CON for nearly all car seats, especially when there isn’t a special feature to ease the installation.
On the other hand, tightening a car seat is the most important step to ensure it serves its purpose in the first place. A baby seat must not move more than 1 inch when pushed front-to-back and side-to-side while holding at the belt side.
Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that some parents find the onBoard 35 LT challenging to tighten. Some recommend installing using the LATCH over the seatbelt to overcome the challenge, while others recommend not using the base.
Difficulty in Getting the Seat out of the Base
There are complaints about getting the infant seat easily out of the base. This may not be a serious issue.
Bottom Buckle Strap can Pinch in Between the Thighs
Many parents find this issue over and that it is short. However, there is a hack to this. You can wear your baby a short/pants or tuck a spare cloth under the straps.
Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT Installation
The Safety 1st onBoard 35 can be installed either using the LATCH system or the safety belt, but not the two at the same time.
You can choose to install with the base or without. If you decide to install with the base, you can always detach the infant seat from the base and carry your baby while in the seat.
However, installing the seat is easy, as reported by ‘some’ parents. But there are some things to take note of ahead of time.
According to the manual, when installing the seat to the base, ensure you hear a ‘click’ sound to confirm the seat is secured to the base. Learn how to install Safety 1st car seats, including the onBoard 35 LT.
Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT Manual
You are always recommended to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for car seat registration, expiry date, car seat installation, cleaning, maintenance, etc.
You can find the Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT manual here. Please refer to the one attached to your car seat when you receive that. You can also find expiration dates for other safety 1st models and learn more about car seat expiration here.
Final Wrap-Up – Should You Still Consider This Safety 1st Infant Car Seat?
Getting to this point of the Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT infant car seat reviews, you may have made up your mind or are still skeptical about your decision.
Helping you decide, I will go with this infant seat if I am within a budget. And when I receive the seat, I’ll test those flaws reported by other parents, and if I find such, I’ll return it if I’m still within the return window.
Nevertheless, the Safety 1st onBoard 35 LT infant seat is very comfortable for a baby. It comes with infant inserts for tiny babies. It is lightweight, compatible with strollers, perfect for a travel system, and passed several safety tests.
