Summer Infant Prodigy Infant Car Seat Review & Giveaway

When shopping for baby gear, the first thing I look for is safety. No matter how cute or convenient a product might be...if it's not safe for my kids, I don't give it another thought. Over the years I've learned which companies I can turn to time and time again for great products I can trust...one of those being Summer Infant!

With the mission of making this 'the best time of your life' and putting their heart and soul into everything they design, Summer Infant is dedicated to bringing parents a large selection of products that are both safe and sensible for little ones. Between their high quality baby products and excellent customer service, they have become a name parents know and trust.

We have owned several products from Summer Infant over the years and I'm a huge fan of their high quality, innovative products for little ones. With everything from health & safety products to bath, feeding and travel gear...they have everything parents are looking for.

Having had such great experience with Summer Infant products in the past, I was thrilled to learn we were going to have the opportunity to review their Prodigy Infant Car Seat.
Features/Benefits:

• Smart Screen technology, located on the car seat base, walks you through the 3 step installation process.
• An innovative belt tightening system easily fastens the base to the car with one hand.
  
• Removable, newborn head and body support.
• Matching Stroller in Uptown fashion available.
• Car Seat is rear facing only and fits child 4 to 32 lbs and 32” tall.
• Base requires 3 “AA” batteries (included)
• 4-position recline adjustment
• 3-position handle
• 5-point harness
• Adjustable canopy
• EPS energy-absorbing foam for increased safety and comfort

When the Summer Infant Prodigy Infant Car Seat arrived, I couldn't wait to check it out. As I pulled it out of the box, I was immediately impressed with the Uptown Fashion fabric. It's neutral and something that could easily be used with a boy or a girl. I personally love neutral baby gear, so this was much appreciated!
I also love the fact that the car seat comes with newborn inserts. These inserts are to be used with infants who weighs between 4 and 11 lbs. They're great for keeping baby secure and comfortable.

Checking out the fabric and materials used, I could tell this was going to be a very comfortable car seat for my little guy. I was right! He absolutely loved it from the minute I put him in it! The quality is fantastic and something I can tell will hold up very well.

And, as far as being a safe infant car seat...I was very happy to see the 5 point harness and unique SafeGuard 1Adjust.
This is a one-handed, front adjust, no re-thread harness system that automatically adjusts to the height of the child for a fast, snug fit. I absolutely love it! The harness adjuster strap makes it easy to snugly adjust the harness straps onto Caysen.

Another feature that makes this infant car seat truly one-of-a-kind though, is the Smart Screen technology and revolutionary belt tightening system that lets parents know the car seat has been installed correctly with a smiley face! I have to admit, one of the most difficult things about infant car seats, is making sure the base is installed correctly. In fact, did you know that 7 out of 10 car seats are currently installed incorrectly. That's a scary thought when it comes to the safety of our kids, which is why I love the fact that the Prodigy takes the guesswork out of a proper installation and replaces it with a secure fit to both the car and baby!

At first I was concerned that the Smart Screen Technology and belt tightening system would be difficult to figure out. After all, sometimes when things are more technologically advanced...I have a harder time figuring them out. Thankfully though, that couldn't have been farther from the truth. This infant car seat is incredibly easy to install. In just 3-easy steps we had it in the vehicle and ready to go.
The Smart Screen Technology guides parents through the quick and easy installation process with three easy steps:

1. Click - Attaching the Base to the vehicle
2. Level - Adjusting the Base angle to for correct amount of recline for your baby
3. Tighten - The Belt Tightening System makes it easy and fast for you to properly secure the base to the vehicle.

We began with the first step of attaching the base to our vehicle and saw the word "click" light up on the control panel when we began by pushing the "next" button. There are two methods for securing...either by LATCH or vehicle seat belt. Using LATCH, parents simply attach the latch connectors to the vehicle lower anchor bars. We attached it using the vehicle lap/shoulder seat belt and found that it was very simple to do. We simply routed the seat belt through the belt path and buckled it. The lap portion of the seat belt was threaded through the spool. BOTH lap and shoulder portions of the seat belt then go through the Tension Sensor.

Once that was finished, we clicked the "next" button again and the word “Level” lit up, indicating that we needed to adjust the base angle. To do this, we simply pressed the recline adjustment buttons on both sides of the control panel while lifting or lowering the base until a smiley face appears. I love that the the control panel helped me know when the base was exactly where it needed to be. It gives me peace of mind that Caysen is safe and secure.

Once the angel was correct, the word "Tighten" lit up on the Smart Screen. This meant it was time for us to tighten the installation by rotating the Belt Tightening Handle to the left until a smiley face appears. The word "complete" then lit up letting us know that the installation was complete and done correctly.

It was really that easy! I loved having the Smart Screen Technology to guide me as I installed the base quickly and easily. There's even a "test" button located on the control panel that allows you to check that the installation is secure from time to time. It is recommended to "test" the base installation at least once a month. I also appreciate that the control panel powers off on its own.
Attaching the infant carrier to the base is really easy as well. By pushing firmly into base you'll hear a click to know it's secure. Then, to remove the carrier from the base, firmly squeeze the Carrier Release Handle on the back of the Carrier and lift up.
Overall we've been very impressed with the Prodigy Infant Car Seat from Summer Infant. The quality is fantastic and the three innovative safety features (Smart Screen Technology, Belt Tightening System and Safeguard 1Adjust Harness System) really help give me peace of mind that my little man is safe when riding in it. It's safe for baby and an easy to install infant car seat for parents, which is great! I would definitely recommend this infant car seat to other parents I know! There's even a matching stroller in Uptown fashion available to make this a great travel system!
Buy It: Suggested retail for the Prodigy Infant Car Seat and Base is $179.99 and can be purchased from Babies R Us.

Win It: One very lucky reader is going to win the Prodigy Infant Car Seat from Summer Infant!

Mandatory Entry - Visit Summer Infant and let me know another product you'd love to have.

Extra Entries: (Only valid after the mandatory entry has been completed. Leave 1 comment for each extra entry)

1. 1 extra entry- Like Summer Infant on Facebook

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4. 3 extra entries- Blog about this giveaway (linking to this post and Summer Infant) and leave THREE comments with the URL to that post.

5. 1 extra entry- Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (You can tweet once a day for one extra entry every day)! You can copy and paste:

#Win the Smart, Safe & Secure Prodigy Infant Car Seat from Summer Infant! (ARV $179.99) http://bit.ly/wZRyey Ends 3/13

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10. 1 extra entry - Enter any of my other current giveaways. Leave me a comment on which one(s)....ONE entry for EACH giveaway you enter!!

Leave one comment for each entry you complete above including with each, your e-mail address (or make sure it's visible in your profile) so that I can easily contact the winner!!

This giveaway will end March 13th and is open to US and Canada!

**The products for this review and giveaway were provided for free by Summer Infant. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way. The opinions of others may differ from my own**