Britax Boulevard, Sunshine Kids Radian80 or First Years True Fit

Hi.

I have the Britax Boulevard. I have used Britax for more than 10 years now. IMO, there is no reason to look at other brands!
Another mother advised to look at the Roundabout, which I also have. :) True that it costs less. However, I would focus on the Boulevard, which I know you are doing, because your baby is young enough to benefit from the extra support and cushion that come with the Boulevard.
Sorry that I can't comment on the other two brands.

Amy

I love the blog carseatnanny.blogspot.com She has lots of great information. If you look in her past blogs one posted on Saturday, November 15, 2008 she list the likes and dislikes of carseats. She works with the carseat lady who is the best when it comes to child passenger safety. If you have any question you can always leave a comment, she loves talking about carseats. She helped me pick one out, we talked for almost an hour about my carseat needs and what would work for my son.

K.

Hi! Have you looked into the Britax Roundabout? It actually got a highter ranking than the Boulevard, plus it's a fair amount cheaper and a bit less bulky (it, too comes is cute "girlie" prints). I have one for my 13 month old daugther. I know that the Boulevard has a higher weight capacity, but realisitically, when your child is 50-60 lbs, she will most likely be well into grade school. My guess is she will not be too keen on still riding in a "baby car seat" and you will switch to a booster anyway. At least this was my train of thought. The Roundabout goes up to about 40-45 lbs, which should be sufficient to take your little one well into kindergarten/1st grade. Just something to think about! Good luck! :-)

I personally would choose either the Radian80 or the TrueFit. The Radian 80 is a great seat but is pretty narrow so not best for babies on the heavier side. The TrueFit is a great seat but only goes to 65lbs harnessed vs. the radian goes to 80lbs. The true fit is great because it has the extendable head rest to grow with your child. They are both great seats, I don't think you can make a wrong choice between those 2.

Hi J.,

I can't speak for the other two, but I would be happy to tell you about my experience with the Britax Boulevard. I have been using it for 6 months now and I love it. It is a large size car-seat but it is solid and roomy. My little princess isn't petite and so I like that she doesn't seem squeezed into it, and I also like that it doesn't appear that I will have to put out another few hundred dollars anytime soon. What sold me on this carseat (now that I am the mother of three and have had my share of seats) is that I don't have to re-thread the straps as she grows--and boy am I loving that convenience since it is fairly time-consuming to get your carseat properly put into your car. I also personally like the "wings" that are on the carseat as it gives me some extra comfort knowing that if we were ever to be hit on the side that she has that extra cushion to protect her little head. Yes, it makes it a 'little' harder for her to see what is on the side of her, but her safety is more important to me. The carseat is easy to get her strapped into and I LOVE the straps on the britax carseats---they don't get tangled! And when I am in a hurry to get her into her carseat in the mornings, that is worth its weight in gold! To me, there is nothing worse than trying to fight to untangle straps!

Regarding the carseat being in the middle seat, I will tell you that this carseat sits up pretty high and I do have to lift her up to get her over the molded sides---so, my recommendation to you is to go to Babies-R-Us and they will allow you to take the carseats out to your car and 'try them out' before you buy them. You can actually put them into the car and then put your child in and out of them to see if it will work for your vehicle and needs. My daughter's seat is right by the door, so it isn't of much bother to me to put her in and out. If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Best of luck to you! Kimberly

I would go True Fit. Britax is good, but very expensive and your child will outgrow it by height before weight. The Radian I have heard that alot of people that have it don't like it because it is very narrow and uncomfortable for larger kids. True Fit is new on the market but has very good reviews and will last you for a long long time.

Hi J.:

I just went through the same process with my son.

We went with the Boulevard CS for 2 major reasons:

1) Our family friend is an attorney and has defended Britax in lawsuits and said that this is the only carseat that he would recommend. Enough for me. Whether he is right or wrong, I don't know, but his input based on the Britax safety record made my decision.

2) We chose the Boulevard CS because the CS (aka Click n safe) straps actually click when the are tight enough and I ALWAYS wondered if the straps were tight enough or not on my previous car seat. One less thing to wonder about...YIPPEE! Also, this seat has good side impact protection.

All of this being said, there are a few negatives: The car seat is HUGE. With a suburban, you should be fine because it is not wide. Rather, I find that it encroaches on the space from the front seats and how far that the front seat passengers can put their seats back. (Although, we have a smaller to mid size SUV.) Lastly, the instructions aren't the most clear or intuitive and, in my opinion, lack the illustrations to make the installation clearer. All of this being said, after the installation was complete, I feel like my little guy is completely safe everytime that I put him in the seat and I feel reassured with the click and safe that I have tightened the straps sufficiently.

Just my 2 cents. I hope this helps.

A.

We just transitioned from the infant carrier to the convertible car seat this past weekend. We put the Britax Roundabout in my car and the Graco Comfortsport in my husbands. Don't look any further than the Britax! As all of my friends told me, it is the best. I only wish we purchased two of them. So easy to install. We purchased ours at albeebaby.com. Original price $220.00 but I got it at Albeebaby for $159.50 and that includes shippping.

I have had both the Britax roundabout and currently have the Radian. I loved the Britax (no twist straps, safe as safe can be, easy to install in any car). I also love the Radian for the same reasons. Changing it from rear facing to forward facing is easy, it is very slim so that helps, it is comfortable and soft for the kids and they like it. The only negative I had about the Britax was my daughters sweat tons in it, like it was a little heater. I haven't had that happen with the Radian. A negative of the Radian is that it doesn't have as high of side wings (I have the 65, not the 80) so they dont' have as much support when they sleep in it, but the infant who used it here at my daycare still fell asleep in it easily and comfortably.

The radian will be tall though, it may not work if you like your front seat far back or there isn't much room between the front and back. ((if you are in the plainfield area I can let you see my radian and you can try it in your vehicle))

I have a um, chubby, kid that was in the Radian and did just fine with it. He was not uncomfortable at all.