Convertable Car Seats - Wellesley Hills,MA

Hi L.,
I have the roundabout & love it. My friend had it too , loved it & then got the Marathon for child # 2 ( did not like it asmuch) I also agree that the child will prob. be done by 40 lbs anyway. good luck

Decisions, Decisions...I have 2 Britax Marathon seats for my two girls (3 and 6). I am very happy with them. They are very easy to take in and out of the car if need. (I have 2 others that are not). Although it notes it goes to 65 lbs I think a child (unless very heavy) will outgrow the height of the seat before they reach 65 lbs. My almost 6 year old daughter is average size and her head is getting closer to the top. Good Luck:)

We have a marathon using in a minivan so it works very good for us. It is very safe and comfortable for my three yer-old daugther. we bought it when she was one year old.

Edited to Add in response to the above response: Anyone who 'recommends' Britax over another brand is short sighted and not serving parents well.. While they are not unsafe, they have a whole slew of issues, including being outdated, that make them less preferable than other seats. Furthermore, a technician does not perform an 'installation service'. He/she teaches parents to install the seats themselves. If I as a Senior technician overhead a technician saying that Britax was best and then installing a seat for a parent, I would recommend re-education for that technician and no further parent contact until retraining had been completed.

Hi Laura,

Like Ms. Bower, I'm also a Child Passenger Safety Technician, and I concur with her advice.

Firstly, the Roundabout is a substantially overpriced waste of money. It will be outgrown rear facing way too early, and forward facing way too early.

Secondly, Britax is a 'status symbol'. It is not the safest car seat. And in fact, it's inferior to many other products now available for sale. Parents still think it's the 'best' but that hasn't been true for the last three to five years. Don't waste your money! There is no Britax convertible that will do what other seats can do, better, for fewer dollars.

Look for a seat that will keep your child rear facing for the max amount of time. We don't recommend turning a child forward facing before the third or fourth birthday.

Seats that will keep your child rear facing include

Graco My Ride 65 (rear faces to 40 pounds)
The First Years True Fit (rear faces to 35 pounds)
Sunshine Kids' Radian 65SL (rear faces to 40 pounds)
Sunshine Kids Radian 80SL/ XTSL (both rear face to 45 pounds)

Also, just because a seat SAYS it harnesses to a higher weight does not mean that it will practically do that. Check the actual size of the shell and the top harness position. The topmost harness position should be at least 17" to make it a 'good buy'.

As for the mom in the store, it sounds like she has some parenting problems. The only reason a child develops attitude about being in a car seat is if an adult gives him the idea that he should.

For safety's sake children should be

Rear facing to the third and fourth birthday
Forward facing with harness until they are mature enough to sit in a high back booster (usually between 5 and 6)
High back dedicated booster until they grow out of it (usually around 7-8 years old)
Backless booster until 4'9" AND the belt fits safely (usually between 10 and 12 years old)

So to recap: you don't need a status symbol to be safe and Britax absolutely does not make the best car seat on the market.

Keep your child rear facing for at least another three years, preferably to the fourth birthday

Buy a seat that will let you do that!

And finally, see a Child Passenger Safety Technician to help you learn how to use your child restraint correctly. 80-100% of parents use it wrong if they haven't consulted a tech.

~J. Singh
Child Passenger Safety Technician

Hi L.,

I have twins and my husband and I both put a set of the Britax Marathons in our vehicles. Our girls are 2 and very tall and these seats are great for their leg room. Yes, every car seat has to conform to the same safety tests however I took both our vehicles to our State Child Safety Department to have the seats "professionally" installed and the representative totally recommends the Britax models to all new parents. They are simple for the parents to use and comfortable for the children to ride in. Our girls have no fuss about getting in them. Hope this helps.
L.

my daughter is fairly big for her age and i feel much better about her in the marathon than the roundabout only because i think she'll grow out of it and we'll have to get another one. i can see the other mom's point about car seat attitude, but there's also height to take into account. it's not something i'd worry too much about, but if it was me, I'd get a marathon again!

I took my son at 6 months on a road trip to Florida in his Britax Marathon. He was awesome. The seat was even more awesome. It is like a Lay-Z-Boy and made me feel very safe to have him strapped in for 1500 miles. He didn't fuss too much and loved it all the way.

My daughter was a big kid and went through may car seats. 4'9" came early ... I think the Britax Marathon is better unless your child is on the smaller size. Good luck

L.-

I think it depends on your kids. If they are tall for their age then the Marathon is great. I have no experience with the Radian. I have used the Roundabout for both of my kids because they are average height and they would be fine in it until they needed a booster seat. My oldest is 6 now and my next one is 3 and he is still in it with room to grow. I have another one on the way and most likely will buy another roundabout when they are ready since this one will be about 8 years old by then.

I have started hearing good things about the Radian seats but I don't know anyone that has one, everyone I know has a Britax.

Good Luck!

A.

I would definitely recommend the Britax Marathon. My son loves sitting in his and it appears to be a very comfy seat that I plan to use for him as long as I can.

How old is your child? I don't know much about britax carseats I've always thought they were too much $$$$$ considering all carseats must pass the same safety tests. Make sure what ever seat you purchase will allow you to rear face until atleast 2. Our youngest will be turning 3 soon and he is still happily rear facing.

If you are looking to spend big bucks on a seat because you feel it will be safer get a radian at least they have a model that rear faces to 45lbs.

Hi L. - I recommend you get a seat with a high rear-facing weight limit and a high forward-facing weight limit. You want to aim to keep your child rear-facing for as long as possible as this is 5 times safer than forward-facing (more info here - http://www.kyledavidmiller.org/pages/4209/Car_Seat_Safety...) and then once your child outgrows the rear-facing limits by weight or height, you want to aim to keep him harnessed for as long as possible (more info here - http://www.kyledavidmiller.org/pages/4211/Car_Seat_Safety...) Please note that harnessing sets are generally outgrown by height before a child reaches the weight limit.

A roundabout will be outgrown by height well before your child reaches 40lbs and that will be well before he is ready for a booster seat (minimum age 6 years, weight 40lbs due to immaturity issues).

I am a child passenger safety technician and run the Kyle David Miller Foundation (where I linked you previously).

Some good seats to look at are:
Graco My Ride 65 - rear-facing to 40lbs, forward-facing to 65lb
Sunshine Kids Radian 80 or XT - rear-facing to 45lbs, forward-facing to 80lbs
Britax Marathon/Boulevard - rear-facing to 35lbs, foward-facing to 65lbs.

Each progression in a car seat cycle (rear-facing to forward-facing to booster) is a demotion in safety - you want to delay each progression for as long as possible for optimal safety for your child.

When you get your seat, ensure you make an appointment with a local child passenger safety technician to learn how to correctly install and use your seat. You can find the contact details of your nearest tech through this website - http://www.safekids.org/certification.

Best regards,
L. Bower
Executive Director and Child Passenger Safety Technician
Kyle David Miller Foundation
http://www.kyledavidmiller.org

I know three people with the same seat and none of our kids had an attitude and wanted out before 4; it's a large seat, so it's not like they are hanging out of it.

We first bought a Britax Marathon when my son was over a year old (until then we was in a Graco "bucket"). It's a wonderful seat; we used forward-facing and he's still in it now at 4 1/2 years old and he's always been on the normalish-tall end.

When my daughter was born, she did the bucket for a few months and then we added a Britax Roundabout and used as a convertible/rear facing seat; then turned around after she was a year old. She is still in it (2 1/2). It is also a wonderful seat, but smaller than the Marathon. Since she is very tall for her age, we will be moving her to my son's Marathon, which is larger and has a higher weight limit. (We recently bought the Britax Parkway SG booster for my son.)

The only drawback is that they have a wide footprint/base. If you have a very small car or want to fit multiple seats, you may want to measure first. As I mentioned we have two in my car (A Nissan Murano) and we still have room between for my mother to squeeze in between. The reason we bought a Marathon and a Roundabout is so that we'd have a bit more room. And the Marathon is difficult to fly with-- it's heavy and may not fit in some airline seats, so I borrowed a friend's smaller seat when we traveled.

If deciding between the Marathon and Roundabout, the Marathon will feel HUGE with your 3-month-old son (it looked big with my year-old son!). But if he is big or you think you'll have more children, you may want to invest in the Marathon. In our case, My daughter is getting too tall for the Roundabout, but is still too young to move to a booster, so if we didn't have the Marathon, I'd have to buy another seat. That would suck.

I recommend all the seats and the Britax brand. They have the highest safety ratings and are so well made. I've borrowed other seats and fought with difficult harnesses, twisted straps, difficult adjustments. With the latch-system, Britax seats install in mere minutes.

Does that help?

I would not get the roundabout, that one has a smaller shell, so he might outgrow it in length before the 40 lbs? I had a marathon for my son(who's 2 1/2 yrs old) but no longer use it as it was in the car when i was in an accident. The Marathon also last 6 yrs. Do know that if you have a shorty like my daughter that it might not fit him correctly? My daughter is 8 mo old and still doesn't fit into her marathon. Right now I have both kids in a First years True Fit.
I would go w/a seat that harnesses to the higher limits as a booster seat should be only for kids who are a "mature" 5 and older, they have to sit in them correctly each & every time they use it. So if you decide to go w/the roundabout and he outgrows it at say 3, you'll have to get another convertable as a boosters MINIMUM is 4 yrs old and 40 lbs.

The Graco Myride is a good choice as it rear faces to 40 lbs and then forward until 65 lbs.

The True Fit is great as it RF's to 35 lbs and then FF's until 65 lbs.

Those to would work for your 3 mo old now..the marathon might not, as I said my 8 mo old is to short & skinny to fit properly.

Hope that helps you some!!

Oh another thing, I wouldn't get any 3 in ones, i.e the Eddie Bauer, as they make crappy booster seats and have short shells as well and they only harness until 50 lbs (I believe that is what the new ones are now?) then you would use it as a booster seat. So again if your son outgrows it by 3 then you would have to buy another convertable again anyways or you could buy the Graco Nautilus(1-10 yrs) if he happens to be about 3 ish when he outgrows whatever seat you decide to get, as that seat harness until 65 lbs then boosters.
Sorry I am just rambling on & on lol! Hope I didn't confuse you??

Hi L.,

We have the Marathon for your daughter and I love it however it is a very BIG seat. To be honest I think if I had to do it again I would get the Roundabout. My oldest DD was out of the Britax for height before she hit the 65lb mark. We also drive a Outback and it was a tight fit.

Good luck in your search!

Hi L., we went with the Britax Boulevard CS and my 14 months old son loves it! He's very tall and sits comfortably back facing. The seat is easy to adjust for growth spurts (you don't even have to take it out of the car to re-thread it - it's got a dial to adjust for height.) It was a little pricey but the way I figured it .... it's probably the single most important safety item that we will need to buy for him so why not go for top of the line. I plan to keep him back facing until probably 2 so it's a great fit. Also - you can use a 15% or 20% off coupon at Babies R Us for Britax seats.

L.,

I had a preemie and I asked the doctor if she could project her weight out to age 4 or 5 and she won't be 50 pounds at that point unless a miracle happens. Most 'normal' size kids will be at or over 65 pounds at that stage. This is the reason I was able to go with the Roundabout 50 which goes up to 50 pounds and all my daughters friends are in the Marathon. It lasts longer.

L. M

I have the britax roundabout and love it. I chose this one because the marathon was huge compared to this one. took up alot of rm in the car. All Car seats have a experation date and would not last up to 65 pounds i presume. Usually you need to replace after 5yrs. My four yr old isn't 40 lbs yet. I guess it depends on what age child you are putting in it. I have my 20 month old in it and he has been in it since he was 1 so we got a few more years.. Good luck

You should definitely get a seat that goes higher than 40lbs or you will need another seat later on. Some of the seats that go to 40lbs have low top harness slots and children outgrow them by height before they reach 40lbs. The marathon is a great seat. The Roundabout is only to 40lbs so I would recommend against that for that reason. All Britax seats are top notch and they are really easy to install correctly. Some seats are so difficult to install you really need a professional car seat tech to install them.

I see someone mentioned the Graco Nautilus. This is a great seat, I use them myself but they do not go rear facing so you need to make sure you get a seat that goes rear facing.

If a kid gets an attitude about staying in a car seat when they still need one they need to be told they have to stay in it, it is a safety issue. Kids should be rear facing until at least 2 years (2 years is current minimum recommendation and they are so much safer rear facing) and then in a harnessed seat until age 5-6 and then a booster seat until they are 100lbs or so.

Oh and yes, all seats meet federal requirements but some companies go above and beyond making them even safer than the government requires.

We have the Marathon and it has been great. I think it's gotten it's use because I had a second child when my oldest was 2 yr 8 months, so the little guy has grown into his sister's car seats. You may want to think about whether you're likely to have other children or not.

However, I do see the point about going up to 65 pounds. My oldest just turned six (in a high back booster) and my little guy is three (in the Marathon that he's been in since he was 7 months old.) To tell you the truth, I can't picture my oldest in that Marathon now...she seems so big even though she technically fits the guidelines for the seat.

So, I think I'd go with the Roundabout if you think you might have another child in the next three years or go with the Marathon if you're going to have one...and just stick it out as long as you can!

WE have the the Marathon, the roundabout and the Graco Nautilus 3-1 and by far my favorite is the graco. It has very high safety ratings, it is cost friendly unlike the britax models, and it can be used as a harness carseat, a seatbelt booster, and a backless booster essentially taking the child from 3-8 years old. I am not sure when you plan to transition your baby but the only problem would be that they have to be 1 to go in the graco. I would NOT by the roundabout again. It is way to small and while it says that it holds up to 40 lbs my son was squished in it at 15 months old. IF you are going to go with the Britax I would get the marathon but be careful because it is VERY big and does not fit well in all cars especially if you are trying to put it rear facing.

I have the Britax Marathon for my son because he is very tall and I wanted him to be comfortable. He loves it! For my daughter who is smaller, I went with the Britax Roundabout 50. Both are great seats, look nice and appear to be very comfortable for the 2 of them. The seats are pricey but car safety is one place to spend a little more money in my opinion.
Good luck!

We have the Radian car seats which go up to 60 pounds and my 4 1/2 year old and 6 1/2 year old go in with no problem. The "cool" factor has never been an issue for us - we have a baby too and rather than get a new car we got new car seats that fit 3 across and like I said, it has never been a problem that they are still using a 5 point harness. The problem with the Britax and most car seats is that they often grow out of one part of it before they grow out of the other - my kids are both tall and thin, so they were out heightwise well before they weighed the 40 pounds required to use a booster (my 4 1/2 year old is still several pounds shy of the 40 pound mark). We had the Britax that go up to 40 pounds and while I loved the car seats and had no complaints about them per se, it did bother me that I needed another solution before they were ready for regular boosters. Good luck!

Laura B has really sound advice so I don't have much to add except that we have the Britax Boulevard (like the marathon only has side protection wings) and our little one loves it. I wish I had kept her rear facing (she's two now) but we turned her because she got carsick facing backwards. But from everything i have read, sounds like the Britax marathon or Boulevard allows you to keep them rear facing as long as possible (and you should until they outgrow it) plus they have high weight limits.

good luck.

How old is he? I used a baby one (rear facing) until one.Then u can take it in and out if they are sleeping. Then moved on to the toddler aged ones (forward facing) Then at 3 I moved into a booster, or you can wait until 4. The high back boosters are for BIG KIDS> Mine did not want to stay in the Baby seats. My 6 year old is still in the high back booster. So three total! It is hard to fit an older child in a car seat. You will eventually need a booster. You cannot put a 6 year old in a car seat they don't fit. So, switch to the booster once u are ready later on!

Any questions, send me a message!

M.

http://www.WorkingGreenMoms.com