Britax Marathon vs Britax Regent

[MegaDisney]

From what I have heard, the Nautilus is supposed to be a WONDERFUL seat. And I am a novice car seat geek. I haven't bought one since I'm all set with the Britaxes (my youngest is almost 3 so I have Marathons to hand down to her, lol) but if I needed to buy her a new seat at this moment it would be the Nautilus. I think you'll get some positive responses about it.

 

[kathyell]

My 3 year old daughter is 43 inches tall and is in a Marathon. It fits her fine and she's in the second to bottom slot on the shoulder straps. I was told by the person who did our first car seat installation that it's not only okay for the straps to come from a slot lower than the child's shoulder line, it's preferred. I would take another look at the fit of those straps and consider moving them down from where you have them.

 

[justhat]

My 3 year old daughter is 43 inches tall and is in a Marathon. It fits her fine and she's in the second to bottom slot on the shoulder straps. I was told by the person who did our first car seat installation that it's not only okay for the straps to come from a slot lower than the child's shoulder line, it's preferred. I would take another look at the fit of those straps and consider moving them down from where you have them.

I think that is only when they are rearfacing. I am pretty sure that the Britax books and the car seat tech who checked our seats said that once they are forward facing the straps need to be over their shoulders.

 

[Erica09M]

The Regent has the highest harness slot heights of all harnessing seats on the market. The Nautilus has the 2nd highest slots, and is half the price of the Britax seats. I recommend the Nautilus.

 

[Erica09M]

Where to place the straps---

REAR FACING: at or BELOW the shoulders.

FORWARD FACING: at or ABOVE the shoulders.

A forward facing child should not have the straps below their shoulders. PP who said their FFing child was riding like that, you need to move them up. Your child is riding very unsafe.

 

[fredflintstone]

I have not heard a bad thing about the Nautilus. I did buy my daughter the Frontier though. I LOVE Britax...they are soo comfy and she sleeps so well in it on our road trips...which can be from 6 hours to 14 hours depending on which grandparent we are visiting! She will be 5 in October and she is only 41 inches and 36lbs. It is wonderful, I have no regrets! I did put her in the Nautilus at Walmart before buying the Frontier...and I just didn't think the Nautilus was roomy enough so I went with the Frontier and glad I did! I have a 08 Honda CRV and it fits great in there...it also fits in the Ford Edge well. I haven't tried it in a car because I don't know anyone with a car.

 

[WDWorBUST]

We have the nautilus and I like it a lot. I might have to check out our Target. I went with it over the Frontier because the harness straps are higher and my goal is to keep DD harnessed as long as possible. And the nautilus converts to a high back booster and then a backless booster the same as the Frontier does.

 

[5 for WDW]

Well that makes DH and I feel much better to know that it fits in the exact same seat in the exact same spot in the Yukon.

Did your child have any problem seeing out the window in the Regent?

Sorry, I just saw this.
No, no problem at all! She really does love her seat.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Well we returned the Nautilus today - DS just doesn't have much shoulder room in it at all - and will order the Regent tomorrow!

Thanks everyone for the input.

 

[all4fun]

I haven't read through all the posts but my ds has a Regent and at 6.3yrs he still fits in it great. He was using the 2nd from top slots when we first bought it over a year ago and I just moved it up to the top slots a few months ago but his torso growth has slowed down a lot and he will probably fit in this seat for another year or so. He still weighs less than 50lbs (probably around 45lbs, he hasn't been weighed in a while) and he is about 50" tall so while he's on the slender side, he's no shrimp lol. The down sides to the Regent are that it is a very big and wide seat (which is also an UP side for bigger kids since it's what makes the seat so comfortable) and it's not airline approved. It is tricky to install as well (I think some of the issues people have with the Frontier are similar to the Regent from what I've read) but once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad. A top tether is always recommended but it's required on this seat after the child reaches 50lbs.

eta: here's some install videos you may find helpful when you get your new seat

hth!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I haven't read through all the posts but my ds has a Regent and at 6.3yrs he still fits in it great. He was using the 2nd from top slots when we first bought it over a year ago and I just moved it up to the top slots a few months ago but his torso growth has slowed down a lot and he will probably fit in this seat for another year or so. He still weighs less than 50lbs (probably around 45lbs, he hasn't been weighed in a while) and he is about 50" tall so while he's on the slender side, he's no shrimp lol. The down sides to the Regent are that it is a very big and wide seat (which is also an UP side for bigger kids since it's what makes the seat so comfortable) and it's not airline approved. It is tricky to install as well (I think some of the issues people have with the Frontier are similar to the Regent from what I've read) but once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad. A top tether is always recommended but it's required on this seat after the child reaches 50lbs.

eta: here's some install videos you may find helpful when you get your new seat

hth!

Thanks! We ordered the Regent today. Can't wait until it arrives.