My son is growing like a weed and we are starting to look at larger car seats since he is nearing the max weight and height limit on his infant carrier. So far we have really liked what we have read about the Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat. It is about $270. It is expensive, but I figured if it would take him up to 65lbs than it was ok. However, I just realized that we are going to need 2 because my husband will be dropping our son off at daycare in the mornings and I will be picking him up in the afternoons. $540 is a lot to spend. Of course his safety is the most important thing so if that is what it takes, then we will do it but I was wondering if any of you had had good luck with other car seats that might be a little cheaper. Thanks so much!
Thanks for your advice. My only priority is Jack's safety, of course. I have just had little experience as I am a first time mom so I was looking to your expertise. I have learned that sometimes there are better products on the market that are cheaper, so I thought it was best to ask. It looks like, from your advice, that I need to just buy two Britax. I figured they were the best, but I wasn't 100% certain of that. Now I am. THANKS again!
I would not buy the Marathon- buy the Regent (formerly called Husky) the weight limits are definately worth the extra money
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I'm sorry, I know you're looking for advice on other, cheaper car seats, but I have two Britax's and we paid the big bucks for them and it was well worth it. They are the safest on the market, and are easiest to install and uninstall in the car. We use latch and they have the hard latch with a button, instead of the hook. In my opinion, it's much easier than the other. I think paying that kind of money for your child's safety over the next 8 years or so is worth it. I wouldn't want a cheaper seat for my husband's car, even though he's rarely in there. Got safe vehicles and safe car seats- want the best chances for survival and non-injury in case of accident. We also take his seat on the airplane every time we fly- it's airline-rated, though it does not wheel down the aisle (too wide). We bought wheels for our seat at gogobabyz.com.
We have the Alpha Omega Elite carseat for our son and LOVE it! We have been very pleased with the saftey and comfort of the seat for him. It is great too because it goes from 5 to 100 lbs so is faces rear for small ones and then goes all the way through the booster stage. I believe we paid $150 for each of ours at Babies R Us. We have been using it for about 2 years now and like I said are very pleased.
We brought Britax and yes we had to buy two as well. What I did was order them from Target.com you can use a coupon codes TGTSTM58 is the most recent (it expires today) and get 10% off your purchase. Normally Target runs a free shipping program as well. It saves you a little money, not much but every little bit counts. You can find the most up to date coupons on dealcoupon.com I hope this helps.Britax is the best, my daughter loves to sit in her car seat.
Britax makes this car seat for Fisher-Price. Much better price under FP name... We bought it and are very happy with it!
Hi E.,
Yes the Britax is a good one, I believe that they even have one with a five point harness that goes up to 100 lbs. I've gotten away all of these years with just one car seat and my son is seven now. The rule is that the car seat always stays with the child! Most daycares and preschools have a place where you can store them. Because of the five point harness they don't need to be tethered into the car and they are very easy to change from car to car. I know that most families have two car seats but this has worked for us and saved us a lot of money. Best to you, M.
The Britax Marathon is great- they have one on sale at Albeebaby.com for $219 with free shipping- I think it is still available. Also, the Fisher Price Safe VOyager Deluxe is a britax shell, without quite as many bells and whistles as the actual Britax models, but it is very high rrated as well. I think those are around $160 or so. Albee baby had those on sale at one point as well- not sure if they still are.
Good Luck!
I agree with the other moms who recommended Britax. We have 2, one for each car, and I bought them both at a discount on Albee baby. We have a Roundabout and a Marathon. Now I'm wishing we had 2 Marathons b/c our little boy is growing so fast. Anyway, what I was thinking is that if both you and your husband's cars have the LATCH system, it's going to be REALLY easy to change the Britax out between the two cars. Even on a daily basis. You could just try this for a week or two and see if it's too much trouble. If so, get another carseat! If one of you has the LATCH and the other doesn't, it's going to be more of a hassle. Do-able, but more trouble.
I purchased both of our Britax seats online via Bizrate.com. This is a great search engine to help you find the lowest price available. You can really save a lot of money if you're buying your major purchases TAX FREE and with free shipping!!! We purchased our stroller and highchair this way as well. I've also been pleased with 1800diapers online.
I agree that the Britax is absolutely the best. We bought one Britax and then we bought another lesser expensive one for the car (my husband's) that doesn't get nearly as much use. We bought he Eddie Bauer one as the backup. But if yours gets equal use, you may want to eat the cost of 2 Britax car seats.
I recommend the Alpha Omega. It's cheaper and just as safe. From what I've read, and been told by many, the differences are slight between the Alpha Omega and the Britax. If you think about it, what 65 lb child is still in a harness carseat? I know 10 yr olds who weigh less than that, and you certainly wouldn't put them in a carseat. The Alpha Omega is also reversible which is nice, so you can use it for your next child when they're in that inbetween stage from infant seat to toddler seat. I have the Alpha Omega and been in a minor accident with it (rear-ended) and my son didn't feel a thing. I'm a first time mom too and it is hard to know whats best for your baby, but sometimes more $$ does not mean that something is better. I know a friend of mine bought the Graco Toddler Safeseat and has been very happy with it. You might check that one out as well.
We recently purchased the Britax Regent for my 2 year old since it's supposed to be the best. It was very difficult to install in the back seat of our crew cab truck, but my main objective was to get a car seat I could actually use for the next 5-7 years. This one is supposed to allow for a 5 point harness until 80 pounds I believe. My kids have been running tall so I needed a big one or I knew I'd be buying another one down the road. We put our old Alpha Omega in our other car since we don't use that car as often. I couldn't afford to spend $270 twice. I've been very happy with the Alpha Omega, but the 5-point harness only goes up to 40 pounds I think on that one. It's convertible though so it can be used as a belt-positioned booster up to 100 pounds so that's nice...as long as your child doesn't grow too tall as mine have been doing. ;-) Good luck!
