Britax Blvd clarifications

[hilladub]

I'm needing to get a convertible car seat for my 10.5 month old, who is currently in a Peg Perego infant carrier (30/30). He's 23 lbs and 29.5 inches. I've decided to keep him rear-facing until he's 2 or exceeds the weight/height limit. After reading threads on here, I think I want the Britax Boulevard - having the side impact cushions appeals to me.

My questions:

1. I've saw a reference to the Blvd model with the narrow side cushions (that were apparently made for BRU?) that cause head flop issues - how do I know which model I'm getting? Does this mean I should not buy it from BRU (i.e., are all of BRU's a specialized/modified version of the Blvd)? Are all the ones currently on sale on Albee baby this less desirable model as well?

2. Someone also mentioned that it's okay for the Britax seats to touch the front (driver/passenger) seats when it's installed in the middle - could you please confirm this? It will be installed in a 2003 Accord.

3. What's the consensus on the Click & Safe models?

Thank you so much for your help! I'm happy/thankful I looked on here - we were all set to turn him around as soon as his first birthday hit, not realizing the significant safety implications of doing so... thanks for raising awareness to this issue!

[Joolsplus2]

Those headwings are gone, except for the specially noted seats at www.albeebaby.com. The new less-floppy ones are all that have been out for over a year now at other stores :).

Touching the front seatback has more to do with your vehicle manual. Check the airbag section of your car's manual, if it says don't shove cargo behind the front seatbacks, then you'd need to make some effort to keep the seat from touching too hard (*barely* touching shouldn't be a problem, but you'd not want to cram them together, it can mess up the advanced airbag sensors, turn the front passenger bag off, and endanger the front passenger).
The Click N Safe rarely works right...too loose on some kids, too tight on others. So unless you adore the covers it comes in, you can skip it. Either way, you'll just have to make sure you snug the harness down properly :)

Hope that helps!

[jjordan]

1. No idea on that, sorry, but IF the seats were a BRU exclusive then I think you're fine buying from AlbeeBaby.

2. It is okay for Britax seats to actually be braced against the front seats AS LONG AS your car doesn't prohibit it. Some newer cars have airbag sensors that can be confused if carseats are pushing against the front seats. I don't know if your car is one of those, but you can find out from your car's manual.

3. C&S is generally thought to be a waste of money for most people.

I love my BV's and I think you will be happy with your choice!

ETA: guess I posted at the same time as Jools, glad to see my answers pretty much agree with hers because she is definitely the real expert here! (well, one of them. :))

[Joolsplus2]

LOL, yeah, but even *I* like knowing I'm giving the same advice as other smart people :).

I think I didn't read clearly about albee and the headwings. ALL older models had the straight/small headwings. The ONLY place you can find those now are the ones on Albee that are specially labeled as such and those are the only ones to avoid. :)

[hilladub]

Excellent...very helpful - thank you both! So, to be sure I'm clear, only the specifically labeled Albee Baby ones (with the red warning text) are the older models with the undesirable headwings? That is, the ones on sale without the red warning text are okay even though they're in the closeout sale category?

[o_mom]

Excellent...very helpful - thank you both! So, to be sure I'm clear, only the specifically labeled Albee Baby ones (with the red warning text) are the older models with the undesirable headwings? That is, the ones on sale without the red warning text are okay even though they're in the closeout sale category?

I would think that is the case, but you might e-mail or call them to be sure. Once BRU is done with their exclusive cover, it many times ends up at Albee, but again, they should all be marked with the warning.