Should I buy a Britax Boulevard or the Marathon? Help!!

[deanna17]

Hello! I've recently registered on this site, but have gotten TONS of great advice on everything since before my DD was born in May...so THANK YOU!

My DD has outgrown her infant seat(Peg Perego)so I am now in the market for her big girl seat! We do have a Scenara that we use for travel...Great travel/2nd car seat(purchased per the rec's on this board). So while I'm deciding between the BV or MA we can use the Scenara.

Our local Baby News store has a sale on everything - 10% off. I love the Ashley Floral print on the MA so I ordered it. The store just called and said it will be 6 weeks before they get the Ashley MA in. In the meantime, I've been wondering if I should get the BV instead. I do not have side curtain airbags in the backseat of my car and we will be placing the seat in the center position until we have a 2nd baby.

My questions are: 1) Which seat should I get? 2) Will my DD end up not liking the headwings as she gets older? 3)If you are a BV owner, do you & your DC love your seat? (I know you MA owners love yours!)

TIA for all of your help and sorry for the long winded post!

Deanna

[Splash]

I love Charlie's BV. Love it. He doesn't complain :)
I like the headwings... but what I like most is the adjustable knob harness. Really, that's what sold me most. I also really like the infant insert, even though he can't use it anymore since he's too fat!
I've recently been waffling between the BV and a DC... the DC only because the crotch strap is adjustable. Maybe you would like the DC in Tiffany print? It's very girly!
I don't foresee Charlie hating the wings because it's what he is used to. I might not buy it for a 3 yo who has never had them, but starting out with a baby I don't think you'll have a problem at all. The headwings really are pretty widely spaced.
And, I saw this in another post... if you have an Amex, you can get 15% off through babyage.com with code ax15 (I think that's it). Free shipping as well and, I would assume, no tax. So you'll come out ahead and I don't think it would take six weeks if you wanted the Ashley MA.

[kimbe]

We love our BV.

1) I would totally recommend a BV. We have the classic cover. Really nice and soft!
2) I think that our DD won't mind the headwings because she won't know anything different. The wings offer great head support when DD is sleeping. I figure why not get the protection of the wings if you can.
3) Like I said, we love our BV. After we figured out a place to tether, it took DH like 5 minutes to install it! 100x easier than the stupid snug ride! DD is 100x happier in the BV too. No more screaming!

HTH

[kphil]

My oldest went from a MA into a BV right around her 5th birthday, and she's always liked the headwings, and never complained. They give her a good place to rest her head. She's not happy that we may be switching her back to the MA, so her younger sister (outboard) can have the BV.

HTH,
Kirsten

[tjham]

Just curious :)...Why would you switch them?

[mrsmac]

Hi
I just tried to order 2 MAs through baby age with the "ax15" code and it gave me this message: "Coupon conditions required for this coupon code have not been satisfied with your current cart. "
Any idea what conditions I'm not meeting? Is it only on certain items (I was ordering 1 Zebra and 1 Onyx MA.)
Oh and I also went through ebates since they give you 4% back.
Thanks for your help!
~Tanya

[kphil]

"Just curious ...Why would you switch them?"

I have two reasons I'm thinking that's what I'll do, and soon I'll have a third. First is that the BV in the center seat blocks my view out the back window a little more than the MA would, and that blocked view bothers me quite a bit. Second is that I'm thinking now that it might be better for my outboard child to be in the seat with the SIP (BV), rather than in the MA. I had chosen to put my ff child in the center with the BV, thinking my rf child was already safer just due to being rf, kwim? (Or was that as confusing as it sounds to me, reading it back? LOL) The third reason coming up is that my rf child is 3yo and 32 lbs, so she will soon have to go ff, in which case I will definately put the BV outboard, and the MA in the center. I have a 3rd baby due in January, so my preference is to keep my older child (almost 6) as the one in the middle, so that she's next to the baby, rather than my 3yo being next to baby. I think it might be hard for me to know exactly how I'll arrange them all until the reality is here, though.

So, that's my long explanation of why I think I may switch them. :)

Kirsten

[tjham]

Oh, I see! You do have a lot of options to consider! Good Luck!