Graco Contender/Admiral Review

Graco Contender LATCH Storage Bar

On the Contender, there is one set of standard j-hook lower anchor connectors.  They’re attached to the seat with this innovative bar on the side of the seat.  To switch between modes, unthread the webbing and anchors from the current position, slide it along the bar and thread it through the other position.

The engineers at Graco have made the lower anchor strap too short to install with the strap in the wrong belt path.  This small change is critical: it eliminates a common misuse.  The Contender allows LATCH borrowing from other seating positions if the vehicle allows it as well.

We found that installing the Contender with the vehicle seat belt instead of these anchors made it a lot easier to take the seat out when we needed to move it.

Graco Contender belt paths are clearly labelled

The recline block has two positions: rear facing or forward facing.  There’s no guesswork involved in figuring out which to use — if you can read it, then it’s in the right position.  If it’s upside down, then it’s in the wrong position for that direction.  This simple, clear labeling takes the ease of use on this seat to a very high level.
Both the rear facing and forward facing belt paths (where you’d thread the lower anchors or thread the seat belt, depending on your installation method) are clearly marked.

Graco earns an A from the CSFTL team for this consistent, clear labeling!

Graco Contender

Installing the Contender rear facing was fairly straightforward.  The seat is light enough that pressure from my non-dominant hand was sufficient to achieve a snug install without a lot of grunting or sweating.  The recline angle ranges from 30-45 degrees and the seat has a bubble on the side so you can see where the angle lies.

Graco Contender- 7 lbs., 17 inches

The Contender fits our newborn Huggable Images doll fairly well.  At the lowest shoulder height setting, the infant padding helps to improve fit. This model is 7 lbs and 17″ long.  The bottom slot is 7″ when using the infant padding.

The infant recline is suitable for newborns when the seat was installed on the relatively flat seats in my Mazda 5.  In my car, it’s unlikely that the Contender would require a pool noodle to achieve the proper angle.

The infant insert has the following rules:

• Never allow body support to bunch or fold behind child.
• Only use body support in rear-facing mode.
• Body support MUST be used if shoulders are below lowest harness setting.

Graco Contender- 8 months, 19 lbs., 27 inches

This little guy was pleased as punch to check out the Contender.  At 8 months, he weighs 19 lbs and is 27 inches tall.  He’s got plenty of growing room in terms of height and weight in this seat!

Graco Contender- 2.5 years, 35 lbs., 37 inches

This happy little girl regularly rides rear-facing in a Graco Size4Me so she felt right at home in the Contender!  The seating area is identical and offers plenty of leg room.  Loading her into the seat presented no challenge at all.

She’s 2.5 years old, 37 inches tall, and weighs 35 lbs.

Graco Contender- 4 years, 43 lbs., 42 inches

Like the other Graco seats that feature no-rethread harnesses that we’ve reviewed, fitting the Contender to the child is a pretty simple task.  With 8 harness positions, the Contender has enough options that finding the right fit was just a matter of grabbing the big red handle, squeezing it, then pulling it up or down.  This feature is also handy when the seat has more than one rider using it for different trips.

This model is 4 years old, weighs 43 lbs and stands 42 inches tall.  She was able to climb into the seat easily and I was able to adjust the harness while she was sitting in the seat.  I did foolishly decide to lower the harness a click while she was strapped in — she found that uncomfortable.  Of course, right in the manual it says not to do this: “BEFORE adjusting the head support height, have your child lean forward slightly.”

The built-in cupholder made a nice spot for her stuffed dolphin and later, for her bunny tail.  From the front seat, I like the fit — she’s got enough leg room that she’s comfortable and the sides, though a bit high, still allowed me to reach her to buckle her in.

Graco Size4Me also fit this model rear facing when she was younger

When this model was younger, she rode rear facing in a Graco Size 4 Me.  The seat fit her fine, but I found that the higher sides made loading this particular kiddo (who at the time had some pretty substantial thighs given her overall size) in and out a bit of a challenge.  Forward facing, and having grown quite a bit, the Contender doesn’t have the same issue for her.

She was 3 years old in this picture, weighed 36 pounds and was 37 inches tall.  That buckle was part of the recall.

This model is 5 years, 4 months old, 45 pounds and 45 inches tall

Here, our model from earlier has grown.  She’s now 5 years, 4 months old.  She weighs 45 pounds and stands 45 inches tall.  She still has about an inch and a half of harness height left in this seat.  She finds the seat very comfortable and she’s got a bit of room left to grow in it!

This model is 5 years, 10 months old, 49 inches tall and 52lbs

This model is at the very top of the size range for the Contender.  She’s 5 years, 10 months old.  She’s 49 inches tall and weighs 52 pounds.

While she fits in the seat and the harness has enough slack for her to be strapped in properly, she finds the crotch buckle very uncomfortable.

Graco Contender’s forward facing belt path is enclosed

Because the Contender is so lightweight, it’s an excellent option for travel.  The forward facing belt path is enclosed, which means that the seat belt is threaded through a separate space from the child’s back.

Other seats that I’ve traveled with have open belt paths, where the belt runs just under the cover and behind the child.  While this is not an issue in the car, it’s an issue on the plane where the lap belt buckle can end up right behind the child’s back.  This wasn’t a problem with the Contender!

Graco Contender’s FAA Approval label is on the back of the seat shell

The Graco Contender’s FAA approval is on a label that’s tucked in the back of she shell of the seat, right behind where many popular travel carts attach to the seat.  This makes it almost impossible to see the label if you’re asked to show it while boarding an airplane.

Ask me how I know this.  In fact, you could ask everyone who was waiting to board behind me that day.

Gogo Kidz Travelmate attached to the Graco Contender

Attaching the Gogo Kidz Travelmate to the Contender was fairly simple.  The only tricky part was that the recline block doesn’t quite sit level with the ground.  So I had to attach the strap from the Travelmate to the bottom of the shell of the seat.

I think this picture explains it better than I can using words.

Graco Contender was an excellent seat for airplane use!

The Contender’s closed belt path and light weight made it an excellent travel seat for my kiddo.  The airplane lap belt’s buckle didn’t dig into her back and she was able to extend the tray table far enough that she could balance a tablet and watch her shows.

From my perspective, it was also great.  The Contender is just narrow enough to fit ALL THE WAY on the Southwest airplane seat.  This meant that for the first time in many moons, I could leave my armrest down while sitting next to my kiddo.  And I didn’t have to contort myself to install or uninstall the seat.