Britax carseats..help me?

[bobandjess99]

Okay, yet another idiotic carseat question thread.
I've been looking, and there are basically 3 convertible Britax carseats, the Marathon, decathalon, and Boulevard. (I'm excluding the roundabout because it only goes to 40 pounds)

So, i see the boulevard has the side impact, which is what makes it unique.
But, i really can't find any difference between the marathon and decathalon. The description are virually identical.

SO, whats the difference?
I did read a thread recently about the marathon having some sort of lever to adjust the straps whereas the decathalon has a button? Is that the only difference?

Also, if you are going to be putting the carseat in the middle of a minivan seat, does the side impact portion of the boulevard really matter all that much?

How important is harnessing between 65 and 80 pounds? Do you guys feel okay with using a booster at 65 pounds? Or is it really worth it to get the harness until 80?

If you could only have ONE britax, would you rather get a cheaper infant seat, and rearface until the limits of that seat (likely 30 pounds)and then a regent for FF and stay harnessed until 80,
**OR**
a mara/deca/boule/ to be used RF and FF and be harnessed until 65, and then a cheap booster until 80?

Alright!

[alegna]

The decathalon has an infant insert that the marathon doesn't and an asjustable crotch strap for smaller infants.

I don't know the answer to the center question- but it's an interesting one. I would THINK that the side impact would still help as it would keep the child's head from going very far in either direction, but I'm not sure.

I think that both rear facing AND 5pt. harness is important. If you're buying for a baby then you're going to be buying more seats anyway. I would get the best you can afford at the time- so a high limit, good britax convertible. Things might change before you get ready to buy a booster- many kids fit the larger britax seats until 4 or 5 years old, and since seats are only good for 6 years anyway, that's a lot of life.

-Angela

[Cheshire]

We have the boulevard and love it. I've got to get another one for my car and hate how expensive they are but it has all the features I'm looking for. 5-pt harness, side impact, etc.

I've been unfortunate enough to have been in four car accidents. Three times I was hit on the left side of my car (each time the drivers turned into me) and I was rear ended once on the highway in the rain (guy admitted he was changing radio stations and looking at paperwork). The neck and back pain from even a slow accident is really rough. When you add in your head being wrenched from side to side it makes it even worse. My neck is not and will never be the same as it was before the side impact accidents.

Having that extra protection for Charlie is really important to us. Now, I'm just waiting for a 5pt harness with side impact that goes up to 80 pounds!

[mommy_e]

The Decathlon has extra infant padding, three crotch strap positions (one larger, one smaller) and a push button adjuster.

The only infant seat that goes to 30 lbs is the SafeSeat. However, most kids will probably outgrow it on height before 2 years where the bigger Britax seats would let you rearface to 33 lbs and almost unlimited height (it is rare that a child would be too tall to rear-face before 33 lbs in those seats).

If you wanted to get a cheap convertible seat, the Cosco Scenera ($40-50) has a nice tall back and tall slots. It goes to 35 lbs rear-facing, so you would probably get the max out of it. Then you could get a Britax Regent to harness to 80 lbs.

At 55-65 lbs, assuming the child was 5-6 years old, I would probably be OK with boosters for short local trips where I knew they could stay positioned. For longer trips, with sleeping potential and bordom, I would want a 5-pt harness.

[PuppyFluffer]

Cheshire, I am sorry to hear about your car accidents. I've had two of them, left turn across my path, one on the right and one on the left, and I know exactly what you mean about your neck never being the same!

We used the Marathon for dd - rear facing til she was THREE! She's a peanut. I just weighed her yesterday and she's 35 lbs at 4 years and 40.5 inches tall.

We just moved her to the Boulevard about 2 months ago when she turned 4. I have it in the middle of the middle seat of our Caravan. She really likes it and says it is comfortable. I notice that tightening the straps on it is harder than the Marathon but not that difficult.