Which Britax Car Seat Should We Buy??

I vote for the Marathon too! My 21 month old daughter loves it :)

Im not sure why the decathalon gets ignored. you are not the first to not mention that option which is AWESOME. It is not as big as the boulevard but nicer by far than the roundabout. But ours sits in the back of a ford fordf250 so you definitely have to try it out. But we love ours!! If you need a space saving seat I have a Sunshine radian 80 for my grand cherokee which is nice also but is mainly for running around town, not long trips because it doesnt lay back as much as the britax.

K., I would get the Roundabout, especially if you have a smaller or skinny child. I have a Marathon and love it but I drive a Tahoe and it is a really big carseat. The marathon goes up to 65lbs. My step son is almost 7 and still doesn't weigh 65 lbs. My 1 year old will probably be old enough for a booster before he meets the weight limit. What I'm trying to say is that the Roundabout just might work for you with the 40lb weight limit because if your child is smaller, they could be in a booster seat by the time they outweigh it. The weight limit may be lower but the seat is smaller to fit in your car. Also, I shopped at Target.com before I bought my seat because you can read tons of reviews on the Britax seats and people talk a lot about the sizes and features of the carseats. Target's website might be a great resource for you. Good luck!

K., the Britax Marathon is a great seat. All of them that were made after 2/08 have a RF limit of 35# (before that they went to 33#) so you can easily RF your daughter at least to the age of 2 and beyond. My son RFed in his MA till he was 2 years 9 months easily and comfortably. Its very important that your keep her RFing at least to the age of 2. A child under the age of two is 4-5 times more likely to be injured when FF. The AAP reccomends RF to the limit of the convertable seat. The BV is also a great seat, although the wings (which are actually side impace protection) do bother some kids. The Diplomat and Roundabout are fine seats, but b/c of their smaller size and weight limit, they are outgrown much faster, many kids would outgrow those 2 by height by the age of 3. Any of them would be fine, just be aware that if you buy the smaller ones, you will still need another harnessed seat. Oh and target has the Marathons on sale this week. A great website for carseat help is www.car-seat.org it is a forum dedicated to carseat safety and there are tons of CPSTs (child passenger safety techs) who can help with questions that you have. Or feel free to message me if you need more help.

My daughter is a very tall 3 year old, but is also very skinny. So she outgrew her harness shoulder straps, but is still too small for me to feel safe putting her in a belted booster. We went with the new Nautilus car seat by Graco. The harness works up to 65 lbs. and has several very tall strap slots. It then converts into a booster for uo tp 100lbs. My daughter loves it - it's very comfortable, her head doesn't slump when she sleeps in the car, and it has a built-in cup holder that holds a full-size bottle of water. It installed like a breeze and was less expensive than the Britax. This seat offers a lot of growing room and didn't seem as wide or bulky as the Britax seats. Just throwing it out as an alternative!

I have 2 Britax seats - the Marathon and another smaller one. I love them both. 1. because of the ratings, but 2. they are very easy to install and use.

The Marathon is my favorite because it goes up to a high weight - however, I have never had a problem with it in my 2000 model Ford Explorer - except when rear facing - I had to put it behind the passenger side or the middle - but I am a 6' tall woman who wouldn't jeapordize leg room. I could have had it behind my seat - but it was easier to move it.

It has never obstructed views and my kids now 5 and 4 fight over it on long trips - because you can sleep in it and can't in the booster (without your head falling over). Unfortunately, I had to break down and buy a booster when we had our 3rd in a car with no 3rd row seating.

we have the boulevard and love it. it is large, but there is still plenty of room in the back seat (honda pilot) for two other people to ride comfortably. i don't have any problems with my view being obstructed. i may as she gets taller and have to adjust the head rest/shoulder harness. we bought ours online and that was much cheaper that any retail store.

We love the Britax Wizard. We have 2 of them.

K. - I have the Britax Marathon and it's a great seat. It's comfortable for long car rides (my son falls asleep every time). But you are right about the size, I drive a trailblazer and the seat must be on either side, but not in the middle. It's also heavy (as you know what), and too big for airplane travel, so plan on a back up/smaller seat for anything like that.

We have a Britax Decathlon for my 2 yr old and LOVE it. I bought it when he was 11 months old and I drive a Honda Accord. I don't have any issues with it blocking my view. (Decathlon is comparable to the Marathon just extra pillows). Anyway, I love the fact that it goes up to 65 lbs and would highly recommend it.

I love the Marathon. We drive a Hyundai Tucson, which is a small SUV and it does not obstruct the view. And I like that the weight limit is much higher.

My son outgrew the Britax Companion (infant)seat by the time he was 6 months. We went right into the Boulevard and would never buy another seat for this age. I LOVE the side-impact protection. My son loves the comfort of the seat. It's very sturdy...we've used it on airplanes even. It has never obstructed my view, but we do use it in the middle of the back row. My son can climb into it himself. I love it so much I bought the Britax Regent to use after the Boulevard (it's the only seat that has a 5 point harness to use up to age 8 or so, which is now recommended).

I am a certified car seat technician. Though I cannot reccomend a seat, I will share my personal experience. I have a Roundabout and a Marathon. Eventhough I drive a Suburban, the marathon is quite large for rear facing. It did not fit well behind the driver's seat. With one child you have the choice to put them in the middle, but if you plan to have more children and use the same seat, think about placement of the different seats in the car. (No matter your child's weight, you should keep her rear facing for AT LEAST 12 months - longer if she is not AT LEAST 20 pounds, preferably up to the weight limit of the seat.) Unless your child is measuring large, I don't think that it is necessary to spend the extra money on the seats that have the higher weight limits. Children can move to booster seats at as little as 30 pounds (highback booster). I waited until 40 pounds to move my children to boosters. My 6 yr old is still not 65 pounds (the maximum weight for Marathon) and she is too tall and would not sit in the "baby" seat. My point is that the seats that seem to fit children longer, are often not necessary because by the time most children pass 40 pounds, they are ready for a booster (many children, especially girls, don't reach 40 pounds until at least Kindergarten). My 3.5 year old is 32 pounds and still in the Roundabout (she also uses the Marathon, but it is not necessary to have a seat w/that capacity). She cannot wait to be in a booster. She has a long time to wait for those 8 pounds. I have babbled on forever, but hope I have helped you. If you have any other car seat questions, I'd be glad to answer.

i have a boulevard and love it. it is big but i dont have a problem in my car(outlander).i am very short to so you would think i would but i dont.like you said it will last so much longer.

I have the Boulevard and it is very large, however, I feel like it is a very safe carseat and my kids love it. It seems to be very comfortable to them.

Hi K.,

Ok, I can tell you from experience about the Britax carseat. My daughter is 3yrs 5mos. and we have been using the Britax sent she was about 16months old. I love the idea that it can be used rear and front facing. This car seat will go up to 65lbs,so I will get alot of use out of it.
But, I can say they are bulky and are no so easy to change from car to car. They do sit up rather high in certain vehciles. We had a Grandam amd it was fine and she was able to see out good. We now have a Dodge Charger and its alittle more higher, so when she climbs up in her seat she sits rather high but her view is not obstructed.
We did place it once in a Nissian Exterra and that was difficult. Her head cam all most to the ceiling.
Anyway, they are very reliable carseats and a good investment for the length of use.
Basically, I am glad that I got the Britax carseat. It was a good investment. It can be a little akward sometimes.