Britax Carseat Confusion...2 Questions in 1:)

We have two Britax Marathon car seats and I bought them because they go up to 65 lbs in the five point harness and then you can use the seat belt after that???? My kids are 40in and 37in and both in the 27 - 35lb range and they both have lots of room to grow in their Britax car seats? Did you move up the straps? Do you still have the manual in the back? I was told the longer they are in the 5 point harness the better. The longer they are rear facing the better too, but at 18 mos both wanted to see and ride forward facing.

we have the frontier and love it. i think our son was about 36 inches when we got it, and 32 lbs. he loves the cup holders and the seat is skinny so if must you can fit 3 in a row. we have a CRV and it fits great. i heard the regency is huge. most people i know don't invest the time or money in a 5 pt booster... so really any 5 pt is going to be safer than the traditional sit on a phone book deal.

I am not sure why you are switching seats. The Marathon is good up to 65 lbs/49 inches forward facing. She has outgrown the seat rearfacing though. But you can keep her forward facing as long as she is under 65 lbs and 49 inches. I kept my 5 year old in his Marathon till he was 4 1/2 and 40 lbs really the only reason we moved him was because his little brother needed it.

The Advocate is not out yet and has the exact same height/weight restrictions as the Marathon. In looking at it, the only difference I see is the addition of EPS foam to help with safety in side impacts.

Frontier is a forward facing 5 pt harness seat, that can keep your child harnessed up till 80 lbs. Then it can be converted to a booster seat for children over 40 lbs. So this is the "big kid" seat, in a way.

Then there is the Regent, which is a forward facing only 5 pt harness seat that can keep the kids harnessed up to 80 lbs and does not convert to a booster.

My daughter is in Kindergarten and turned six this Spring, and is still in the Marathon. I have always felt that she is very safe in this seat, and am going to keep her in it until she no longer meets the height/ weight requirements.

I also have the Britax Marathon and we bought this one to accommodate our toddler for a long time since they are kind of spendy. I just double-checked the height and weight limits, and indeed it's 65 lbs and 49 inches for the forward facing position, so your daughter has a lot of use left in this seat. Have you adjusted the position of her shoulder straps?

are you sure you don't have the roundabout?

If you've got the Marathon, you shouldn't need a new seat for a while. My daughter is 5 1/2 and is still in the Marathon. Be sure to read your owner's manual! Make sure the seat is tilted all of the way forward. Adjust the shoulder straps. And be sure to read the Britax manual AND your car's manual to figure out what the LATCH limit is for you! My daughter is almost too heavy for the LATCH connectors to be utilized - once she gets too heavy I'll have to use the Marathon with the seatbelt. (all car seats and cars have their limits, you can Google it).

Good luck,
M.

My daughter is 42 inches tall, weighs 41 pounds and is still in the Marathon. It's good to 65 pounds and I hope to use it until then. She seems to fit in it just fine.

Your child has outgrown the seat when one of these things happens:

For rear facing - either the rear facing weight limit is reached (on a Britax convertible this is either 33 or 35 lbs) or the child has less than one inch of seat (hard shell) above her head. The straps should always be at or below the shoulders when rearfacing.

For forward facing - either the forward facing weight limit is reached (if you have a Roundabout, then it is 40lb, for a Marathon it is 65lbs) or the tops of the child's ears are above the seat. The straps should always be at or above the shoulders when forward facing.

You didn't say how old your daughter was but many kids will last past 2 rear facing in a Marathon and until 5-6 once forward facing. A forward facing one year old is 4-5x more likely to be injured in a crash than that same child would be if rear facing so it is a good idea to keep them rear facing until at least age 2. Bent up legs don't matter as they fly up in a crash. My one daughter was able to ride rear facing in the Marathon until she was nearly 3 and the other was able to ride rearfacing until a few months after her second birthday. At 3 and 5 they both still fit forward facing. I would check out the car seat safety group at www.babycenter.com. I got a lot of great info from them.