Convertible Car Seat

[alias]

E is going to outgrow his car seat in like two seconds.  I have a 2-door Civic and can't afford to do anything about that right now.  So, I'm trying to figure out a good, safe, easy to install, not too expensive car seat, that will fit in my car.  It seems the Maxi Cosi Pria is the best for small spaces and has good reviews.  The Britax Marathon is a very safe favorite that people say fits a civic, but there are complaints about kids out-growing it height-wise too soon.

I think a few of you have the Maxi Cosi Pria.  I don't know if anyone has the Britax.  Thoughts?  Pros/cons.  How did you decide?

[jennlin]

we have a britax boulevard, which is a step above the marathon, but i think the limits are the same.. bjl has not out grown it RF yet at 26 mos and i think about 70%ile height. she still has at least 2ish inches to go.

[InBetweenDays]

We had the Britax Marathon and easily had P rear facing past two years old. He is and always has been approximately 75th %ile for height.

[alias]

Is the Britax Marathon easy to install and get kid in and out of?

spunbutterfly: I'll probably keep it installed in my car 99% of the time, but I might have to take it out if a grandparent needs to pick him up or something. And if he's still in it as a toddler, when daycare has a field trip. Why is it hard to get him in and out? I don't really car about how wide it is. No one needs to ride in back w/ him. I just care about having the front passengers have room. Neither of us are tall, but the front passenger is pretty uncomfortable w/ his Britax infant seat in back.

I know I'm gonna have to climb in and out each time. It's gonna suck. But, I don't think there is any way around it.

[karebear219]

It's not cheap but our Britax Boulevard works great in H's civic and is super easy to get in and out.

[dana86]

we had a britax with M and J will use it when we switch her but M did grow out of it height wise somewhat quicker than I expected. She is pretty tall height wise though so Im not too surprised but I liked it either way. Easy to install especially if you have the latch system.

[cdmay]

I don't have any car seat advice, but you can join the car seats for the little fb group and ask that question. It is run by car seat techs. m.facebook.com/groups/176191955751537

[alias]

May 12, 2014 18:35:45 GMT -5 spunbutterfly said:

May 12, 2014 16:55:06 GMT -5 alias said:

Is the Britax Marathon easy to install and get kid in and out of?

spunbutterfly: I'll probably keep it installed in my car 99% of the time, but I might have to take it out if a grandparent needs to pick him up or something. And if he's still in it as a toddler, when daycare has a field trip. Why is it hard to get him in and out? I don't really car about how wide it is. No one needs to ride in back w/ him. I just care about having the front passengers have room. Neither of us are tall, but the front passenger is pretty uncomfortable w/ his Britax infant seat in back.

I know I'm gonna have to climb in and out each time. It's gonna suck. But, I don't think there is any way around it.

Cause, by a certain point, toddlers like to fight and do the stick and writhe and not go in. At least for us.

It's really hard to leverage a child into a carseat when there's barely room to climb in and try to put him in. Convertible seats also tend to take up a lot more space than bucket seats do. I'd see if you could try to fit the diono radian in, as it has low sides, which would likely make it easier to slide him into his carseat. You can always go try out seats at Babies R Us to see which one fits in your car the best.

I meant is there something about the Maxi Cosi that made it harder?  The higher sides?  I looked at the Diono Radian too, but I thought it was slimmer side to side, but didn't necessarily take up less room front to back.  I don't really care how wide it is, I'm more concerned about how far the front seat will have to be moved up.  Although, the low sides may make it easier to get him in and out.

I went to BRU to check 'em out.  They have all the Britax ones, but they didn't have the Maxi Cosi and I don't think they had Diono Radian.    Maybe they do at other stores.  I think I'll go try the Marathon in my back seat and see how it goes.

[shevacc]

I have a Diono Radian in my minivan (previously in my Mazda3) and DH has a Recaro seat in his car. It's much much easier to get G in and out of the Radian bc of the lower sides. The angle adjuster allows the seat to be more upright and take up less room front to back, though I'm not sure how much exactly. I've also heard great things about Britax seats -- BFF swears by them. I avoided them bc I was afraid G would outgrow them RFing too quickly but she's 50% for height so it probably would've been fine.

[alias]

shevacc and spunbutterfly, do you ever take the Radian out of the car? Is it easy to take out and re-install? Have you traveled with it? I worry b/c it is so long and heavy.

[ilovebed]

I have the Britax marathon and really love it. It's super easy to get in and out and it takes up less space than others. I have a Ford Escape and the back is surprisingly small. I tried a lot of my friend's car seats first and most of them didn't fit comfortably backwards. It also fit very well on a plane facing forward FYI!

[jennlin]

Attachment Deleted

Bjl jl is typically a noodler.

[ilovebed]

Lol. Blb likes her car seat most of the time but when she doesn't, she's The Rod.