The Peg Perego Company
The Peg Perego Company is an Italian business that has been making stylish high quality baby products for about 65 years. Although they make a wide range of baby products, it is their car seats that stand out for me as being at the forefront of comfort and safety innovations.
They don’t have a large range of seats like Britax or Recaro, but the seats that they do make are truly excellent. The only downside is that their high quality and stylish products comes with fairly high price tags. But, if you can afford a Peg Perego car seat I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed with your purchase.
If you want to buy a Peg Perego car seat at a hefty discount to the full retail price, one great strategy is to shop when they have just released an upgraded product. At that time, you will often be able to buy the previous model at a bargain-basement price. For example, since the release of the Primo Viaggio 4-35 Infant Car Seat, you can now buy the older Primo Viaggio SIP 30/30 Infant Car Seat at a discount to the normal retail price.
Primo Viaggio Infant Car Seats
There are now 2 different Primo Viaggio Infant Car Seats to choose from and, unlike other manufacturer product upgrades, these products have some very significant differences between them. This obviously means that parents have more choice rather than simply being expected to pay a lot of extra money for a product that has simply been improved very slightly.
The most obvious difference between the 2 Peg Perego Infant Seats is the maximum child weight limit – 30 lbs for the older version and 35 lbs for the newer version.
So what are the main features of these Infant Seats and how do you decide between them?
#1 Primo Viaggio SIP 30/30 Infant Car Seat
As the name of this seat suggests, the Primo Viaggio SIP 30/30 Infant Car Seat’s maximum child weight limit is 30 lbs and the maximum child height limit is also 30 lbs. This puts it within the normal range for infant car seats (usually between 30-35 lbs) and makes it much higher than seats like the Maxi Cosi Mico AP (lightest infant seat on the US market today). The reality is that most babies outgrow the height limit before the weight limit, so I wouldn’t necessarily expect to be able to use any infant seat for the full specified weight advertised. Overall, a 30 lbs weight limit is more than adequate for most babies.
It comes supplied with the base (ISOFIX or belt-fitted) and the seat alone weighs 11 lbs – certainly not the heaviest, but a little heavier than the Mico (8 lbs).
You can buy the Primo Viaggio SIP 30/30 here.
You can read my full in-depth review (and watch videos) of the Primo Viaggio SIP 30/30 Infant Car Seat here.
#2 Primo Viaggio 4-35 Infant Car Seat
It is slightly confusing that the Primo Viaggio 4-35 Infant Car Seat does not follow the SIP 30/30 model in terms of product naming conventions. Obviously, the 4-35 model does NOT limit your child’s height to 4 inches! Instead, the 4/35 refers to the weight limit range – it can be used for children weighing between 4 and 35 lbs.
The maximum height limit for the 4-35 model is 32 inches (2 inches higher than the SIP 30/30). As I have already indicated, most children tend to exceed the height restrictions before the weight restrictions. So, the extra 2 inches on the 4-35 is a far more useful improvement than the extra 5 lbs of weight. Obviously, all children are different and the higher weight limit would also be useful if your child is heavier than normal for their height.
The lower weight limit of 4 lbs (5 lbs for SIP 30/30) is partly achieved due to the removable newborn baby insert that pushes your baby’s bottom up a little higher to ensure a secure fit.
One of the most impressive things about this seat is that Peg Perego have managed to achieve this increase in maximum weight and height limits whilst actually reducing the carry-weight of the seat! This seat weighs only 9.5 lbs.
The extra improvements do come with an enhanced price tag. The 4-35 model will set you back somewhere in the region of $280 (including base).
You can watch the Baby Gizmo YouTube Video Demonstration of the Primo Viaggio 4-35 model here:
You can buy the Primo Viaggio 4-35 Infant Car Seat here.
Primo Viaggio Convertible Car Seats
I say Primo Viaggio Convertible Car Seats but, in fact, there is only 1 Primo Viaggio Convertible Car Seat on the US market today.
However, when you have designed a great seat like the Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat you don’t need to make any others.
This seat is suitable for use between 5 and 70 lbs.
One of the best features of the Primo Viaggio Convertible Car Seat is that can be used rear-facing for longer than most of its competitors (45 lbs as opposed the normal 40 lbs). Since rear-facing is many times safer than forwards-facing, this is a very important extra safety feature that marks this seat ahead of many other convertibles. You can read more about why rear-facing is safer here.
This seat can also be used with the lower LATCH tethers for 4 lbs longer than most of its competitors (44 lbs instead of the more common 40 lbs). Although not quite as important as extended rear-facing, this can also have a positive effect upon safety since belt-fitted seats are far more likely to be incorrectly installed than LATCH fitted ones.
The main comfort and safety features are shown in the table below, but I want to briefly mention 2 of the remaining features that I especially love about this convertible car seat.
The Side Impact Protection features are comprehensive (see table below and videos on full review) and, importantly, the headrest is adjustable to no fewer than 10 different positions. This helps to ensure the best possible fit for your child and the more precise the fit, the safer you child is likely to be.
Finally, there is a contoured steel back plate fitted to minimise flexing and reduce forwards movement in the event of a collision. Child body movement is obviously a bad thing in a collision scenario and having a steel back plate to limit such movement is a very good thing.
Check Price of the Primo Viaggio Convertible Car Seat.
Read my full in-depth review (and watch videos) of the Primo Viaggio Convertible Car Seat here.
Do You Need More Help?
I know from personal experience that choosing the best car seat for your child can be a daunting and confusing process. I have 3 small children and a garage full of used child car seats! If you need any further advice or assistance whatsoever, please feel free to contact me and I will do my very best to help. If I don’t know the answer off the top of my head, I will certainly know where to find it and get back to you within 24 hours.
If you have any other feedback about my Peg Perego Primo Viaggo Car Seats post, please just leave a comment in the box below or send an email to kristian@kidsafetyfirst.com
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