Safety 1st Guide 65/Cosco MightyFit 65 Review

Safety 1st Guide 65

It’s hard to find a car seat that’s inexpensive, lightweight, AND compact. The Safety First Guide 65, also known as the Safety 1st SportFit 65, Cosco MightyFit, and Eddie Bauer XRS 65, is a long loved convertible car seat that packs some desirable features into a low price tag. Though this seat goes by many names, in this review we’re using a Safety 1st Guide 65.

Safety 1st Guide 65 headrest

The Guide 65 includes an easy-to-use adjustable headrest. The headrest adjusts by gently pulling out a metal bar on the back of the seat and sliding it up or down until it slides into the appropriate slots. The bar for the headrest must always be in a locked position above the harness slots that are in use.

Safety 1st Guide 65 extra padding

Some models of the Guide 65 include positioning inserts. These inserts are optional at all times, meaning they can be used or removed at any time. This offers flexibility for caregivers to decide what may be most comfortable for their child.

The cover and inserts are easily removed for cleaning. The cover can be machine washed on cold with a delicate cycle and mild detergent. Afterwards it can go in the dryer for 10 to 12 minutes on low heat.

Safety 1st Guide 65 cupholder

The removable cupholder is pretty easy to install — pull the cover off the corner of the seat, hook the cupholder over the shell, rotate until the cupholder clicks into the hole in the shell, and then replace the cover over the corner.

Safety 1st Guide 65 cupholder

The cupholder is optional and can be left off if needed. This flexibility can help with tight installations or three across situations.

Safety 1st Guide 65 recline level line

The Guide 65’s recline angle indicator is a bare-bones line on the side of the seat. There are two different rear facing recline lines: for children who weigh between 5 pounds and 22 pounds, the bottom recline line must be parallel to the ground. The second, more upright line is for children who weigh 22 to 40 pounds AND can sit unassisted. The seat can never be more upright than the top recline line.

The option to install the Guide 65 more upright for bigger kids makes the Guide 65 a compact option front to back for children who weigh over 22 pounds.

Safety 1st Guide 65 lower anchor storage

When they’re not in use, the lower anchor connectors store on small plastic bars on the underside of the shell near the top of the seat.

Safety 1st Guide 65 rear facing lower anchors

Installing the Guide rear facing is fairly straightforward, but there are a few quirks. To begin, make sure the recline stand is folded in. Place the Guide 65 on the vehicle seat and determine which recline is appropriate for your child. Then attach the lower anchor connectors to the lower anchors in your vehicle and pull the tail straight up with one hand while putting firm pressure on the seat with the other hand. Removing the cover slightly from the adjuster side of the seat can help with accessing the belt path to make tightening easier.

Check your work by giving a firm handshake at the belt path — make sure that the Guide 65 doesn’t move more than an inch in any direction.

Safety 1st Guide 65 rear facing vehicle seat belt

Installing the Guide 65 with the vehicle seat belt is just about as straightforward as it comes. Start by making sure that the recline stand is folded in. Thread the vehicle seat belt through the rear facing belt path, then buckle and pull tight. The belt path is a bit narrow, so your knuckles may not get out of this one unscathed! Once the slack is removed from the lap portion of the vehicle seat belt, lock the vehicle seat belt, then feed the slack back into the retractor until the seat is snug. Check your work by giving a firm handshake at the belt path — make sure that the Guide 65 doesn’t move more than an inch in any direction.

Note: Occasionally the Guide 65 may have a slight side-to-side tilt that’s caused when the locked vehicle belt pulls up on that side — this is very common with lighter weight car seats like the Guide 65. One way to minimize this tilt is to pull the vehicle seat belt straight out from the car seat rather than pulling up towards the ceiling while tightening.

Safety 1st Guide 65 head slump

A common quirk with the Guide 65 is head slump. While head slump is only a true concern for small infants who lack head control, or with children who have medical concerns that may affect the airway, it can understandably make caregivers a little anxious. An easy way to resolve this is to raise the headrest a click or two to keep the child’s head in a more upright position.

Safety 1st Guide 65 newborn doll

Our newborn Huggable Images doll weighs 7 pounds and is 17 inches long. Unfortunately, she doesn’t fit well in the Guide. The harness needs to be at or below the shoulders when the Guide is rear facing, but here the harness is well above the doll’s shoulders, making it an unsafe fit.
Even though the minimum weight for the Guide 65 is 5 pounds, the average child will not fit until they are around 6 months old.

Safety 1st Guide 65 9 months and 17 months old

This kiddo was our original long-term model for the Guide 65. She started using it at 9 months, when she weighed 15 pounds and was 27 inches tall. At that point, her shoulders were right at the bottom harness slot. At 17 months old, she weighed 18 pounds and was 30 inches tall. Her fit has been good throughout the duration of using this seat. Even at 2.5, she still has plenty of height left in the seat.

Safety 1st Guide 65 2 years old

This tall, slender model is 2.5 years old, weighs 28 pounds, and is 36 inches tall. She fit very well in the Guide 65 and seemed to enjoy the cushiony ride! She could easily climb over the side to get into the seat on her own, which is definitely a bonus for this independent girl! It was very easy to fit the seat to her with the straps below her shoulders and the headrest positioned above the straps, and she still has plenty of room left to remain rear facing in this seat.

Safety 1st Guide 65 3 years old

This model is 3 years old. She weighs 30 pounds and is 37 inches tall. She still has plenty of room to ride rear facing in the Guide 65 before her head is even with the top of the head support in the highest position.

Read about why rear facing is still the safest way for her to ride.

Keep in mind that in Canada, she would have already outgrown this seat rear facing due to the 36 inch maximum height for this seat in that country.

Safety 1st Guide 65 forward facing lower anchors

Installing the Guide 65 forward facing tends to be a lot easier than the rear facing install! The first step is to make sure that the recline stand is in the out position. Thread the lower anchor strap through the forward facing belt path, then attach the lower anchor connectors to the vehicle’s lower anchors. Pull the tail on the lower anchor webbing straight across the front of the car seat to tighten it– you may need to apply some firm pressure in the seat to get it nice and tight. Don’t forget to attach the top tether!

Safety 1st Guide 65 forward facing vehicle seat belt

Just like installing with the the lower anchor, the first step is to make sure that the recline stand is in the out position.  Thread the vehicle seat belt through the forward facing belt path, buckle, and tighten. The forward facing belt path was a little sharp when threading the vehicle belt through, but I found that pulling the cover slightly off on the far side and reaching across under the cover to grab the belt helped to avoid some knuckle scrapes.

Once the slack is removed from the lap portion of the vehicle seat belt, lock the vehicle seat belt, then feed the slack back into the retractor until the seat is snug. Check your work by giving a firm handshake at the belt path — make sure that the Guide 65 doesn’t move more than an inch in any direction.

Once the vehicle seat belt is buckled and locked, attach the top tether to the appropriate vehicle tether anchor and pull the tail to remove all slack.

Safety 1st Guide 65 top tether is required

We’re passionate about the importance of using the top tether for all forward facing harnessed seats. So you can imagine how pleased we are to see that the top tether is REQUIRED at all times for forward facing in the Guide 65. It’s fantastic that Dorel recognizes the importance of this critical safety feature!

Safety 1st Guide 65 3 years old

Here we see our 3 year old model again, only now she is 3.25 years old, 34 pounds and 37 inches tall. She is able to use the Guide 65 both rear facing and forward facing. She is using the second harness position from the top and the headrest is in the highest position. When using the Guide 65 forward facing, it’s very important to always use the top tether.

Safety 1st Guide 65 3 years old

This little man is 3 years old. He weighs 42 pounds and is 42 inches tall. He fits well in the Guide 65 despite being at the top of the growth charts for his age. He just barely needed the top set of harness slots because the next set down were very slightly below his shoulders, and the straps always need to be at or above the shoulders for forward facing. That just means that he still has plenty of room to grow on that last set of harness slots! He found the seat comfortable, though he did express a little discomfort at the harness being a little more narrow than his regular car seat.

Safety 1st Guide 65 5 years old

Here we see our 5 year old model who weighs 43 pounds and is 45 inches tall.  She is average-sized for a girl her age. She did fit properly in the Guide 65 with the harness and headrest both in the top position, but she only had a little over an inch of room, or approximately a year of torso growth, before the harness would be too low for her to safely use this seat anymore. At 5, that year of growth is a long time in car seat use, especially when you consider the Guide 65’s reasonable price!  She liked this seat and was happy to find that she could easily buckle herself in. As someone who often vocalizes her opinions on many things, she had no complaints about the Guide 65!

Safety 1st Guide 65 date of manufacture label

Date of Manufacture: The date of manufacture is on a label located on the lower outside part of the shell near the child’s right leg.

Safety 1st Guide 65 date of manufacture

Expiration: The Guide 65 includes a very large embossed expiration date pressed into the plastic on the back of the seat. It will state “do not use this child restraint after “MONTH, YEAR”. The seat’s lifespan can also be found in the manual.

Safety 1st Guide 65 manual storage

Manual Storage: The car seat manual has a hidden spot for storage that is located on the inside of the recline stand. Pro tip: the recline stand must be unfolded to access this storage spot.

Safety 1st Guide 65 FAA approval label

FAA Approval: The Guide 65 is FAA approved for use on aircraft, and the approval statement can be found on the lower outside part of the shell, on the same label as the date of manufacture.

Safety 1st Guide 65 lower anchor storage

Lower Anchor Storage: The lower anchors store on small plastic hooks on the upper outside of the seat’s shell.  There are hooks on both sides of the seat.

Safety 1st Guide 65 top tether storage

Tether Anchor Storage: The tether anchor storage spot is located on the top of the recline stand.