Which Convertible Car Seat Should I Choose

Amazon.com is having a sale on Britax car seats that ends today (Sun. March 2) 20-25% off. We love our marathon seats, but if I were buying them again I'd get the one with side wings at the head- added safety in a side-impact crash. I bought our marathons when my kids were each 8-9 months old. My oldest is now 4 1/2 and will be in her marathon for at least another 6-12 months before she's too tall for it. Even though they are expensive, if you consider we will use it for 4 years or more, it's a bargain.

We have the Boulevard and I love it!! I feel at ease with this seat b/c I feel like it is the safest on the market. It's easy to install and we can use this one for years to come!

I have the roundabout and the marathon. I would highly recommend both! When my 5 yr old was 1 yr I bought the roundabout but the weight limit is 45lbs and it is not as tall as the marathon. When my youngest turned 1 I moved her to the roundabout and put my oldest in the marathon. This worked great for me. If I had done my research in the beginning I would have only bought the marathon b/c the weight limit is 65 lbs. You can move them into it at 1 yr and keep them in it until they are at least 5. I just recently moved my 5 yr old to a booster b/c she asked! JP

Britax car seats are the best!! We used the roundabout which goes up to 40 pounds for both our kids (age 4 and 6). My daughter is still not 40 pounds but she looked too big for the roundabout so we purchased the Regent (which is not convertable -- it is forward facing only). I would suggest the Mearathon because it has a higher weight limit and is a little bigger so it will last longer.

Another thing to note. My son used the Husky (which goes up to 80 pounds) and my daughter the Regent (which is the newer version of the Husky). Everything was great until he reached the maximum limit for using the LATCH to hold the seat in (I think it is 40 pounds for the Odyssey). We tried to install it using the seat belt per the directions but the seat moved too much. We ended up moving him to the Britax Parkway booster. I use his old Husky (with the LATCH) to transport my daughter's friends who are under 40 punds. However, our Subaru has a higher limit for using the LATCH and so he can still ride in the Husky in that car. I guess my pioint in all of this is to check the LATCH limits for your car compared to the weight limit of the seat. If the LATCH has a lower limit than the seat, check to make sure the seat will work in your car using the seat belt to hold it in place before you buy.

We have used nothing but Britax since our kids got out of the bucket carrier (and Britax did not make those back then) and have loved them. They are pricey but worth the money! All total, we have 2 Regents, 2 Huskys, and 2 Parkway boosters. I feel safe no matter which seat my kids or a friend is riding in. There is no second guessing --"if he had only been in the Britax instead of the ---." Good luck.

Another Britax fan here!!! My 4 year old twins are now in Regents and will be as long as they need a carseat. I recommend the Roundabout because it is more "compact" than the other models you mentioned and will fit in your car better.

I LOVE the marathan. The britax are so worth the money. The straps NEVER twist. The roundabout she will outgrown. (I still have my 4 y/o son still in the marathan(he is 42 lbs and is still in the 5point harness) and, I am not sure, but I think the other 2 are for older kids than 10months, look that up on the internet. Once a childs ears are at the top of a car seat, the child is too tall and could break their neck if in a car wrek, so look for a high back like the marathon. I would suggest going to toysrus/target, or anywhere with a "display" and ask to take the dispay out to your car and make sure the seat fits well. The accord won't be your problem, the civic will be more of a challenge. I remove the head rest behind the carseat. I love how the marathon easily adjusts and fits very snug in several cars we have had.

We have the Marathon and we LOVE IT.

We have the Marathon and love it. I'd recommend it because, I believe, it rates up to 65 pounds, so will last the longest.

Great question. I actually just go finished doing some research on this. I have a 23 month old little girl that I purchased a Roundabout for a while back. I absolutely love it. It is compact, but so comfortable. It's very easy to install (even for me).

I have another little girl who is 13 weeks old, and so I began looking at purchasing another convertible carseat. Since the roundabout only goes to 40 lbs, I wanted one that would go to 65 lbs, so my older one could use it longer. I finally decided on the Boulevard. It is the only one with the new side impact protection. I was able to find it for $239 including shipping. I received it in 2 days and love it.

Britax is the best and definitely worth the money. The Boulevard is bigger, but it has to be since it can accomedate a larger child. It really depends on where you'll put it. I drive a minivan (gulp) and the girls have thier own seat on each side in the back, so that side-impact was very important. When I drove an SUV and had my oldest in the middle seat, the side-impact protection would not have been as big of an issue.

So it's up to you, but I like both my Roundabout and my new Boulevard. It really depends on what you're willing to spend, where you'll put the seat, and how much room you have.

Hope that helps!

P.S. there's some big Britax sales right now, so it's probably a good time to buy

We chose the Britax Roundabout for our daughter (almost 2 yrs old now) when she outgrew her Graco Snugride infant seat. We bought one for each car and have been happy with them. We chose the Roundabout over the Marathon because the Roundabout is a little bit smaller. However, she still has plenty of room to grow before it becomes too small.

I have a Britax Decathlon for my oldest daughter and have purchased a Boulevard for my 10 month old who will start using it after she is 1 (only b/c her currant seat is still perfect for her and is convienent to use with the double stroller). I am a huge fan of Britax and you can't go wrong with any of their car seats.

My suggestion is to go with the ones that you can afford. If it's the Boulevard great, if it's the Roundabout your child will still be as safe as any as long as it's installed properly. You may even choose to go with the Roundabout for the secondary car and one of the others for the primary car.

As far as if they will fit in your Civic, I recommend going to Babies R Us and trying them out in your car. The car seats are big but you would be surprised how well they actually fit.

Just a note, the Boulevard in Shannon is beautiful and is what I bought for my baby. I wish it would have been available when I bought my oldest daughter's seat. She has the Tiffany print Decathlon and it's also a beautiful seat. I love that manufactures are making girly prints in a lot of baby gear now.

Check around, a lot of websites are having a sale on Britax right now. Good luck!!

We bought the Decathalon - and we love the extra pillows that came with it. Super easy to install(all Britax are)... you can go to Babys R Us and they'll actually allow you take the floor model out to your car and try it out (with an employee) this way you can find which one fits best in your car.

Good luck!

We bought the boulevard and love it- I was told it would be too big- but for safety reasons we went with it and no regrets. The boulevard has side panels on either side of the head for side impact. It seemed big at first for rear facing but front facing not at all. Good luck.

Hi,
My name is Kim and I am a mother of 3 ( 11 year old son and 8 year twin girls). It has been a while since I have had to do car seats for my own children, but I am also a Certified Carseat Safety Technician with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. I have taught carseat safety classes to prenatal patients for over 5 years and conducted numerous car seat safety checks. I know that Britax is a fine car seat manufacturer;however, we Techs always recommend the car seat that is appropriate for your child's age and weight, will fit properly in your vehicle, and that you will use correctly every time your child is a passenger in the vehicle. So just make sure whatever seat you choose that it meets those requirements. You can also do some research on the SAFEKIDS.org website for updates on recalls and specific information. Hope this helps!

I have the Britax Boulevard and I love it. I believe that they all have the Latch feature which is the easiest install I have ever done. We chose the boulevard because it has the adjustable head wings that can be moved up as your daughter gets bigger. The seat also allows you to keep you pride and joy in a 5 point harness until 65 pounds. I would definitely recommend this seat. It may be a bit big for the civic but I have installed it into an accord and it fit perfectly.

From the research I've done, the Roundabout gets the best reviews. Check out this link from consumersearch.com

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/family/car-seats/

Many of the websites have consumer postings of reviews. You can look online at Babiesrus.com and many others to read them.

You're on the right track with the Britax though. Please let me know your opinion after you buy one. I'm expecting now and will eventually by a Britax myself.

We too are die hard Britax fans - there is no better carseat, so I don't think you can go wrong from there. We bought the Roundabout for our daughter when she outgrew her Graco Snugride. We only chose it because it was on clearance and we knew we wanted a Britax - we couldn't have been happier. Once her little brother outgrew the Snugride, we gave him her Roundabout and bought her the Marathon. We love them both, so I think the best thing for you to do is go with the earlier suggestion of taking your vehicle (whichever is smallest) to Babies R Us and see which fits better. Also, of course there is the difference in weight limits and whether you want to buy a new carseat when she outgrows the smaller Britax.

We have the Roundabout, too. I tried the Marathon and a couple of others when I first was shopping for carseats, and the Roundabout was the one that would fit in my car (a Cavalier at the time) rear-facing. All of them would fit forward facing, but some of the other seats were so tall that I couldn't see over them when they were turned backwards. Definitely go somewhere that you're able to take one to your car and try them out. It will be pretty easy to choose then!

We have a Decathlon and love, love, love it. Our little one never liked her infant seat. She had acid reflux and needed something that could keep her a little more upright. She's almost 18 months now and has loved it since she was 3 months old. I'm so pleased. We only have one seat and move it back and forth from car to car with ease.

I love, love, love, our Britax Marathon. We are not expecting a second child yet but when we do I will purchase another one of these. I also drive a Civic.

We have a Britax Roundabout for our son. We chose this carseat because we have a small car (toyota corolla) and all of the others seemed too big for our car. We are happy with our choice and our son likes it too!!!

I just bought three Sunshine Radian 60's and a Sunshine Radian 80 from Amazon. All our car seats were expired and needed replacing. Supposedly they are rated highly for safety (like Britax.)They have steel frames, the fancy foam, etc... A little cheaper than the Britax as well. Good rear facing to 40 lbs and for up to 80 lbs fwd facing. Good in aircraft, also they fold if you need to store them. The base is also supposed to be narrower than your typical seat so that they can fit three across in a standard car. That was what sold me, the steel (I like metal I think it has to be better than plastic) and the fact that I could fit more carseats in a smaller space. But they haven't come yet! Message me if you are interested (I know you might still just want the Britax! They do have a stellar reputation,) and I will repost a review once they've been in use for a day or two.

We have two evenflo triumphs. They scored almost as high on consumer reports as Britax (the areas they scored lower in were remedial things that don't really make a difference in day to day use) and cost about $100 less. The other great thing is they now go up to 50lbs. I don't know if you are only looking at Britax, but we have been extremely happy with ours.

I have a Britax Marathan and my husband has the Britax roundabout. Both seats are great....I think ANY Britax you buy will work great because they are just overall great seats. FYI...my seat holds up to 65lbs and my husbands only goes up to 40 lbs, so you should probably research that part of it and decide how big of a seat you want. Good luck!

Britax all the way. I have my second Decathalon. I had to replace my first one because I was in a wreck that was shy of totalling my hummer. FYI all is good. This seat was so good my son slept through the wreck!

I will never buy another brand again!

I love my marathon. BUT....it is a large seat. I would recommend whichever car you're putting it in, that you tell the store you need to fit it in your car first (or run back in and return it)to make sure it fits. I had a small older Saturn and it was too tight a fit. We were getting a bigger car anyways, so it didn't matter much. The problem is, if you are tall like my husband and I, and keep the front seats all the way back, it could be really snug. But other that that, it is a great seat, VERY safe and my daughter is very happy in it! Good luck!

I am a die-hard fan of the Britax Regent and the Sunshine Radian. They both will last well until the recommended ages for keeping a child in a 5 pt harness. I have the Britax for my son who is almost 6 and solidly built. I have the Radian for my 4yo daughter--she has a much slender build. But I just reread your post and noticed your DD's age.....Regents weight limits are 22~80 lbs. If I remember right, the Boulevard has the side impact protection. A couple of years ago I saw the YouTube video on this little boy named Kyle....I have been a carseat maniac since then. I dont remember much else on the "Blvd" but I know that my Regent is HUGE. (We call it the "recliner", lol. Even I can fit in it!) Here is where I bought mine, they offer a deal where if it doenst fit, etc....you can return/exchange with no hassle:
www.elitecarseats.com

hope that helps?!? :)

the marathon is huge....if you are still going to use it rear facing....then do not get the marathon....it would not fit in my husbands Accord rear facing....we got the roundabout and really like it!!! we have 3 kids.....ages 3, 2, and 1......i have a roundabout....a marathon (b/c we bought it and and couldn't return it) and now a convertible booster seat for my 3 year old...it is a Recaro....and we love it for a booster.....hope that helps.