Buying Marathon before I need it

[khalloc]

I am just IN LOVE with one of the new Britax Marathon's in the new Couture collection. A store near me carries them and I want to get it for my DD.

Problem is that my DD is just shy of 5 months old and she is a little baby @ 12lbs or so and 23.5" long. So I think she will fit into her Snugride for awhile longer.

Would it be foolish of me to buy the seat now (I'm worried they wont have it anymore when I really do need to upgrade her seat)? Or would it be OK to buy it now and not use it until she needs it? I am thinking she will probably be in her Snugride until June/July -ish.

How long do they say the seats are good for anyways? I read like 5-6 years? Is that true?

[jeanum]

That's a tough one because it's hard to say how long a particular cover might be available. Britax seats expire 6 years from the date of manufacture (DOM) which will be on a label on the outside of the box as well as on the Marathon itself. You could check on the DOM on the boxes at the local store to see how "fresh" the seat is before you decide whether to buy now or wait until your baby is closer to outgrowing her Snugride. If you think you'll move your baby to the Marathon in three or four months, assuming that the seat has a very recent DOM, that's shaving three or four months off it's potential use which isn't that bad. But if the seat's DOM is several months ago, then you could be losing out on six months or more of future use and you may want to wait, especially since your DD sounds pretty petite and she will likely be able to use the Marathon for a long time. HTH.

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

I think it depends on what you really want to do. If i bought a MA i would use it over a Snugride, so if you bought the MA now i would use it now. It would be fine to not use it until she needs it, it would just be sitting at your house. Seats are good for 6 years, so if you get a seat with a manufacture date of February 06 it will last until February 2012. Would you be able to call the store and ask how long they will be carrying the seat?

JMO

Ilana

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