Britax lovers- I need your input

[laughinplace199]

My older two kids had Roundabouts when they were in carseats (they're now both in Britax booster seats). I am currently shopping for a Britax convertible seat for my little one (he's 8 months now and still in his infant seat). I'm leaning towards the Marathon this time since it will last him a bit longer. The only downside I see to the Marathon is that it's a bit bigger than theb Roundabout and maybe too bulky for air travel.

Britax seats are so safe and super easy to install. Congrats on your baby!

 

[tadamom]

I have used Britax Roundabouts since my son was 6 months old. We had 2 at one time when my daughter was born. She has actually ridden in hers since the day she came home from the hospital. I just kept the little infant carrier in the back of my Jeep Cherokee to use with the stroller and for eating in restaurants.

As much as I love my Roundabouts, I don't recommend that one. My niece has a Marathon and if they would have had those when I bought one in 2001 -- I would have gotten that one instead. The weight limit on it is much higher and the Roundabout only goes to 40 lbs.

Good luck and you can't go wrong with anything made by Britax!!

 

[bumbershoot]

While they are approved for a 5 lb baby, the average infant does not fit well in one of the seats b/c the lowest harness slot it just too high.

What's funny is that that is what I was saying 3 years ago, and NO ONE believed me. They finally convinced me that I was wrong wrong wrong, and that it was totally fine, that there was no lower height issue...sources were demanded from me, I was berated (NOT HERE), blah blah blah.

So there we are. You say what i was saying long ago, and I'm saying what those others convinced me of.

 

[Hahawillis]

We have 4 Marathons (2 for each car). We love them!
My son started out in an infant seat (and outgrew it at 3 1/2 months) but DD came home from the hospital in her Marathon.
My son is 3 (today) and 38 pounds so he would be almost to the limit of a Roundabout. I agree with PP who say to spring for the higher weight limit. You will be surprised how fast they grow.

 

[loveswdw]

We have a Wizard for my DS3. Bought it several years ago at BRU for around $300. Yes, expensive but felt our child's safety was worth it. And now that we're moving onto child #2 come December, two kids will have used it. I don't believe they manufacture the Wizard any longer. They probably just re-named it as something else. But our car seat is HUGE. I mean HUGE. We have a Buick Rendezvous and it takes up almost half of the back seat. And it is NOT airport friendly. We toted it to MCO for one trip and said NEVER AGAIN. Its just too big for easy plane travel. My DH had a heckuva time trying to get the plane seatbelt around it. The flight attendant finally came over to help him out. We've rented car seats on subsequent trips just because it was such a pain to haul it around.

On the other hand, for my mom's vehicle I purchased another brand of car seat...can't remember the name or brand right now. Bought it at Target on sale for $100. Well, guess what? I'm getting ready to buy another seat for her car because DS3 is over the 40 lb. weight limit on that seat. He'll still fit in the Britax for another 25 or so lbs. Money well spent.

 

[Diz Kids]

We have 2 roundabouts and 2 marathons. I have an equinox and DH has a trailblazer. We have had the Roundabout rear facing in both cars with no problems, but purchased the marathons for DS after DD was born, so we never had them rear facing. My SIL has a Buick minivan and had her marathong rear facing with no problems. I would recommend purchasing the Marathon, as previous posters have said, the higher weight limit may help, depending on the size of your child. We purchased our marathons from travelingtikes.com. They usually have certain colors discounted for about $220 and have free shipping. If you live outside CA there is also no sales tax.

 

[blessedby3]

Thanks- guess I should go with the Marathon if it will fit in our van. Just so unsure since I cant actually find one around here. Id hate to order one and then not have it fit and have to pay to ship the thing back
I think I will check with Target. They carry one Britax I believe and I will see what it is. I wonder if they will let me try it in my car if it is a Marathon?

 

[desireech]

We have a Marathon and a Roundabout. The Marathon is better because it goes up to 65 lbs. My 5 year old still uses it (2 year old uses the Roundabout). It's much safer to have a child in a 5-point harness than a booster. When my 2 year old outgrows the Roundabout (in about 2 years I'm guessing), he'll move into the Marathon and my daughter will move into a booster.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks- guess I should go with the Marathon if it will fit in our van. Just so unsure since I cant actually find one around here. Id hate to order one and then not have it fit and have to pay to ship the thing back
I think I will check with Target. They carry one Britax I believe and I will see what it is. I wonder if they will let me try it in my car if it is a Marathon?

FWIW, we never bothered Babies R Us to try the seat out. Simply ordered from, hmm, I think babyuniverse.com? Good price at the time, free shipping, no tax...excellent deal for us.

I personally think that if a Roundabout can fit into a golf, you don't need to worry about a Marathon fitting into a minivan.


Ooh, just remembered this site: http://www.carseatdata.org/ I put a Britax Maration into a Ford Windstar, and it seems that it fits well from the few things I read.

 

[northriver]

http://carseatdata.org/

Go to carseatdata DOT org (are we allowed to post links here?)

Put in your vehicle make, and there will be a list of carseats and comments from the owners on how they were installed, how they fit, etc. Don't fill in too much or it will narrow the information you are given.

It is a wonderful website. Anyone can submit information to make it even better!

OP: Here is the search results for Ford Winstar + Britax seats:
http://carseatdata.org/compatibilit...arYear=select&rowsPerPage=20&getData=Get+Data

 

[jenlynn0808]

We love our Britax. I'm not sure what model they are (they are the same). We boought them at Babies R Us in the spring of '06. We were planning to fly with our 11 month old son and need a seat that was FAA approved, which the Britax are. BRU had about three or four different models to look at that time. Another deciding factor for us was that it could be used as an infant seat (not that we needed that part, becasue we were using the carrier kind), could be used for a toddler, and tehn converted to a booster seat, by removing some of the padding and teh safety straps. I think ours will hold up to eighty pounds. Using our DD9.5 as a predictor, he will outgrow the carseat before it outgrows him.

With DD, we had the carrier, then 2 toddler seats, then 2 booster seats (one for each car-we hate pulling them out and putting htem back in depending on which car we took). The Britax was definately more expensive, but we figure in the long run we are saving money by not having to buy a new seat every few years.

Hope this helps!


OT- I was easy to fly with and he slept comfortably in it last July. We are flying again in August, and in February SIL is using our extra seat for DN when we are doing a GG to celebrate Grandpa's Retiremetn from the Fire Department! The Britax where definatley a good purchase for our family!

 

[Minniemouse07]

We love our Britax. I'm not sure what model they are (they are the same). We boought them at Babies R Us in the spring of '06. We were planning to fly with our 11 month old son and need a seat that was FAA approved, which the Britax are. BRU had about three or four different models to look at that time. Another deciding factor for us was that it could be used as an infant seat (not that we needed that part, becasue we were using the carrier kind), could be used for a toddler, and tehn converted to a booster seat, by removing some of the padding and teh safety straps. I think ours will hold up to eighty pounds. Using our DD9.5 as a predictor, he will outgrow the carseat before it outgrows him.

With DD, we had the carrier, then 2 toddler seats, then 2 booster seats (one for each car-we hate pulling them out and putting htem back in depending on which car we took). The Britax was definately more expensive, but we figure in the long run we are saving money by not having to buy a new seat every few years.

Hope this helps!


OT- I was easy to fly with and he slept comfortably in it last July. We are flying again in August, and in February SIL is using our extra seat for DN when we are doing a GG to celebrate Grandpa's Retiremetn from the Fire Department! The Britax where definatley a good purchase for our family!

Hmmm, are you sure it is a Britax seat? In spring of '06 the only seat that rearfaced, harnessed forward faced and then became a booster was the 3 in 1 or Alpha Omega. It is made by Dorel and sold under the Cosco, Safety 1st, and Eddie Bauer brands.

A seat that changes from harnessed to booster is considered a "combination" or "combo" seat, Britax doesn't make any combination seats. They have infant seats, convertibles, a high weight forward facing only seat and dedicated boosters.

It sounds like you have one of the Alpha Omega models.

 

[jenlynn0808]

Nope...It is a Britax. Tan and Brown with the logo on it.

 

[Minniemouse07]

Nope...It is a Britax. Tan and Brown with the logo on it.

Then if it has a harness, it will not convert to a booster seat.

The only Britax seats that harnesses to 80lbs are the Husky and Regent... these don't rear face and do not have infant inserts... so it can't be either of them. They also are NOT FAA approved due to their larger size.

Your seat is probably a Marathon, Decathalon or a Boulevard. These are all convertibles and will rear face to 33lbs, then forward face to 65lbs... all harnessed.

You can check out the Britax product line here to help you figure out which seat you have.

 

[desireech]

We used to have the Marathon in our Jeep Grand Cherokee, and moved it into a Toyota Sienna when we bought that. No problem fitting into either one. I remember when I researching car seats a few years ago, there was a website someone had put together that traked the compatibility of car seats and vehicles. You may be able to locate it if you google it.

Good luck!

 

[designermv]

Some of the ladies on the car seat board I frequent are posting that the Target baby clearance started in some of the brick and mortar stores--one poster got a Marathon for $90.98! It might be worth it to check your local store ASAP.

Good luck!

 

[GatorGal]

What are the benefits of the Britax brand?

Britax seats are one of the only (if not THE only) car seat on the market in the US today with side impact protection. Also, they have thick straps that don't twist. They also replace seats that are involved in certain accidents.

I believe you get what you pay for and Britax seats are worth it. Go with the Boulevard because of the side impact protection and the knob harness adjuster. You won't regret it.

 

[Minniemouse07]

Britax seats are one of the only (if not THE only) car seat on the market in the US today with side impact protection. Also, they have thick straps that don't twist. They also replace seats that are involved in certain accidents.

I believe you get what you pay for and Britax seats are worth it. Go with the Boulevard because of the side impact protection and the knob harness adjuster. You won't regret it.

The new Recaro seats (I posted about them earlier in this thread) that are coming out within the next few weeks also have SIP.