OT: which Britax carseat?

[shelly3girls]

I need to purchase new carseats for DS. He is 6 months old weighing 20 lbs. We planned to keep him in his infant seat a while (SafeSeat holds up to 30lbs) but given the new report on these seats we decided to do it this weekend. I know we want a Britax but not sure which one. We have 3 children with the other two being in booster seats. We need 3 total...

1 going in DH's Ford Expedition so I want the largest plush one possible

1 going in my Pilot so it cannot be too big or the passenger will have to sit too upright

1 going in our nanny's Toyota Corolla so it needs to be somewhat compact.

TIA for any help/suggestions!

 

[threekidsandasheltie]

we love our Marathon I would have gone for the Decathlon but we would not have had room for it in our car in the rear facing.

 

[Colinsmom]

The big ones are great, especially for solid babes. Marathon, Decathalon, Boulevard. If you are on a budget, go with the Cosco Scenera for the secondary vehicles (NOT the overhead shield version) - it runs $40-50 at Wal-mart or Target and is a good, basic seat, though it only harnesses to 40lbs, when you'll need something else.

 

[caitlinsmom]

We have the Boulevard and I cannot say enough good things about this seat.
I would go to Babies R Us or the like and try out the different seats. The Boulevard is the top of the line and it shows when you see them all side by side.

I have a very tall 21 month old ho has already outgrown 1 convertible seat so we wanted to make sure he would never need another seat.

 

[KristinU]

The Roundabout is lasting us longer than I anticipated - so that's a more compact option to throw out there as well (for the smaller cars). DS is almost 3 and has held steady at the 50th percentile for height and weight and he still has about an inch of torso growing before he grows out of his Roundabout. I really thought he'd have grown out in the past couple of months, but his legs have been growing gang-busters. I'm still certain that he'll outgrow it in height before weight, but that's pretty common.

BTW, we have a Marathon and a Roundabout and we love both.

 

[shelly3girls]

Thank you for all of the advice! I think we are going to go with the Roundabout for the car, the Boulevard for the Ford truck then see which fits better in the Pilot. I knew I could count on this board for great advice!

 

[GatorGal]

I need to purchase new carseats for DS. He is 6 months old weighing 20 lbs. We planned to keep him in his infant seat a while (SafeSeat holds up to 30lbs) but given the new report on these seats we decided to do it this weekend. I know we want a Britax but not sure which one.

Since you've already decided that Britax is the way to go, I would suggest you get the Boulevard. The Boulevard has side impact protection and a knob adjuster for the shoulder harnesses so that they can be adjusted without uninstalling the seat or rethreading them. The other seats don't have these features. It's rated for RF to 33 lbs and FF to 65 lbs.

HTH

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

The marathon fits great in our pilot.

 

[all4fun]

I need to purchase new carseats for DS. He is 6 months old weighing 20 lbs. We planned to keep him in his infant seat a while (SafeSeat holds up to 30lbs) but given the new report on these seats we decided to do it this weekend. I know we want a Britax but not sure which one. We have 3 children with the other two being in booster seats. We need 3 total...

1 going in DH's Ford Expedition so I want the largest plush one possible

1 going in my Pilot so it cannot be too big or the passenger will have to sit too upright

1 going in our nanny's Toyota Corolla so it needs to be somewhat compact.

TIA for any help/suggestions!

First of all, you can install your SS1 w/out the base.

Also here's the differences between the Britax Marathon, Boulevard, and Decathlon:

“Marathon- The most basic model of the three. It harnesses to 65 lbs, rf 5 to 33 lbs. It has a rf tether, ff and rf lockoffs. Has the lever style harness adjuster, 4 harness heights, and the crotch strap does not adjust. It is very padded and comfy just like all the britax seats, and has about a million cover choices. Will last till the child is ready for a booster most likely. Good for children that need to rf still (under 33 lbs).

Decathlon- Harnesses to 65 lbs rf 5 to 33 lbs. Has rf tether, ff and rf lockoffs. The ff lockoffs may damage seatbelts. It has a push button style harness adjuster, 4 harness heights (rumor is they may be a little taller than the ma/bv), and a three position crotch strap that gives 1 more inch of room as compared to the marathon and boulevard. It has infant inserts so is great for a small baby. It also has a removeable toddler head pillow. It has more limited cover choices than a marathon. Will last till child is most likely ready for a booster. Good for very small babies because of the infant insert but a ma/bv may be a better choice for an older child that won't need the infant insert.

Boulevard- Harness to 65 lbs, rf 5 to 33 lbs. Has rf tether, ff and rf lockoffs. It has true side impact protection (the "wings"). Has a lever style harness adjuster, and instead of having to remove the seat from the car to adjust the harness height you just turn a knob on the side of the seat, and it does not have an adjustable crotch strap. It has a removeable infant pillow so is also a good choice for a very small baby. Will last till the child is most likely ready for a booster. Good seat for any child. Especially one that will have to be on the side of a vehicle without side curtain airbags.”

Honestly if you can fit an infant seat in any of your cars, you should be able to fit a MA/DC/BV seat (they are all the same size shell). Since your ds is not a newborn any more, as long as he has developed good head & neck control, you can install the seat as upright as is comfy for baby - only newborns/very young babies need a 45 degree angle.

Our ds outgrew his 40lb limit seats by height at 34mos...he now rides in a Britax BV in our car and it's a very nice seat. I really like it and the TSIP headwings also make nice "pillows" for when he sleeps.

Hth.

 

[flying_babyb]

http://health.yahoo.com/news/170547;_ylt=AsgglNPBcMF.yCreII6miPRLvs8F

a new article on car seats. Im betting youve seen it but if not, here it is.

 

[Melrosgirl]

The above article is for infant seats though...not the convertible seats that the OP is asking about. Just FYI so the OP doesn't get scared off by Britax.