Help! Which car seat? Consumer Reports...

[jkabopenguins]

Hi Ladies!

Well, I never imagined I'd be thinking about buying a convertible car seat this soon. My baby is 2 1/2 months and 17 lbs!!!

So, here's the dilemma. I've heard wonderful things about Britax and am willing to pay the money for one. However, consumer reports shows the Britax Roundabout with scores of very good for crash protection whereas the Evenflo Triumph 5 received excellent. I know the Britax got great scores for ease of use, but I am more concerned with the crash protection issue.

I didn't see anything about the Britax Marathon on the Consumer Reports chart. What is the difference? Does anyone know how those were rated? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Joolsplus2]

The problem is, CR is not at all forthcoming about how they really do their tests, or what the heck they are even measuring...or even the names of the expert "techs" they employ to install the seats and whatnot (I know some high level cps techs, and no one knows anyone who works with CR...it's a VERY open community, so it's a little strange....).
Their newest report does have the MA http://www.consumerreports.org/main/content/display_report.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=343873&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=333145&bmUID=1092178722451, but they have clearly failed to truly update the rest of their seats, still claiming that the Cosco seats have hard to install tethers (Ummm...they come installed now!).

Anyway, I'm not trying to sound like a total negative nellie about them, but there are so many unknowns in their testing, we simply don't really know much more from them than we would from, say, epinions.

The old rules still apply: the safest seat for you is the one that fits your child, your car, your budget, and has a 5-pt harness. If you love Britax and it works for you, go for it. If not, then don't :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[jkabopenguins]

Hi Julie!
Thanks for your response! So being a car seat tech yourself, which car seats do you use? I know techs aren't supposed to recommend brands, but... It does make sense what you said about finding the right one that fits your child, budget etc. Is the Marathon worth the extra money in your opinion? I will pay it if it is. Also, do you know of the differences between the Marathon and the Roundabout?
Thanks so much!
--Jen :)

[Joolsplus2]

My almost 5 yo dd loves her Marathon...if she had loved her RA that much, I would have had to break her heart sooner, as she outgrew it over a year ago (we didn't actually own an RA, but that's when she got too tall for it! She's still only 36 pounds, and has at least a year to go in her MA). See the link in my sig for information on why rearfacing is the safest way to travel, and the Marathon is one of the best choices for rearfacing, too.
www.britaxusa.com has more of the details on the differences between the RA and MA, and you might even want to look at the Wizard, for the sleep support and extra side impact protection (sigh, it just wasn't in my budget.....)
;)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx