Baby Products, Getting Ready For Baby Gift Guide, Reviews

Combi Shuttle Infant Car Seat Review (Getting Ready For Baby Gift Guide)

A special thanks to Combi USA for providing the Miss Frugal Mommy blog with a product for free in exchange for an honest review!

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About Combi USA

“Established in 1989 as a subsidary of the #1-selling Combi Corporation in Japan, Combi USA strives to provide stylish, practical and innovative juvenile products. Derived from the word “combination,” Combi refers to the critical relationship between children and their caretakers. Combi draws inspiration from modern, sleek Japanese design, then transforms those ideas into products that are convenient and suitable for American families. As a member of the juvenile products industry, Combi USA has cultivated a firm and continually-growing foundation of consumer trust and loyalty.”

“Combi USA offers a variety of products including lightweight strollers, fun mobile entertainers, feeding products and everything in between! We strive to design products that make parenting easier and maximize convenience. To view the full product line, check out Combi’s product categories, which are located in the top navigation bar.”

About the Combi Shuttle Infant Car Seat

” The Combi Shuttle® Infant Car Seat is lightweight, travel-friendly and engineered for safety. Equipped with 360 degrees of protection the Combi Tru-Safe® Side Impact Protection and anti-rebound bar, shields your child in front, rear and side impact collisions. An adjustable head restraint with deep side walls and a layer of energy-absorbing foam distributes crash forces away from your infant’s head, neck and spine. The anti-rebound bar stabilizes the infant seat by minimizing rotational forces in front and rear collisions. An easy-to-remove and washable cover, harness pads, and a large canopy keep children comfortable and safe throughout their first year of life. Premium, push-button LATCH connectors, a built-in lock-off and an ergonomically-designed carry handle make the seat easy to install and transport. The Shuttle is also designed to be compatible with the current line of Combi strollers to create a complete travel system for your on-the-go lifestyle. The Shuttle accommodates infants rear-facing from birth to 35 pounds and up to 33 inches tall.”

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My Review

An infant car seat is by far one of the biggest purchasing decisions you will make when getting ready for a new baby. With my third baby on the way, you would think that it would be an easy decision for me this time around. However, while shopping car seats these past few months, I found myself, once again, overwhelmed with the many selections. There was just so much to choose from that I wasn’t even sure how to eliminate or where to start. I decided to step away from the computer and make a list, one that consisted of pros and cons from the infant car seats I used with my first two children. There were two major features that were at the top of the list and a must for the new car seat. I knew that I wanted a car seat that was lightweight and easy to carry, as I am a petite person. I also wanted an infant car seat that would grow with my baby during the first year so I could get a good amount of use from it.

After all of the research and reading about every infant car seat under the sun, I found that the Combi USA Shuttle Infant Car seat was everything I was looking for! Let me walk you through a few of my favorite features from this amazing car seat and show you why I am absolutely in love with it!

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I don’t know about you but I have always found it absolutely disturbing when I complete stranger would walk up to my baby while I am shopping and proceed to touch them! The large canopy on this infant car seat is a fantastic way to keep unwanted hands away from your baby. I also like how it overlaps in the back so that it securely stays in place. My baby will be born in the middle of summer and with two active children, we will undoubtedly be outside quite often. The canopy is great for protecting baby from the sun and ensures she will get some shade when we are outside.

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The padding and protection within the car seat is amazing and by far one of the best I have ever seen in a car seat. You are strongly encouraged not to put head rests and such in any car seat that were not intended for the car seat. Unfortunately I see parents doing this all of the time, which I can understand because your newborn baby looks so tiny in their new car seat. They always look so uncomfortable when their little heads flop to the side and you worry their necks will get sore from this. What’s great about the Shuttle Infant Car Seat is that is already includes all of the extra padding and head protection so that your tiny newborn will have a snug and comfortable fit.  The EPE-Energy absorbing padding is also ideal for protecting baby if you are ever in a car accident.

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The harness adjuster on this car seat is so simple to use and not one you are going to struggle with. I remember with my first child having such a difficult time with adjusting the car seat straps. For some reason they would always get tangled and caught in the back of the car seat, meaning I would have to uninstall the car seat just to re-aline the straps. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I had to readjust the straps to finally get them properly aligned and even on both sides so that I could strap my baby in properly. Car seats have come a long way since then and I am so delighted to have a car seat with straps that are designed well enough that they can be adjusted with just one hand.

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A very unique feature that the Shuttle Infant Car Seat contains is an anti-rebound bar, which will stabilize the seat if ever in a collision. The rebound bar pushes against the back seat when rear facing, preventing the car seat from moving as much if you are in a car accident. Because the anti-rebound bar is built in, I have the reassurance of knowing that it is always properly installed and will serve it’s purpose 100% if I am ever in a car accident. I have also found that this anti-rebound bar is a great tool for me when getting it out of the car. I am fairly short and our family car is a Jeep, which makes getting the car seat in and out quite comical some days. I just love that I can get a good grip on both ends of the car seat when taking it out, instead of just scooping it up or using the handle. This is definitely a wonderful feature for all of my fellow moms that are vertically challenged, such as myself.

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Another really great feature that makes this car seat even more convenient to work with is the adjustable head restraint in the back. There is a red knob in the back of the seat that you can twist (allowing you to move the headrest up or down) with four different adjustments to choose from. Typically you have to take apart the lining of the car seat, removing the straps and rethreading them in order to adjust the headrest. This adjustable head restraint saves you so much time and hassle, most defiantly one of my most favorite features from this car seat!

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As you can see from the images below, while using a newborn baby doll, you can clearly see that your baby will be quite comfortable and secure when strapped into the car seat. I just love all of the added padding, support, and comfort already included in this seat, this is certainly something that is going to make traveling with baby significantly easier. I am especially fond of the padding that is behind the harness straps, as I am ashamed to admit that I have pinched my poor wiggly three year old’s legs a couple of times while strapping him into his convertible car seat. I am extremely paranoid about doing this and am ecstatic to see that the Shuttle infant Car Seat has eliminated the possibility of me accidentally doing this to the new baby.

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One of the most vital things about using a car seat is ensuring that you have it properly installed in your car because you want to be 100% sure baby will be safe during an accident. This starts with the car seat base and it is always beneficial when it contains enough features that can clearly show you that your seat is indeed installed properly. The Shuttle Infant Car Seat provides an easy-to-read level indicator, one of the most clear and efficient ones I have ever seen! The base also has a simple to use four position height adjustment. I was amazed at how simple this was to use and that it allowed me to easily get the car seat into the correct position and angle when I installed it in our Jeep.

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I have to complain, once again, about another obnoxious feature from a previous car seat that I used with my son. I absolutely despised used the latch connectors on my son’s infant car seat and every time I had to take the car seat out of the car. When reaching my hands inside the seats, I could never find the small clip that allowed my to disconnect the latches and I always ended up cutting my knuckles during my many attempts. Once the car seat was finally out and I had to relocate it, I had this long and obnoxious string dangling from my car seat that banged off from everything, as the car seat had no way to hold them.

How excited was I to see that the Shuttle Infant Car Seat contained a push button latch? Pretty darn excited and have to say that this is a genius idea! No longer must I worry about finding a little push clip when latching and unlatching the car seat, there is an amazing and simple red button. These latch connectors are so incredibly easy to use and I no longer find it a hassle or literally painful getting a car seat installed into the Jeep. There is also a little compartment underneath the base that allows you to store the latches when not in use!

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So many of you left wonderful comments on the review for the Combi Catalyst Stroller and I am very excited to share with you that that this infant car seat goes with it! Taking a look back at the review for the stroller, the frame is simply amazing with a huge, easy to access storage basket, one hand folding feature and it’s a great space saver. We all know how much little ones love car rides and how quickly they can fall asleep in the car seat. I have found myself in this common predicament… arriving to our destination only to have my baby sound asleep in the car seat and debating whether to take them out and put them in the stroller OR carry the car seat. Having the Catalys Stroller frame completley avoids this and now allows me to easily click the stroller into the frame without waking your precious baby… te perfect travel system in my opinion!

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Overall I am completely satisfied and 100% pleased with the Shuttle Infant Car seat, it’s simply everything I wanted and more! The convenient and impeccable safety features and high quality material ensures me that this car seat is going to make my life significantly easier during my baby’s first year of life. Your baby spends so much time in their car seat during the first year and it’s up to us to find one that provides them with comfort and safety and I so glad to have discovered such a flawless one!

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13 thoughts on “Combi Shuttle Infant Car Seat Review (Getting Ready For Baby Gift Guide)

  1. I have been researching car seats with my daughters who are both due this summer and the thing I liked about this was the anti-rebound bar which is the next best thing to having a roll cage. This car seat will go on the list for further review

  2. I love so much about this car seat – It also functions as a stroller has an anti rebound bar, adjustable positions, etc. Combi is a great brand.

  3. I think one thing (and there are so many great ones to choose from!) that i like is the level indicator. the old car seats it seemed you could never get them in and stationary properly! this would be such a wonderful feature to make sure baby is secure and sitting at a safe level position!

  4. Wow! I wish I would have picked this car seat combo over the Gracco I have now….The car seat looks like it has a lot of cushion for padding. Looks very comfortable! I love the level indicator feature as well!

  5. The quality of these car seats are fabulous. so many great features for safety and comfort. thank you for the comprehensive review.

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