The Graco MyRide convertible car seat has been on the market for a few years now, and we love it for its affordability, extended rear facing capacity, and ease of use.
CSFTL Quick Stats
- Rear facing weight limit: 5-40 lbs.
- Rear facing height limit: Until the child’s head is 1 inch below the top of the seat’s shell
- Forward facing weight range: 20-65 lbs.
- Forward facing height range: up to 50″
- Shell height: 24″
- Lowest harness position: 7.5″ with insert
- Highest harness position: 17″
- Expiration: 7 years (older models are 6 years)
- Lower anchor weight limit: 48 lbs/45lbs/42lbs – be sure to check the manual that came with the seat
- Dual lower anchor straps with clip style connectors
The MyRide is easy to install rear facing, whether using the seat belt or lower anchors. To make things simple, the MyRide has two lower anchor straps: one for the forward facing belt path (which is black) and one for the rear facing belt path (which is gray). No need to switch the strap from the rear to forward facing belt path, it’s already there. The MyRide also has convenient storage hooks for all of those straps when not in use.
One trick to make installation of the MyRide easier when rear facing is to pull up the fabric cover around the cupholder, and pull the seat belt or LATCH strap through that hole instead of trying to pull from outside the seat. This gives you a better angle for tightening.
Once installed, the seat takes up a medium amount of space front to back. It wouldn’t be a great choice for a very small back seat, but for mid – large size vehicles, it’s a great fit. At 5’7″ I was comfortable driving my 1998 Honda CRV with the MyRide installed behind the driver’s seat.
The MyRide allows rear facing until the child is 40 lbs or their head is 1″ from the top of the shell (which measures 24″ tall), there is no standing height limit. These roomy limits will allow the average toddler to get to somewhere around 3 years old rear facing, which is excellent!
The MyRide gave a great fit on my 8 month old rear facing, one problem is that the infant insert is rather small on the model I tested, and the crotch buckle only has one depth setting. It was a good inch from my child’s bottom to the buckle, so I had to use a rolled washcloth to fill that space to keep her from slouching significantly.
Graco My Ride Forward Facing | 5 years old, 42 lbs, 43″ |
Forward facing, the MyRide is a little bit unique. First, it is important to note that the gray feet on the bottom of the seat must be flipped outwards for forward facing, as shown in the photo to the left. They should remain tucked in for rear facing. Once installed forward facing, the seat has a deep natural recline, which makes for a very reclined position for the child. My 5 year old liked it at first, but about 15 minutes into our 30 minute journey he said he was uncomfortable and “didn’t want to lay down any more”. The deep recline also eliminates some of the growing room for the child when forward facing. Forward facing, the harness must come from at or above the shoulders. The top harness slots measure 17″, but our 5 year old tester’s shoulders were nearly even with the top harness slots, with his torso measuring 15.5″.
The MyRide has three harness length settings to get a tight fit on varying sizes of children. There are specific instructions as to which loop should be used, dependent on which harness slot the child is using. When using the lowest harness slot, the harness should be on the shortest loop. When using harness slot 2 or 3, the harness should be on the middle loop, and when using harness slot 4 or 5, the harness should be on the longest loop. Remember, for rear facing: position straps at or below the shoulders. Forward facing: position straps at or above the shoulders.
There are several versions of the MyRide, the main difference between models is the style of infant insert that comes with the seat. Overall specifications are the same across the MyRide family. The model we tested is the Graco My Ride 65 on Amazon.com.
Note: you can find information about the recall affecting the buckle of this seat by going here: https://csftl.org/graco-car-seat-buckle-recall/
Neither Graco nor Amazon.com sponsored this review or provided the seat. Opinions are all our own!
Originally written by Emma Douglas. Edits maintained by CSFTL.