Britax Roundabout or Marathon???

I have a Roundabout and LOVE it! I would have gotten the Marathon because of the higher weight limit, but I have a little Honda Civic and I'm glad that the Roundabout fit. If you have the space, I would say the Marathon.

Hi L.,
I got a Roundabout for my car (Mini Cooper) and my husband got a Marathon (Volvo wagon). My son is now 5 but quite thin (36 lbs). He grew too tall for the Roundabout about 8 mos ago, and I replaced it with a really great booster that has a 5-point harness that can be removed when he is bigger. He still fits in the Marathon (barely). However, almost all of his preschool friends travel in boosters at this point, and I think he likes that he has a booster in my car. Also, whenever we traveled on a plane with a car seat (either in his seat or checked), we brought the Roundabout because it was easier to travel with. Finally, with the Roundabout (in a car larger than my Mini!) you can fit two other people in the back seat (as long as their tushes aren't too big and the person in the center can handle being a bit mushed), which wasn't really possible with the Marathon. I would say to use your car's size, your child's size, and the likelihood of traveling w/ the seat as guides. By the time my son outgrew the Roundabout, he was ready age-wise for a booster. For a kid in the 95th percentile, that probably would not be true. Either seat is excellent.

I bought the roundabout because it fit in my car. If the marathon had fit, I'd have got that, since DS is big for his age and I expect he'll grow out of the roundabout before he's finished with it. If you google car seat compatibility you'll find a website where they tell you which carseats fit in which cars.

E.

Another plus for the Marathon is the higher rear facing weight limit - 35 lbs - and the extended 5pt harness height and weight - 49" and 65 lbs. The recommendations for safety is to keep your LO rear facing for as long as possible and then ff w/ 5 pt. harness as long as possible. If space is an issue there are a few other great seats that might fit the bill.

I recommend www.car-seat.org boards for carseat reviews, recommendations and install or any other questions. There are lots of certified techs and other very knowledgeable people who post there.

Hi L.,

It's been a few years, so this is a long shot, but if you're still out there... I'm now shopping for a Britax for my 98 Honda Civic and would love to get the Marathon, but feel like maybe I should go with the Roundabout due to space. What did you end up deciding? Thank you!

Not sure why that posted twice, sorry.

First off here's my favorite link for a good overview of how to select a carseat (author is a long time child passenger safety tech) http://boards.babycenter.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&n...

I had two Roundabouts for my now-6.5YO twin dd's. Loved the fact that the seats were super-easy to install and even in our little '97 Honda Civic, long-legged hubby could still push the driver's seat all the way back. DD's never complained about being buckled in them, and the quality of materials is excellent - passed the seats down to friends after my girls outgrew them and the seats still looked pretty new.

Downside: they outgrew the seats by *height* at around 3.5-4YO. Technically they met the minimum requirements for a booster but I wanted them to stay harnessed longer (see http://www.kyledavidmiller.org/pages/4211/Car_Seat_Safety... for a good overview), and at that time the only options were either the Britax Marathon or Regent (both of which were beyond our budget) or, since they were still below 40 lbs., a FF combo seat with taller top harness slots but still a 40 lb harness weight limit. So I got a pair of Graco CarGos on clearance for about $50 each (about the same as the price diff. between the RA and MA) to get us another year of harnessing....if I'd bought the MA's, my girls would be *just* outgrowing the harness by height at 6.5YO (I know b/c I sat the taller twin in one at RightStart about a month ago and she's *just* at the top harness slot).

BUT....if you decide to go with the Roundabout, the good news is that now there are some REALLY GOOD combo seats you can move your DD to after she outgrows the Roundabout (wish these options were around two years ago!): the Britax Frontier and the Graco Nautilus. Both are forward facing only seats that can be used with the 5 pt harness to about 18" torso height or 65 lbs (Graco)/80 lbs (Britax), then can be used as belt-positioning boosters with adjustable height headrests and open loop belt guides (the CarGos I had aren't so hot as boosters, they have clip-style belt guides attached to the side of the seat that are a PITA compared to the open-loop guides).

So bottom line - both are good seats so I'd say either is fine, just make sure the seat's installed correctly and read the info on the safety benefits of extended rearfacing and extended harnessing :-)

elaine

there is tons of info out about these two seats...google the ra vs the m and you will see. i got the roundabout after much ado. i love it! it is smaller than the m. depending on your car size and if you plan on going to a booster or not is what it really comes down to. the M can hold a child for longer. i think like 60lbs verse 40lbs with the RA. i am going to move to a booster when the time comes...that is why i chose the RA and my car is a jetta wagon which doesn't have tons of room in the back and the M would be kinda big back there.

good luck.