Convertible Car Seat for VW Beetle

We have both the Roundabout and the Marathon. We bought the Roundabout for our first dd and then when we needed an extra carseat for my second dd we bought the Marathon. We have taken the Roundabout on airplanes and had no problems. The Marathon is much bigger and I think it wouldn't fit as well in an airplane seat.
Both carseats fit rear facing in our Maxima. It was tight with the Marathon - the passenger seat was pushed as far forward as it could go when it was installed. Not sure how they would fit in a Beetle.
My daughters are both on the higher end of the growth charts - very tall that is why we loved the Britax car seats. My older daughter was in the Roundabout until we start her in a full size booster (also Britax) and she has done great.
Hope this helps.

My sister, who is also my nanny, drives a VW beetle and our Britax Marathon fits in the middle of the back seat. The Britax also fits in the airline seat (but it makes it a nightmare to sit next to it). We stopped flying with a car seat as it was really difficult. Traveling without it has been wonderful, but you have got to keep your little one secured one way or another in case of turbulence. When flying internationally, most airlines have infant seatbelts that buckle into your adult seatbelt - you should ask your airline.

Could you head over to your nearest Babies R Us and try installing one of the floor models in your car to see if it fits? I bet they'd let you do this to check. Usually the problem is when they're rear facing. Front-facing takes up a lot less space.

Hi A.-
I believe you responded to my request about car seat recommendations for my Honda Civic... Anyway, I decided to go ahead and purchase the Roundabout (less than $200 at elitecarseats.com with no tax & free shipping -- arrived in two days with the puma pattern I wanted). My husband installed it yesterday. It takes some getting used to with just putting my 6-month old in and out of the car but the snugrider was getting difficult too since he's already almost 20 pounds. The seat was rather easy to install (LATCH in the center back seat, rear-facing) and it does take up a good bit of space. I chose not to use the tether (which secures the top of the seat) because it would need to go over the top of the seat and attached to the top of the back seat -- which would make it much more difficult to move my son in and out of it. The instructions say it's approved for airline travel too. I agree with others that the Marathon would be too big. You're going to need to purchase a booster seat at some point, so you really wouldn't be saving any money, you would just postpone spending it until later. Good luck!!

I have both the Britax Marathon and Boulevard and LOVE the Marathon. It works great on an air plane, but even better with a seatbelt extender. Just ask the flight attendants and they will be happy to provide it for you.

A.,
We have the Roundabout, it is the ONLY seat that will fit in our Mini Cooper and I think the beetle seats are similar. We found the Marathon to be too tall and yes, it isn't easy to travel with.

Hope this helps!
Ashle

i would do the marathon or one similar that does the 5 pt harness to 65 pounds or more i feel that my daughter is not ready for a seat belt booster at 4 weighing 40 pounds
alot of her weight is height 42 inches

A.,

We used a Snugride until our sonoutgrew it. Then my hubby did his research & found that the Britex Marathon was the best one that lasted the longest. We switched when my son was about 9 mths & he's 3.5 yrs old now with plenty of room to grow in it still. Plus he's tall for his age! Haven't heard of the size being a problem on the airlines though. I thought we brought ours on an airline trip without a problem. Would highly suggest it. For the trip itself, you should be able to hold your baby in your lap (if neccessary) & rent a carseat when you get there. Hope this helps.

Suzanne

A.,

Hello and welcome to the states. Kidding. Anyhow about the Britax car seats... not sure if you know this BUT if you go online and go to Babies R Us and go to the Fisher Price Safe Voyage car seat it's the SAME car seat as the Marathon. Britax is even the manufacturer of this car seat... check it out and it's about $100 less! We have four kids and three of them will be in the convertible car seat in a few months and this is the option we are looking at. We have the older Fisher Price Safe Embrace and love it so this is the route were going with for our triplets. Size is large but YOU definately want to go with a 5 point harness for your child... it's the safest for them and if this is your only child and plan on more I'd suggest in investing in a good car seat. Hope it helps and you could always buy the seat try to install it in your car and if it doesn't work... take it back. Also... how old is your child? The whole airplane thing... you know if you have to use a seat it has to be approved by the FDA so I don't know if the car seat that I recommended is approved by them... I would think so. Hope it helps!

You might look into the Radian 65 or the Radian 80. Brand is sunshine kids. They have great safety ratings and a much smaller profile than most seats (most cars you can even fit in 3 in a row in a back seat). They also fold up for easy traveling, and have a 5 pt harness for an extended weight limit which most seats don't have.

There are many places you can order it on the internet, here is just one: http://sunshinekidsbaby.comfortfirst.com/ and here is the company's site http://www.skjp.com/products/Radian_index.php

I know they have a store locater on there so you can probably go try it out in your car, but you will probably get a better deal ordering on the internet than buying it in a store.