Britax Marathon, why the best?

[Jennygt]

I am getting ready to purchace my ds car seat since he will be out of the infant seat soon. I know that the Marathon is supposed to be the best but I am not sure why. HOw does it compare to other brands? Any thoughts?

 

[shelly3girls]

I believe the big difference is the side impact protection but I amsure an expert will give you all of the details. Britax also makes the Fisher price less expensive seat but I don't know the difference.

 

[Jennygt]

I also plan to fly to WDW with this seat in Sept. Anyone fly with there seat?

 

[tjlovespooh]

We have the Marathon (cow print) & I love it! It is easy to use as far as making sure DS is fastened correctly each and every time we buckle him in. We also have the Britax Decathalon in DH car & although it's supposed to be the next model up, it is much more difficult to adjust the harness straps (at least it is for me, DH insists he has no trouble at all). The reason we chose Britax is because they are easy to use & install, & when any seat is used correctly it's obviously going to perform as intended.
As far as flying goes, I am not sure whether we are going to take the marathon or opt for the new CARES fly safe harness (75 bucks...oouch) The marathon just seems too hefty to lug around the airport. I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about the marathon & flying issue.

 

[all4fun]

The Britax Marathon/Decathlon/Boulevard seats are often recommended because they not only have a 65lb f/fing weight limit, but they have taller backs and top harness slots and will accomodate the average child until about age 5, when it is much safer to move from a harness seat to a bpb. The gov't recommends waiting until minimum 4yrs & 40lbs to move up to a bpb but CPST's generally agree 5 & 40lb is much better because kids are (generally) mature enough at that point to stay seated properly 100% of the time in a booster w/the lap/shoulder belt (BPB).

The Britax MA/DC/BV seats have 17.5" top harness slots compared to most of the 40lb limit seats which max out height wise at 14.5-16" torso height (when the shoulders go past the top slots the seat is outgrown by height fwd facing). That extra couple of inches can give you a couple more years before the seat is outgrown.

The Britax seats also have built in lockoffs (great for seatbelt installs), and can be tethered in r/fing mode (up to 33lbs in Britax seats - r/fing is the safest way to travel and the AAP recommends r/fing until the child meets the height or weight limit before turning it f/fing). Only Britax and Sunshine Kids currently allow the seat to be top tethered in r/fing mode. (It's an anti-rebound feature).

I posted these links on your other thread, but these two seats are other options in this category:

Sunshine Kids Radian also www.skjp.com Read this thread for all the pro's and con's: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=6263

Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe
made under license by Britax for FP. Same size shell, and 17.5" top harness slots. R/f to 33#, ff to 55#, no HUGS or r/fing tether.

In May, Recaro is introducing a convertible that will r/f to 35#, f/f to 70#, 19" top harness slots(!) If this seat lives up to the Recaro reputation, it might be an excellent choice if you can wait for it. Cost $219 & $259

Edit to add: For flying we used a Cosco Scenera 5-pt ($40 @ Walmart/Target/Kmart). Unfortunately ds outgrew it by height at 34mos but for that price we definitely got our money's worth out of it. Now we travel with a combination booster seat instead. The BV stays at home. It's airline approved, but it's just too darn heavy! Another option is attaching a Gogo Kidz Cart.

Hth!

 

[LeslieG]

My kids are 6 and 8 but fairly small, around 45 pounds. I've been trying to keep them in their carseats instead of boosters, because I believe the boosters aren't as safe. They tend to move around too much in them, and the seat belt doesn't always stay in the proper alignment.

They are getting too big for their current car seats though. Am I correct that the Britax would be the best way to go for keeping bigger kids in a car seat? Any other options?

 

[Jennygt]

As far as the airport goes, I saw this strap thing that you can carry the seat on your back like a back pack, I am going to get it and let DH try it out. I will be traveling with my parents also so we will have an extra pair of hands.

 

[toesmom]

I bought Safety 1st Apex 65 because you can buckle kids up to 65 lbs. I paid just under $100.

The Britax Regent looked great but size was questionable about fitting into my car.

The Safety 1st Apex 65 converts to booster seat up to 100 lbs.

http://www.specialtybaby.com/sa1stap65boc1.html

 

[Desnik]

FYI:
babyage.com has some great sale prices on some Britax models!!

We bought the Britax Boulevard for DS. The reason I choose this particular model is because of the "wings" that protect from side impact crashes. We were involved in a very bad car accident where our vehicle flipped several times. Before we flipped, our SUV slammed into a huge mile marker sign and that slammed right into the door where my DS's car seat was. You can imagine after this happening I was on the hunt for the safest car seat I could find. Ater all my research, I found this one to be the best.

 

[mexican-mouseketeers]

The Marathon/Decathlon/Boulevard all have a 65 lbs limit FF, the MA being the cheapest (or less expensive) of the 3 because the other 2 have a few more features.

We have 2 Marathons for dd and love them

I have flown with her carseat a few times, and found the gogokidz attachment is the easiest way to lug the carseat through the airport, much better than the carseat covers.

Last time we flew with it she was already 4, weighted at 38 lbs aprox, and I wheeled her in her carseat through the airports.

 

[Jennygt]

The Marathon/Decathlon/Boulevard all have a 65 lbs limit FF, the MA being the cheapest (or less expensive) of the 3 because the other 2 have a few more features.

We have 2 Marathons for dd and love them

I have flown with her carseat a few times, and found the gogokidz attachment is the easiest way to lug the carseat through the airport, much better than the carseat covers.

Last time we flew with it she was already 4, weighted at 38 lbs aprox, and I wheeled her in her carseat through the airports.

What is a go go kidz?

 

[all4fun]

What is a go go kidz?

http://www.gogobabyz.com/products/gogo_kids.html

Or you can do something similar with a simple set of luggage wheels like shown HERE.
Not as pretty, but it still works.

hth.

 

[northriver]

tjlovespooh - I'm so glad to hear someone else say that they can't adjust the Decathalon - I HATE my decathalon and am serioulsy considering throwing it out because I can't adjust it. I thought it was only a problem rearfacing but I have just turned ours forward facing and am super frustrated that I still can't tighten the strap.

I actually bought a Boulevard but it was too big for any of our cars rearfacing. I suppose it might work in a minivan? I also love the extra protection of the wings. We might get one when DD outgrows her Roundabout.

We have 2 roundabouts, my sister has a marathon, and we use a decathalon in my parents car, both DD and my neice can use the decathalon. My DD is kind of a squirt so she is still riding comfortably rearfacinng in the roundabout. The roundabout is small and easy to move around. It fits rearfacing in many cars that can't accomodate larger seats.

As for Britax in general - we just chose one brand for our family. We are all familiar with all of the seats so any of us can install seats into cars and children into seats. Other than our issue with the strap in our Decathalon, we love all the Britax seats. For me they were well worth the extra money for safety, comfort and other nice features.

 

[abookworm]

For me it's simple, it's the one carseat out of many I tried that I could easily and securely install myself and that I could easily and securely get him in.

It really doesn't matter which seat you use (that meets all the current standards) as long as it's PROPERLY INSTALLED and the child is PROPERLY restrained in it.

You can have the "best rated" seat but if you aren't using it properly it's extremely dangerous.

Go try them out, play with them, find out which YOU can use the easiest so you know your child is properly restrained with every use.