Need Advice on Which Britax for 11 Month Old

[glamazon]

Greetings Everyone,

My little dude is a little over 11 months old (he's my first) and he has just about outgrown his KeyFit 30. I'm getting ready to purchase his next seat. Thanks to some great advice I've gotten as well as the safety rating on Consumer Reports I've narrowed it down to a Britax. I'm thinking either the Marathon CS or Advocate CS. I'm leaning towards the Advocate because it has all the latest and greatest safety technology. I believe the main new feature being the side impact protection it offers.

I have a Honda Civic Hybrid (2003).

I would really appreciate any feedback on those two seats, or any other seat I might want to consider.

Thanks!!

Peggy

[o_mom]

Those are both nice seats, but if you get a Marathon, skip the CS unless you really like that cover. The CS feature is spotty and really doesn't add much to the seat other than price. The Advocate is nice, but we really don't have much to go on to say if it is worth the extra money. It does eat up room to have those air cushions on the side, which may be important in a Civic. For side impact protection, the best thing you can do is keep the little guy rear-facing as long as possible. :)

[arivecchi]

Have you considered a Boulevard instead of the Advocate? The Boulevard has headwings for extra side impact protection but is not as big as the Advocate. The Boulevard also has a no re-thread harness, whereas the Marathon's harness has to be re-threaded. By the way, I like your username. Wish I had thought of that. :)

[jjordan]

I like boulevards too! And I agree, skip the CS feature regardless of what seat you end up getting.

[Joolsplus2]

How about a First Years True Fit Premier? It's got all the quality of a Britax, but it's low, not on a base, so it's easy to get the kiddo in and out of, is taller for rearfacing and taller for forward facing than any of the Britaxes.

[jjordan]

How about a First Years True Fit Premier? It's got all the quality of a Britax, but it's low, not on a base, so it's easy to get the kiddo in and out of, is taller for rearfacing and taller for forward facing than any of the Britaxes.

Albeebaby has a really pretty TFP (http://www.albeebaby.com/the-first-years-true-fit-premier-convertible-car-seat-cranberry.html) on sale now for $190, with free shipping! That would be near the top of my list if I were getting a convertible for a Honda Civic.

[AnnieW625]

Hi Peggy, so glad you made it over here. I have seen the Advocate in person and that extra foam padding addition does nothing for me. It seems like you could almost pull it off with a little help. If you like the headwings and such I'd go with the BLVD. Like I said in the other post on the other site if I had to go with the Britax I'd get either a Roundabout 50 or a BLVD.

I also recommend going to a baby specialty store (other than BRUS) so you can see some of the other seats like the True Fit, or Radian, and try them in your car. I know Lullaby Lane is popular and in San Bruno and I don't know what else is near you. I am sure you should be able to find something in SF or near your home though.

[glamazon]

Wow! Thanks ladies, what a great site.

Hi Annie!!

You know after re-reading your response to me on BB as well as the replies here, I am now considering either the True Fit Convertible or Triumph Advanced Premier (which got the highest CS rating). Either one of them look really nice (and honestly a bit plusher than the Britax). The price point is better too (however safety is my first priority, no matter the cost, however saving is nice when you can).

I might grab the little dude and go to BRU tonight just to look at the seats. I've found some good sites on-line with free shipping so I will probably buy on-line.

[Joolsplus2]

A big benefit of the True Fit Premier is that it has the anti rebound bar, it's like the rearfacing tethering of the Britaxes, it prevents the seat from bouncing backwards in a rear impact. Evenflo has no rebound management devices on any of their seats (though they are still nice seats, kind of twisty straps, though...).

[lorinick]

I love the BV. But would skip the CS models. I like the TFP as well. But I think installing a Britax is so easy and worth mentioning. I've install the TF and it wasn't as esay as my Britax seats. I have not seen the TFP in person.

[arivecchi]

What is a CS rating?

[glamazon]

CR is Consumer Reports.

[arivecchi]

CR is Consumer Reports. Ah, CR is not very good when it comes to car seat ratings. Hit ignore. :ROTFLMAO:You are better off getting recs/tips here or in car-seat.org.

[glamazon]

Yes, I'm seeing how wonderful this site is!! :bighand:

[goldenpig]

I had 2 Britax Diplomats but ended up buying a Britax Advocate when we needed a third (for nanny's car). I actually like the Advocate and like having the side impact cushions. Now my 2.5 year old daughter is outgrowing the Diplomat by height (the shell is not as tall as the Boulevard/Advocate, so I had to buy two new ones. I just ended up ordering two the First Years True Fit Premier (make sure you get the Premier so it has the anti-rebound bar which works like the rear-facing tether on the Britax) because it was rated well for ease of installation (5 stars from NHTSA) and because the Albee Baby deal mentioned above was so great. I'm still waiting for them to arrive. It only works for the brown/cranberry color not the blue. Use code Jan2010 for 17% off and it brings it down to $157! So I got two carseats for the price of the one Advocate. You can also try 15OFF for 15% off if the 17% off doesn't work. The TFP has a lot of fans on the car seat forum at http://www.car-seat.org/ whereas the Britax gets bashed a lot for being expensive and "gimmicky". I don't know, I think they're both good seats. I like the Advocate a lot, the side impact cushions make me feel a little better about her riding in my nanny's subcompact car. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the TFP will fit in my Subaru Forester...I think the seat back is a little taller than the Britax Advocate. The Advocate slightly shorter but is wider though. If you have taller children or have to fit 3 carseats across, go with the TFP.

Whichever seat you go with, definitely think about keeping the baby extended rear-facing though, that keeps them 500% safer than forward facing. There's a lot of info about that on the carseat forum and this one too. Hope this helps!

[AnnieW625]

Ah, CR is not very good when it comes to car seat ratings. Hit ignore. :ROTFLMAO:You are better off getting recs/tips here or in car-seat.org.

I really don't have much defense of CR Reports for car seats studies anymore, but I do have to say that before I actually had Elisa and needed a car seat I snubbed Evenflo, then we had to find a reasonably priced seat for DH's Corolla and I found that I liked the Evenflo more than the Marathon and was really ticked that I didn't look at the Evenflo seat closer before. For an under $200 seat it's really underrated IMHO. Now the EFTA is a bigger seat than mine was and some say that the drawbacks of not being able to buy a new straps for is a huge turn off, and that it doesn't have lock offs (I think), but DD never got car sick and the few times it did get a little milk or something on it we just washed it off with a sponge. Also once you get used to them the harness knobs are great, (which is the no rethread harness), which I haven't really seen much of on an under $300 with that many nice features. Again try the baby out in as many seats as you can and see what he likes.

If you can't try the EFTA Premier or the True Fit in person you can also order it from Diapers.com and return it if you don't like as they have free return shipping. Our BRUS used to stock the seat, but I haven't seen it there in a while.