Is the Britax MA crotch buckle position a problem?

[TylerB]

Like most in the forum, I am struggling with my next step. I have a 14 mo old in the 95%ile in height. He is currently in a triumph (a decision made during the height of sleep deprivation when he grew out of his snugride at 4 months x( ). We want to buy a seat for our 2nd car, so are looking to buy one that will take us until he can wear a BPB at 5+ (plus I anticipate he will be out of the Triumph by about 2.5 and will hopefully have a sibling by then).

I am leaning toward the MA, but I am concerned about the one-position crotch buckle. I put him in the seat and it already seems really close (he's fairly skinny for his height ~23lbs). Is this a problem for people? Especially the boys? I am worried about him running out of room there long before the height and weight.

Alternately I am considering the Apex, but I trust Britax more than Cosco. I know the Decathalon would work, but it is so much pricier (I found a MA online for $220- so it adds another $65), and I don't need to pay for the infant cushions. I also considered the husky/regent, but it seems too big for our car.

Or, any other new ones coming on the market (for tall harness) in the next year? We could wait a bit longer.
Many thanks!

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

Is your DS RF? If he is and you want something to use for a little while you could check out the cosco serena 5 pt. It has much higher slots than the triumph and it can RF to 35 lbs versus 30 which is another added benefit.

My DN avi is RF in a MA in my car and a DC in his moms car. I do not find the crotch buckle position a problem. If i did not have the pad that goes under it it would be alot harder since i use that to pull the pad out from under him once he is in the seat. I think the DC may be easier as he gets bigger but i would not spend the extra $$ now since your ds is not going to use the padding anyways.

I have seen many older children in MA/WZ at older ages without a problem but since you are planning on having another DC within a few years if you find it a problem then you can always pass the seat down and switch ds to something else. Maybe then there will be more higher weight harness seats available.

Ilana

[Joolsplus2]

Very rarely do I read about it being a problem for very husky boys...usually it's really not an issue. If you aren't sure of the extreme safety benefits of rearfacing up to age 2 and beyond, check out the link in my sig (so yes, the Husky and Apex are poor choices, I think).

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

[tjham]

(Oops, it's Cosco Scenera, not Serena, just to clarify. ;) )

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CPS/CSSRating/SeatDetail.cfm?CSSID=148

[TylerB]

Thank you, Iliana and Julie!

I'm going to go with the MA and also return my DS to rear-facing. I moved him forward a month ago because I could never get the Triumph to adjust correctly in RF. The Triumph will be demoted to occasional use in the 2nd car and the easier to use MA will be primary.

Thank you for directing me to the RF info. We even took a child-seat safety class at a Children's Hospital and they didn't tell us this info (just the usual 1 yr 20 lb). I also appreciated the info on 5 pt vs bar shield that I have passed on to my bro b/c I have been telling them my niece isn't as safe in a bar shield. Hopefully seeing it in print will help!

Thanks, again.

[Joolsplus2]

Posts like this just make my day :). I hope he goes back RF without any struggle and you like the MA.

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

[lcarskadon]

Probably a little late on replying, but I don't like my Britax Marathon BECAUSE of the location of the buckle - right on the crotch of my son. He's 2 1/2 and in the 95% (about 37" tall).

Our 2nd and 3rd cars have the Evenflo Triumph and the harness isn't long enough when he's wearing his winter coat (but I like the placement of the buckle MUCH better); therefore, I'm currently looking through this thread because I'm in search of a seat that will also hold him until he's out of a carseat altogether (his sister will be moving into the Marathon very soon anyway).

I was looking at the Graco Platinum CarGo Booster since I need to buy 3. Anybody know anything about it (I know it doesn't convert to a BPB).