Convertible Carseats

I loved my Britax so much, I bought second one for my other car. They are worth the higher price. I have a Marathon, but they have several models.

I love my Britax car seats. I have two. They are big and sort of pricey, however, I feel like my kids are safe in them. My three year old is in the Marathon and my 18 month old is in the Decathalon. Both are great. They seem pretty comfy even though they are strapped in. I hope this helps.

C. L.

I am going to include a link. It will make you cry, but, use it for the purpose it was intended for. Safety is your first priority. Invest now in the seat you will need and you won't be reinvesting every two years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

Blessings to you and your family!
T.

I would get a Britax Marathon car seat. That will last until your son asks for a booster seat himself. My favorite stroller is Maclaren Quest, easy to steer with one hand. I used to have the Maclaren Techno XL, but it's not better than the Quest. The downfall of any Maclaren is that there is no place for storage and if you try to load the handles with bags the stroller will fall back as soon as you let go of it. So if you are looking for storage in astroller you might want to look into Graco strollers.

Good luck
T.

Both my girls have the Evenflo Triumph I believe that is the model, they are great and easy to take apart when you need to wash the seat and easy to put back together.

We love our Britax Marathon as well. It works for both my 3.5yr old and my very chunky 12mo old who started using it at about 4mos because his MichelinMan physique made him very uncomfortable in the infant carrier. It's a big investment but definitely worth it!

We have had quite a hassle with our carseat situation. I have heard really good things about Britax but they are pricy. if you have a big enough car the Sunshine Kids 80 that we have is supposed to be great, but in my Subaru it is a tight fit. So if you have a big car it would be my recommendation, because the research says its the best. Also when you get it go to the fire dept. and they will install it correctly or point you in the right direction the install is the trickiest. good luck

I have two of the britax Marathon carseats for my 1 year old and my 3-1/2 year old. When I bought our first one I asked the salesman "which carseat would you put your own children in and why". He explained all the additional safety features you get from the Britax that the other seats didn't have and I was hooked. Even if it was a $290 car seat. We don't make a lot of money, but my children are more precious then money.....

We have the Alpha Omega Elite for both of our daughters. (18mos and 3yrs) We also bought a Britax for my mother in laws car as she has the girls a lot. The alpha omega is much more affordable and is such a great car seat. They are easy to install and easy getting the kids in and out of. If you have the extra money great~but I wouldn't spend it.

Britax is the way to go. They have a stellar reputation. I have the Round-a-bout for my 2.5 yr old son & our older son used the same model. It's their original tried & true carseat. They can sit in it til 40 pounds. They're a very sturdy seat & it will still be in good shape if you use it for a younger sibling. Britax now makes several different models but the longer your child can stay in the seat, in terms of age, height, & weight, the heavier, bigger & bulkier the seat gets. They take up a lot of space in your car. The Round-a-bout is still about $200 while the other Britax models are well over $200, some close to $300 which, even tho it's my child's safety, that's still pricey for a carseat when you can get their basic one for much less & still get the same high quality, road-tested, safe carseat. So, I suggest the Round-a-bout until your son hits the weight limit & then go to a Graco booster. Merry Christmas!

Our daughter is still in her rear facing Britax carseat, but as soon as she grows out of it she'll be in the Britax Blvd. Her cousins love their Britax carseats. They have the marathon.
S.

My daughter outgrew her infant car seat by 6-7 months in height and weight so I asked her Dr. for recommendations. She personally used the Cosco Alpha Omega Elite but recommended that we check consumers reports before buying one. I checked consumer reports and the Alpha Omega Elite was rated #2, the number one was a britax car seat. The difference in price was substantial (Britax $250-300, Cosco $170-200). The different options with the Cosco were much better. It can be a rear facing recline and forward facing. It is suited for 5-100 lbs and up to 50-60 ?? in. in height. It also has an adjustable headrest, arm rests and cup holder. We went with the Cosco brand and it has been wonderful. Our daughter loves it. The only thing with it is I couldnt seem to get the latch system tight enough so my husband had to install it but it didnt take long for him at all. I wish I had known about this car seat from day one. Best of luck!

the Britax is worth every penny. I had two evenflo seats before this one.

generally they are pretty large, but you can use them for so long. we have a minivan now, but I know in my old mazda sportwagon it would never have fit backwards. My daughter is two now and sits forward so that makes a big difference if you had a smaller car.

They are soooooo easy to tighten and secure. You just pull the strap, it's so easy even my flustered inlaws can do it easily.

They do cost more, but you find them online with free shipping usually and I just didn't tell my husband how much it cost. haha.

I don't have a "convertible" carseat, I went from the Graco Safeseat to the Britax Marathon. I LOVE my Britax carseat and highly recommend it! Yes, it's expensive, but you are putting your precious baby in it and it will last quite a long time as they go up to 65 lbs and 49" height. It is so easy to buckle and adjust the harness straps, even when used rear-facing! I have transferred this carseat between our car and SUV, and have found it to be pretty simple to install - you just have to be very careful to follow the directions exactly for obvious safety reasons.
Hope this helps you with your carseat purchase!
M.

After MUCH research we chose the Britex Roundabout. It's been a wonderful carseat for our daughter. I think the safety features and peace of mind were worth the money. Yes, they are pricey but then again....it's your child and they are in it for a long time. We have recently purchased a recaro young sport as our next seat as our daughter is over the 40 lb weight limit for the roundabout. I think the Britex Marathon has a higher weight which might be a better choice. We now LOVE our new recaro for our next step and it also has some incredible safety features!! They are in the same family as the Britex. Check out their website.....you may just choose them!!! Good luck!!!

http://www.recaro.com/index.php?id=3512&L=2

The Britax Marathon and Evenflow Triumph both scored the highest and equal in Consumer Reports ratings. I just bought the Evenflow, because it was more than $100 less at Baby's R Us. It's all wrapped up under the Christmas tree, so I can't write about it's ease of use.

Hi there! I have the Britax Marathon as well and love it. Its very plush and my son (18months) always seems comfortable in it. I have some issues with it, which I've had with every car seat I use, but they are very minor. My biggest irritation is when the straps get twisted, but this has happened on every car seat I've used. I have a Toyota Corolla and I still have the seat rear facing because the CHP officer recommended I keep him rear facing as long as possible. It is a large seat, but it fits fine in our Corolla. If you have a small car and are tall and need to push your seat all the way back, the Marathon may hinder your ability to push your seat all the way back if it is rear facing. I have also tried the Cosco Scenera that my mom purchased from Wal-Mart for just under $100. She lives in Texas and bought it for the short trip we recently made out there. It was not very padded and my son fussed in it quite a bit. He really did not like being in it and he doesn't usually fuss in the car. I did like one feature on it that the Britax does not have. It had a three point adjustable crotch strap, nice because my son is in cloth diapers and the crotch strap on the Marathon can sometimes be tight if his diaper is bulky. The plastic on the Cosco seemed more flimsy than the Marathon, but it had a 35lb. rear facing weight limit. It was also easier to install than the Marathon. The CHP officer that installed our car seat raved about Coscos. He really liked their ease of installation. If you are looking for the best seat out there and don't mind spending the money, I've read that the best seat is the Recaro brand, an Italian brand seat that is relatively new to the more stringent than US standards. Another new one to the US which has had rave reviews in Europe and is less costly than the Britax Marathon is the Maxi-Cosi. These had excellent reviews and are pretty stylish, if that matters to you. I wanted to purchase the infant seat for my son, but they were not released in the US yet when he was born.

I also noticed a previous poster gave you some stroller information, too. If you are looking for a good umbrella stroller, I have the Chicco C6 and love it. It's light weight and very sturdy. It has a nice fabric seat and a semi-recline for the seat. The fabric cleans easily and dries quickly- a plus when you're dealing with a snacking toddler. It rolls well over grass and paved surfaces and has decent storage underneath. Its also designed very well and can hold my heavy diaper bag without tipping backwards. I highly recommend this stroller.

I hope this helps.

-H.

Our children have been in the Britax Marathon/Wizard since birth. It goes from 5 lbs - 33 lbs rear facing and up to 65 lbs forward facing. Right now our 4 year old and 16 month old are in them. They are costly but since this is the only carseat my four year old has been in and she'll be in it for another year or so before I move her into a booster, it's money well spent. There are others that are good. The Cosco Summit which we have in our Jeep b/c the Britax seats are too big to put in there easily. Unlike the Marathon/Wizard, the Summit (also the Eddie Bauer) converts to a belt positioning booster which will come in handy in the future. Our son rides in a Summit as a belt positioning booster (he's 7) and our older daughter (4) has the Eddie Bauer as regular carseat. The Cosco Summit is considerably less expensive than the Britax. The Britax seats are airline approved; however, and I don't believe the Summit is so if you fly and take your carseat on the plane with you, that's something to consider when looking at the features of a seat.

Good luck - it's a big decision to make.