britax roundabout or marathon?

[Wausau74]

We have a Nissan Xterra. We can't put the car seat in the center seat. I am insistant on a Britrax. Anyone have an opinion on which one would be better for our car? Also, is the 65lb. weight limit worth the extra $50 on the Marathon? TIA!

[Joolsplus2]

Why can't you put the seat in the middle? It's ok to install a seat with the seatbelt, maybe just a little harder than LATCH, but perfectly safe. If it's a "no one fits in the front" issue, then I understand that!

Yes, the Marathon (or any bigger britax) is totally worth the money over the Roundabout...you'll get 2-3 more years' use out of it and spare yourself the pain of shopping for a seat with higher top slots or a higher weight limit later (harnessing to age 5-6 is really the safest choice you can make...kids younger than that aren't mature enough for a booster seat).

www.albeebaby.com has Marathons for $214 :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[Wausau74]

Thanks! I have read others concxerened about their dc growing out of the marathon too quickly.

We can't put a car seat in the center per the user's manuel. I think it is because threr is a hump terre, but threre is a latch thing in the center. i better look at that again.

[MommyAllison]

We just got our Snugride2 and are getting ready to install it in our 97 Blazer - our manual also says we can't install car seats in the middle. Is this true or is it okay? I'd rather install it once than twice :) TIA!

Allison
EDD 10-30-05
http://lilypie.com/days/051030/0/25/1/-8/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[Joolsplus2]

Yup, THAT is absolutely true... no seats in the center of Blazers (they say their belt anchors are so close together they 'could' release in a crash).

High Five! For reading your manual :D
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[MommyAllison]

Thanks Julie! BTW, when SHOULD I install the car seat? When we hit 37 weeks? I am planning to have it checked out at one of the NHTSA sites (was that the right acronym? :) ) so want to be sure thats done before baby comes, but it seems weird to drive around with an empty car seat for a few weeks :) Guess I could just leave the base installed and keep the seat at home til we head to the hospital? Oh yeah, one other question if you don't mind :) when installing the Snugride without the base, the graco manual shows that the seatbelt goes kind of over the baby's lap instead of behind the whole car seat like I would expect. Why is that the safe way to install? Thanks so much for your wisdom and for sharing it so often with all of us! I have learned a lot from these boards!

Allison
EDD 10-30-05 It's a girl!
http://lilypie.com/days/051030/0/25/1/-8/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[Joolsplus2]

I don't think it's ever to early to install your seat...or at least learn to... the less belly you have, the easier it is :D. Yeah, you don't have to leave the seat in the car if you don't want...but it couldn't hurt to, either (I remember before I had my first baby, feeling kind of embarrassed to even buy baby shampoo...it's a funny time, isn't it?).

The reason the belt goes OVER the baby when it's installed without the base, is so you can do it with the baby IN the car seat. There was an Evenflo seat that the belt was under the bum, and it was awful! Imagine if you're trying to take a cab and had to take your baby out to install the seat... what a pain :P. Either way is safe (with the base or without).. actually, withOUT the base is a smidgen safer, statistically, in crash tests, but ONLY if the seat is installed right. If you're trying to install it every time, you can easily muck something up, so it's better to just have that base installed really well and snap it right in, bingo.

www.seatcheck.org or www.seatcheck.net also have tech finders, in addition to NHTSA, but if you have time to give it a shot before you find a tech or check event, do it and I bet several of us will be able to walk you through any issues you might have :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[jbintz]

Just a side note. I paid the extra for the marathon and for me it wasn't worth it. I am not sure what age/size your child is or how many you have coming.

In my case, my son hit 20lbs at 4 mos old. We had to get him a convertible car seat and given his largeness at that age I paid the extra.

What I didn't think about was we were going to have more children. He will never be in the marathon long enough to hit 60lbs. Convertible car seats are more expensive than just plain toddler car seats. So..... When #2 outgrows his snug ride, my darling #1 son (who is now 2 and 42lbs) will be getting another car seat.

So in our case it might not have been worth it. Maybe our last child will be in the carseat until 60lbs but I also read something about throwing car seats out after 6 yrs of use (but that takes more research). Anyway just my 2 cents.

Otherwise we love our marathon
Jana

[Joolsplus2]

Your DS is 42 pounds at age 2, though, right? If you didn't have a younger kiddo to hand the seat down to, you could keep using your Marathon for another 3 years for the same kid :). (the height limit is more important than the weight limit, really...the Marathon can be used till about 49 inches, the Roundabout till about 40 inches...it's really not much more money to spend for several extra years of harnessing...) You didn't have to freak about buying another seat when he hit 40 pounds so young (A Marathon or Husky are all there is to choose from now, anyway)

Marathons last 6 years, you can keep using yours till the baby is about 4.

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

[o_mom]

I guess I don't understand... he is over 40lbs at 2, so what other choice would you have made? He is way too young for a booster and no other 'toddler seat' will harness past 40 lbs.

The way I see it, even if you bought a RA, he would have outgrown it by now (40 lbs) and you would have a RA and a MA. In this situation, I would either buy a second MA for #2 or a lower wt convertible for #2 and keep #1 in the MA until #3 outgrows the Snugride at which point #1 can go to a booster, #2 to the MA and #3 to the smaller convertible.

This is essentially our plan with the RA - #1 gets a MA/DC/BV and #2 gets the old RA.

[Wausau74]

I see- that is what I am concered about- him growing out of one to fast but I guess since the Magoes so high I don't need too worry too much. Thanks for your thoughrs!

[murphydog77]

I agree with o mom, at age 2 and with your ds over 40 lbs., you don't have any other options for harnessed seats than the Britax seats. Your ds still has lots of growing time left in his Marathon.

This is just a general question to no one in particular, not just you, Jana, but why does the 2nd child always have to get the hand-me-down convertible seat, lol? I guess I view car seats as being individual items, just as, say, dinner is. I wouldn't take a plate of food my ds is eating away so my dd could eat it, KWIM? He's still using it. Now if he's done with it, and she's still hungry, then she can go for it!

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.CarSeatSite.com

[o_mom]

LOL, I was just thinking today, that if we get the Decathlon instead of a Marathon, I may just put the little one in it since otherwise the inserts are wasted. :-) #1 still has at least an inch to the top slots and 13 lbs to go on the Roundabout.

We are off to BRU tomorrow so DH can see MA and DC in person so that we can finally make a decision and order one! Woo Hoo!!!!

[mommy2maya]

Marathon hands down! For the little bit extra it's way worth it! We just put dd (4yrs8months & 41lbs) in one after being in a graco turbobooster for almost a year- she's so tall & long torsoed that she outgrew her convertible seat last fall. Anyway, she fits great in the marathon, and will use it for the next year, until our soon to be born baby is ready for it. By that time I think Maya will be able to still fit in the marathon, but at nearly 6, I think she will be fine to use a booster again. Though, if we get the new graco seat that is in the works that goes to 30lbs, it might be even longer before baby is ready to move into the marathon!

[Joolsplus2]

Hehehehe, good question, Heather... I probably answer ten questions a day about, "it's time for the baby to move to the convertible, what do I get for the toddler?" A lot of time, if the toddler's in a Marathon, I just say to get a new MA for the baby, because there are so few really nice options in "bigger" seats. I wish Britax would make a combo seat that harnesses to 50 pounds ;)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[julieakc]

After reading everything here on BBB I wish I had bought the Marathon instead of the Roundabout. I think I was purely thinking that by the time DS got to the limits of the RA he would be ready for a booster. At the time I moved him out of the infant seat I didn't know that keeping DS rear-facing as long as possible was safer and ditto for harnessing. Oh well...live and learn. I still have plenty of use left in the RA even though I will have to turn him front facing before I would have to if I had purchased the MA.