Head support for Britax Marathon??

[Susalinda]

Hi there,
I am planning to buy the Britax Marathon for our baby who is due in November.

The car seat looks so big and I wonder if we'd need a head support for the beginning. Does anyone have any experience with this carseat for newborns?

Also, where can you get a head support for this car seat? I have searched the web up and down but don't get the right results.

Thank you so much for your help!

Susan - soon to be Mom :)

[Katia]

Why not get the Britax Wizard instead? The shell is nearly identical to the Marathon's, but it has a built-in head rest that provides side impact protection in the event of a crash. It runs about $30 more than the Marathon, but you won't need to buy anything extra. (Also, after market headrests don't get good marks for safety...best just to stick with the seat as it was originally designed and tested.)

We started using the Wizard when DS was 4 months and we love it! We used a Graco Snugride at first, but if we had to do it over again, we'd go straight to the Wizard. (There's nothing wrong with the Snugride, other than that DS outgrew it really quickly and we could have saved money overall by skipping it.) I'd definitely feel comfortable putting a newborn in a Wizard. It's a great seat!

HTH!

[Susalinda]

Thank you for your quick reply. True, would make more sense to get the Wizard. Can you adjust the headrest (move it down) for an infant? I think I'll go check in a store :)
Thank you again!
me

[Katia]

Yep! The headrest moves up and down with the same knob that controls the height of the straps. I guess this is another nice benefit of the Wizard -- you control the harness height with this knob rather than rethreading the straps through the back.

[Joolsplus2]

It's not recommended you add any "aftermarket products" to car seats, as they may make the seat less safe (interfering with the straps in some way, usually). You can roll a receiveing blanket up and put it over/next to the baby's head for support, or go with the Wizard...it really IS amazing at supporting those floppy little heads!
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[psych]

>It's not recommended you add any "aftermarket products" to
>car seats, as they may make the seat less safe (interfering
>with the straps in some way, usually).

Interesting! What do you think of the Snuzzler?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005BT37/103-1425052-4737412?v=glance

Thanks!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

It says right in the manufacturer's safety instructions for that product "Do not allow the use of this or any other product to interfere with proper function of child safety restraints, according to manufacturers instructions".

Anything padded behind the baby interferes with the proper functioning of a car seat, so they are telling you right there in a roundabout way not to use it in a car seat.

The reason for this is that the padded item will become compressed in an accident and then the harness straps will be too loose and not safe.

...Karen
DS Jake Feb 91, DD Logan Mar 03
http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/superpower.gif http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/borntobebreastfed2.gif

[BeachBaby]

Yes, the headrest wings move up and down. We have used our Wizard since DD was born, but the wings didn't go quite down far enough for her. We just rolled up a receiving blanket and made an upside-down "U" and put it around her head (ear to ear) inside the wings. This kept movement to a minimum. Now, at 7 weeks, she doesn't really need the blanket any more.

[Susalinda]

Hiya Ladies,
thank you for all your comments. As stated above I'll check out the Wizard in the stores around my area.

I don't believe we'd need a head support for a long time. I was just worried for the first 6-9 month until our baby can hold up his head by himself..

Thank you again for your comments though. Made me think of different points.

Cheers,
Susan

[Joolsplus2]

Here's a picture I found of a newborn-sized baby in a Wizard, just to give you an idea what that looks like http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/docs/docDownload.aspx?guid=D5E021B4-56A6-4EC5-9D38-5937048BC53E&webtag=iv-ppcarseats

Some babies like to feel very swaddled all the time, and after you get the straps all tightened up, then you can shove receiveing blankets down around their sides, too. If your baby isn't loving the swaddled feeling, then you can just use a blanket on top for warmth.

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx