Help with Problem with Britax Marathon - Page 2

[sequoia88]

Originally Posted by lasciate

Yeah, the drill was a bad idea. Not only is it voiding the seat's warranty but it has potentially weakened the seat which may now crack in an accident.

If you want a seat without the lever for adjustment, the Britax Decathlon uses a push-button adjuster that kids can't press while in the seat:

http://www.babyage.com/products/e9l4...e_car_seat.htm

yeah, i saw that. is it the same type as the one on the roundabout? i was in target today looking at car seats (they didn't have the decathlon), and it seems the roundabout's button is not so hard to press, and of course, it's bright red, which makes it even more interesting for a toddler.

do you have experience with the roundabout? is it that they can't reach the button or is it too hard for them to press from where they're sitting? anyone ever complain that toddlers can get it open? i should do a search, but i figure if people have been on this forum for a while, someone might have heard of these complaints. it might save me a few hours. there have been A LOT of complaints about the marathon, it's not just one or two clever kids. and one mom told about her 15 month old being able to open it.

i'm thinking of going with the evenflo titan. there's nothing fancy about it, but it did very well in crash tests according to consumer reports. bummer is that it has a 40# weight limit, so i'll have to get a booster seat after that. but then it is $200 less than the marathon and probably $240 less than the decathlon. i'm sure i could find a booster for less than that.

[sequoia88]

Originally Posted by julesmom

Just wanted to add that my son has undone his Marathon harness in the same manner.

He can undo the strap and then pull it tight again (well semi-tight). After a few times of doing this the novelty has seemed to wear off, but I am really disappointed. I really felt confident in our choice of the Britax seat and liked it in every other way.

I think I'll be working on a letter/e-mail to Britax also.

please let us know how they respond to you. so far, i've heard that they just refuse to admit there is a design flaw in that type of harness release and instead they try to point the finger at consumers and their children. in my opinion, a carseat should be designed so that even the most clever and/or undiscliplined children can't get out...

[mommy_e]

Originally Posted by sequoia88

in my opinion, a carseat should be designed so that even the most clever and/or undiscliplined children can't get out...

Which means that a first responder can't get them out quickly, or a person with limited finger strength can't release the harness. Putting it lower would mean you can't reach the adjustment rear-facing so parents won't tighten the harness, or it will take so much time and effort to buckle them in that parents will not do it. It is all a matter of tradeoffs.

Is it perfect? Obviously not, but no seat is. I think it would be great if they said they had a fix for it or changed the design without compromising the ease of use. However, most kids will never figure this out and there are at least 3 other popular carseats on the market with the exact same release lever.

[mommy_e]

Originally Posted by sequoia88

do you have experience with the roundabout? is it that they can't reach the button or is it too hard for them to press from where they're sitting? anyone ever complain that toddlers can get it open?

i'm thinking of going with the evenflo titan. there's nothing fancy about it, but it did very well in crash tests according to consumer reports. bummer is that it has a 40# weight limit, so i'll have to get a booster seat after that. but then it is $200 less than the marathon and probably $240 less than the decathlon. i'm sure i could find a booster for less than that.

The push button of the Roundabout is much harder for a toddler to get at. With the Marathon, they can just hook a finger under and lean up, pulling with their whole arm and body. With the Roundabout and Decathlon button, they would have to not just reach it, but be able to push it pretty far in from an odd angle which would take alot of finger strength. I don't think a 2-4 year old could do that, especially the Decathlon which is even harder to push than the Roundabout.

The Titan is very hard to install, so make sure to try it first to make sure it fits your car. Also, it will most likely be outgrown before booster age, so you will need another harnessed seat in between. Just want you to go into it with your eyes open.

[shannon0218]

Originally Posted by mommy_e

Which means that a first responder can't get them out quickly, or a person with limited finger strength can't release the harness. Putting it lower would mean you can't reach the adjustment rear-facing so parents won't tighten the harness, or it will take so much time and effort to buckle them in that parents will not do it. It is all a matter of tradeoffs.

Is it perfect? Obviously not, but no seat is. I think it would be great if they said they had a fix for it or changed the design without compromising the ease of use. However, most kids will never figure this out and there are at least 3 other popular carseats on the market with the exact same release lever.

A first responder cuts straps, the carseat is trash anyway--and this practice ensures that the carseat is disposed of after an accident. We cut either the latch or seatbelt straps, or we cut the harness straps if we aren't concerned about spinal injury.

[shannon0218]

We had a Titan and I have never hated something so much. Check it first, but with ours, the hip straps cut at about 3" over her thighs. We could NEVER get the chest straps actually tight and the 2 times we used it we had serious bruises on her thighs from the supposed hip straps. It was determined by both a carseat inspector and her ped that if we were in an accident she would almost certainly break both femurs. To top it off--just try to get Evenflo to even RESPOND to your emails/phonecalls/letters (3, 6 and 1) The store we purchased it from took it back and actually dropped the product (as well as their other Evenflo products) from their stock based on Evenflo's customer service or complete lack thereof.

[mommy_e]

Originally Posted by shannon0218

A first responder cuts straps, the carseat is trash anyway--and this practice ensures that the carseat is disposed of after an accident. We cut either the latch or seatbelt straps, or we cut the harness straps if we aren't concerned about spinal injury.

A first responder isn't always a paramedic/firefighter, etc. Not many people carry seatbelt cutters in their car. That is why seats in Europe have a "one point release rule" to ensure a child can be quickly released. Especially important in a water situation.

[sequoia88]

thanks for the info on the titan and the decathlon/roundabout button. i can't find the titan in stores...only online. so i wouldn't be able to try my son in it or try it in the car. in the store, they only have the titan deluxe and it is much different than the titan.

anyone know anything about the graco comfort sport? i can't find any documented crash test info other than ramblings from people on product reviews and i don't know which year that was. though simple and also sort of no-frills, the design looks pretty good, it has eps foam, and deep sides. i heard the harness release is very low (which i'm attracted to) but some people say it's hard/impossible to get to in the rear facing position. then someone else said that if the incline is set properly, that shouldn't be a problem. i'm guessing it probably depends on the car. has anyone actually used one? most importantly, anyone know anything about its safety ratings?

[thepeach80]

The comfortsport has a really low shell so is bad for extended rfing and has low slots as well and only goes rfing till 30#. If you're going to get one, I'd make sure it harnessed over 40#.

I hate to call the MA thing a design flaw as if it was any lower it would be a royal pain to try and adjust rfing (like seats like the Comfortsport). It really is just something you have to teach your child NOT to do. For a while AJ liked to pull his chest clip down to his belly, but it only took a while (I'd say maybe 10X he did this) and some serious talking to and now he doesn't even mess w/ it. He's never even tried to reach for any of the adjusters of the seats he's been in either.

[mommy_e]

I had the ComfortSport - DS1 outgrew it a month after he turned two and he is very, very small. I has a low rear-facing weight limit (30lbs) which means either Graco is too lazy to test it higher, or it doesn't pass. The adjuster is nearly impossible to reach when rear-facing, even at a full infant recline (45 deg). I also was never able to install it with less than two pool noodles in four different cars, and that was just to get a halfway decent recline (around 30 deg). The harness twists if you look at it wrong and the cover started to wear a hole after just a few months.