Convertible Carseat (Rear Facing) Recommendations for My Little (Big) Boy

We've had the Marathon both rear and forward facing for 3 1/2 years --- LOVE IT!! SAFE, SECURE, not too big or bulky, straps are still fine, not all twisted, and fits in both Honda Accord and Honda Pilot REAR and FORWARD facing!! We love BRITAX and have 4 car seats that are BRITAX!! I've had them installed by local police officer and he gives them the best overall rating. VERY happy with Marathon!

Hi Jenny,

I just purchased two Britax Roundabout's, and they are wonderful. I researching car seats myself, and used the "Consumer Report" car seat safety recommendation list. The Britax Roundabout is rated #1 for conversion car seat safety. Sooooo, after that confirmation I proceeded to buy them. Compared to the Marathon the standing height is 9" shorter, so Iwill have to buy another car seat earlier than I would have had to if I had purchased the Marathon, but safety was key for me. And it was easy to install, and works very well in my Infinit FX, soo it is great for larger SUV's. Hope this helps :)

sense your boy is big get something that will hold him longer. i suggest something that goes to 65 pounds while still being 5 point harness. thats safest till age 5. evenflo titan/triumph is as good as britax if you get the newest version. and half the price of a britax. i suggest not getting the britax roundabout as the weight limit isnt high and with your sons weigh now i doubt he's be able to use it maybe 2 years.

You really can't go wrong with the Marathon or the Roundabout or the Evenflo Triumph. They are all great convertible seats.

I just wanted to make sure that everyone who might read this knows that the law on rear facing is 12 months old *and* 20 lbs, and that it is recommended that you rear face as long as your seat can accommodate it (for most 30-35#). A rear facing child is at *much* less risk for injury than a forward facing child.

If you'd like to read more about this, this site has very good info, with many links to more. http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx

We love the Britax Boulevard. My son also outgrew his infant seat at 6 months. This was really easy to install. Not too bulky (unless you have a really small car) and very comfortable for my son, even on long trips. So that's what I recommend.

I love the Britax Marathon. The remaining months that you have him rear facing will fly by and then it is fabulous forward facing. It may be cramped a bit facing rear (for his feet) but you have to think of the longevity of the carseat. We have 2 Britax (I think ours are the Wizard? They have wing like headrests built in) and the Britax convertable booster seat (I forgot the name). The back will eventually come off the booster and she can use just the seat as she gets older. The safety and security of Britax is unrivaled. I know they are pricey but when you break it down over 4 or 5 years or so (until they go to a booster) it is inexpensive. It's worth it for your child's safety. I spend that much on gas or groceries in a month! lol
Best of luck deciding.

Hi Jenny,
We use the Britax marathon and it's done well for us and our daughter is happy. I was just on Amazon this morning and the britax marathon in Graystone is on sale, along with Ashley Floral and Brooke, for $186 plus $9.99 shipping!! I've never seen it priced that low.

Hi Jenny,
I have 5 kids and feel like I have gone through many car seats through the years. With my two youngest boys being 21 months and 8 months I am using the Sunshine Kids Radian 65 and couldn't be happier! Like Melissa M. said you will find width to be the main problem with carseats if you have more children. Depending on your states carseat law you may have your little guy in that car seat for another 8 years. Maryland just changed the law so that kids must be in a booster until age 9 so I now have 4 kids in some type of carseat. If I didn't have the Radian 65 width would be a problem even in my yukon xl because we have to flip a seat for my older kids to get to the back and it would have caught on the carseats. (we tried this out at the store before we bought a carseat for the two youngest kids, we did a lot of research). The Radian 65 can be used until the child no longer needs to be in a car seat and it is the same price as the britax carseats and gets the same ratings. We bought ours at one step ahead. Good Luck on your next big purchase for your little guy.

I debated this same thing over the summer. After much research and advice from Mamasource I chose the Evenflow Triumph which gets the same safety ratings as the Britax. I even went to the store and put my child in Britax and the Evenflo Triumph. I liked the Evenflo better since you don't have to take the straps out of the back of it to adjust, which is VERY handy in cold winter months and bulky clothes. Also, my daughter threw up on my way to work one day. I wasn't thrilled about that but was thrilled when I could take the cover out easily (without taking the seat out of the car)and wash it. Plus the cost is 1/2 as much as Britax so I was able to buy 2 Evenflo's for the price of one Britax. My daughter is pretty tall and she sits comfortably in the seat. The one problem I had was that my daughter's head would fall forward when she fell asleep (due to the seats in my VW Passat) but I bought a pool noodle, cut it to size, and put it where the back and bottom of the seat come together to angle the seat back some. This solved the problem easily. Good luck and I suggest taking your son to the store and trying out a bunch of seats to see what you like the best.

We have 2 Britax Boulevards for our 13 mo twins and could not be happier with them! If you do a lot of long trips I would recommend this one over the Marathon; the "wings" for side impact protection are great head support for sleep! You can find them online usually for much cheaper than the store (and often tax-free).

I've got 4 kids where 3 are currently in car seats or boosters. We are totally satisfied with our Alpha Omega Elites... We've used them for all the kids because they can go rear-facing to forward-facing to booster. It's more reasonably priced for my budget(when we were buying they were $110 - $140) AND I don't have to make an additional trip/expense to buy boosters. Mine do enjoy the armrests and the cupholders have been handy with the sippies and snack cups.

Hi Jenny,

I have a pretty big boy too and got him a Britax Roundabout when he was about 6 months old. We've been using it for almost 2 months now and he loves it. He has no problem falling asleep in it and looks much more comfortable than in the infant car seat we squeezed him into :) I talked to lots of moms and roundabout seemed to be a better model for us. It's a bit smaller than the marathon and the max weight is like 45lbs instead of 60lb but by the time they get to that weight, I figure he'll probably want to be in a booster seat instead. Go to target or wherever and have your baby try out different car seats. Good luck!

If you want to save $120 get this fisher price voyager car seat. It is actually manufactured by Britax and sold under the fisher price label. It's a generic version of the marathon. I love it. There are a few differences (the latch is a clip versus a push button, and to change from back to front facing is a little different) but these aren't features you use everday. With the savings you can get a second one for your other car.
http://www.albeebaby.com/fiprsavodeco1.html

First of all, ALL convertable car seats take up a lot of room when rear facing...unfortunately. Once they are forward - facing, then it's the width that matters. I actually chose to go with Sunshine Kids Radian 65. It's outer width is much more narrow than the Britax and actually gives the child more room on the inside. It is steel inside instead of plastic and that is why they are able to make it so narrow. The only draw-back is that is is heavier. If you are going to be switching it in and out a lot, then you may want to go w/ something different, but mine generally stays put, so it's NBD. The other thing that I love is that it carries a child until 65lbs (they also make another one that goes to 85lbs). You won't need to buy another car seat...ever. Beacause it is made from steel, the expiration date is 8 years as opposed to the typical 6 years. I am pretty sure you can get this through Babies R Us online.

Good luck!

Jenny,
I have the Alpha Omega Elite. I do like this car seat as it goes up to 100 pounds and it converts to a booster seat. My particular model has a puzzle buckle but my son was able to unlock the buckle at a young age. I took the buckle off another carseat and exchanged it with the Alpha Omega buckle. Now we have no problem at all. My son is comfortable at 2.5 years and 37 pounds. My son has used this carseat since about 6 months. I did put him in a cheaper carseat because of the buckle issue but then I had the epiphony of switching the buckle. Now I am once again estatic with the Alpha Omega.

I don't have the Marathon specifically, I have the Decathlon (sp?) but I can tell you from experience you can't go wrong with Britax. I have had two other types of convertable car seats and Britax is by far the easiest to install and adjust as well as the easiest to clean. I love my Britax and as soon as we are able we are going to replace the second carseat for a second Britax.

we have the britax marathon and love it. we have a graco for our less frequently used car and the britax is far superior in comfort and ease of installation. just this weekend i had to pop it out to use the back seat for adults, once the initial adjustments are made it takes about 30 seconds to get it in and out. we have a tiny volvo s40 and it fits fine.

btw, a part broke (our fault) and the customer service was great.

The Britax is good. I have one for my 2 yr old. I bought it over others for the cover pattern mostly. The Alpha Omega is good to, and about half the price. I've also used other Graco Convertible seats and liked them too. Just none of them had the pattern I was looking for at the time.
Good luck.
M.

I can't think of one offhand, but make sure that you can put the straps on the third/highest setting WITH the carseat facing the rear. We had an issue with that. Our son was tall for his age as well, and our carseat would not allow you to put the straps through the top notch unless it was forward facing. Much to our dismay, we had to face him forward a couple months before he was one year old. He was over the recommended weight and height but not age. Take that into consideration.

I just bought my son a convertible carseat, and did a lot of research in order to find the one that would be safest, easy, and has longevity. The Evenflo Triumph Advance is what I decided on. The main reason I chose this one is because it has the same safety rating as the Britax, but is much cheaper. It also has a higher weight limit than many other convertible seats (55lbs). There is a Britax that goes to 65, but I figured that with my son we'd probably move him to a high-back booster seat before 65lbs. The newest model of the Triumph Advance also has side impact tested which was very important to me because my son has to sit next to the passenger door. It's big and heavy, but not any worse than when I carried my son in his infant carrier, and we won't be moving his seat in and our of our car very often.

The Evenflow Triumph gets the same safety ratings as the Britax, and holds a child forward facing up to 55 lbs! I absolutely love this carseat, I have never used one so easy before, and this is my third child! I don't have to uninstall it to take off the cover to wash it, or to adjust the straps, all that is done one handed and soooo easy. It truly is the easiest and safest carseat, I totally recommend it!

I definitely recommend the Britax Marathon!! Honestly, it IS a huge carseat - but I wouldn't have my kids in anything else. I have a 2 year old and a 4 month old who are both in them. My husband is 6'3" and I am 5'10" so naturally we have very tall children too. Both of my kids are have been "off the charts" for both their height and weight since day one - so they outgrew their infant seats very quickly. I think that the Marathons are very user friendly and I find that they are easy to maneuver when I have to switch them between mine and my husband's cars. I feel that my kids are very safe and secure in them. They have a place for the seatbelt to anchor it down to the seat, 2 seat belt locks as well as 2 latchs to attach to the latch points found in most cars. They are a little on the expensive side, but I find them well worth the money. The carseat covers are easy to wash and very soft and cushiony too. Good luck! :)

We got the Britax as a gift before she was born, and were thrilled it was rear facing when my daughter grew out of her infant seat before she was 1. It worked great in a small SUV.

I'd go with the Britax Marathon. I have an SUV (Acura MDX), and DH has a 4-door sedan (Honda Accord). We had them rear facing in both cars adn they fit just fine!

J., I would go for the Britax Roundabout. It is a bit smaller than the Marathon and seems to fit the shoulder/head heights of the "little big" ones better. It is convertible as well- rear facing to front facing and is suitable for up to 40+ lbs. You can also find a better deal if you get the floor model from Target or Burlington Coat factory.

I love my two alpha omega elites. They are absolutely just as safe as the britax and they cost alot less. Plus I felt that with the arm pieces and the cup holder they seemed much more like a big kid seat for when its time to turn the kids around. I was in a car accident (without the kids) and we went right out to buy it again. The only thing is it is complicated to take apart if cleaning is needed, but I don't know if the britax is better.

My almost 28 month old has been in a Britax Marathon since she was 6 months old and it has been the best purchase we have made. She is 70% for weight and 97% for height and can still fit rearfacing in it (rearfacing is actually recommended until the limits of the seat, which for the new Marathons is 35 pounds, by the AAP). I had it in our old sedan and it fit rearfacing and now I have it in a minivan and it works perfectly. I highly recommend it and have nothing bad to say about it.

We have 2 Britax Wizard car seats and love it.After going through many car seats(including other Britax ones) the ones that have side impacts wings are simply the best. Hopefully we will never have to find out what they do for safety but for comfort it's has been a must(for our kids)

We used a Marathon rear-facing in an SUV, and it was fine. We love the Marathon!

I have the Britax Marathon and LOVE it! My son has a very long length from waist to head and short legs, so he had to be moved out of his infant seat at exactly 6 months, since his head was sticking out over the top. I used my Marathon rear-facing until well over a year (~18 months maybe) because his legs were so short it wasn't a problem. I have a Saturn VUE, which is a small cross-over SUV and I had no problem with a rear-facing position. My cousin has the same seat and a Yukon and also used it rear-facing from ~9-12 months and had not problem as well. I definitely think this is the seat to have. I did have a little problem installing it, so I took it to our local fire department that installed it and showed me how to do it on my own, it seemed so much more easier, so I could have been dumb. Hope that helps!!