Recaro Young Sport or Britax Decathalon?

[CADeLay]

I'm preparing for the day when my son (now 15 1/2 pounds and 25" long at 5 months) outgrows his snugride and needs a convertible seat. I KNOW I want EPS and side impact protection on the seat so the Recaro Young Sport and Britax Decathalon are the two I'm considering. Any recommendations?

We did try the Recaro at Sears today and he looked very tiny in it (even with all the "baby" padding in the seat). Haven't tried the Decathalon yet (he was asleep the last time I was at BRU and I didn't have the heart to disturb his nap). Since I haven't found a store yet that carries both, I'm having a tough time comparing them. I plan to rear face as long as possible then harness/booster for as long as possible too. Although we will be travelling a lot this summer (fom CA to Wash DC, Virginia, and Boston - via plane and train), I"m not necessarily worried about taking the new seat (we got the Scerena for one grandma (the other has a snugride base and will get a Scerena when he outgrows the snugride) and could use one on the trip. They get their own car seats since they watch him while I work)

Anyway, I was just wondering if any of you car seat techs (or other parents) have had experience with either of these two seats and could make some recommendations for me. Thanks!
Cynthia D

[o_mom]

Are you sure you were looking at Recaro? I don't think Sears carries them and the Young Sport is a forward facing combo seat, not a convertible.

Could it have been the Graco ComfortSport? If so, run as far and fast as you can from that seat :-) I had one and DS1 outgrew it at 24 months. It has very low top slots, is a PITA to install and the adjuster is impossible to reach when rear-facing. Did I mention I hated it, LOL? I sold it an bought a Scenera.

I have a Decathlon, a Marathon, a Roundabout and a Scenera. I would recommend any of those over the ComfortSport.

If you get a Decathlon, the adjuster can be stiff. I had mine replaced for that reason. Just be prepared that it could be sticky and keep the box in case you need to ship back to Britax. They have said that they made a change to the adjuster last year, but it is not for sure.

[Joolsplus2]

The Recaro isn't appropriate till he has to be forward facing, at about age 2 and 30 or so pounds, so go ahead and scratch that off your list. The Decathlon is nice, but has some real issues with the harness adjuster not working when a child is in the seat, you could get a good one, or a bad one, and if you get a bad one, it's a lot of wrangling with Britax to get the situation remedied. I'd probably go for a Marathon if it were me...it's nice and comfy, no recall issues or ease of use issues... and it'll last a good long time, hopefully trouble free (best for rearfacing, gets all kids to a full 33 pounds, average age of three).

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

Well, the Young Sport, as everyone else has said, is a Forward Facing only seat. The Decathlon is a great seat. I love mine. It was fantastic when DD was little and used the infant padding, and it's great now. Some people have had issues with the harness adjuster, but from what I hear they've tweeked it and it's suppossedly much better now. If you are worried about Side Impact Protection you may want to consider the Britax Boulevard, it has the TSIP head wings. HTH.

[spokaneCPST]

Actually Seats does carry Recaro - I saw them in our Sears last week.

But, I totally agree that the Young Sport is not an appropriate seat for this situation - he needs to be in a rear-facing convertible. We love our Marathon! We also have a Touriva (very similar to Scenera) for Daddy's car.

Renee

[o_mom]

That is cool! I have never seen them there before. Just Graco, Evenflo, Cosco and an occasional Britax. They did just clearance Britax, so maybe they replaced with Recaro? That would be great when the new mythical Recaro Convertible comes out - a B&M place to check it out, yay!

[mommyto4]

I agree with the PPs. I'd get a Britax Marathon, Decathlon, or Boulevard. Or, since you have some time, you could wait for the new Recaro convertibles to come out (supposedly in May). It supposedly is a convertible seat that harnesses 5-35 pounds RF and to 70 pounds FF. It also will have a top harness height of 19 inches (2 inches higher than the Britax convertibles). HTH.

[CADeLay]

Hmmm... I was sure the one I was looking at said both rear and forward facing... Oh well I'll jsut have to go back and look at it again... and I did mean the decathalon for the Britax rather than the Boulevard (got them mixed up) - the one with the head protection.

[Joolsplus2]

It may well have been the Graco ComfortSport, which is a convertible...and has a surprisingly large number of letters in common with the Recaro Young Sport, now that I look at it. :D
The Boulevard is the one with the head protection wings (www.britaxusa.com).

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[MNmomtobe]

It is only forward facing as pp mentioned. http://www.elitecarseats.com/Recaro-Young-Sport.pro

Of course, the site is incorrect when stating it can be used from 18 lbs since children need to be at least a year old AND 20 lbs before forward-facing.

And yes, like another pp mentioned, the Boulevard is the one with SIP.