Issues with Britax Convertible Carseat

Updated on July 14, 2011
S.K. asks from Chicago, IL
5 answers

I got Britax Marathon convertible seat for my 14 month old.He likes it , but my husband and I miss our Chicco keyfit 30 carseat SO MUCH! We got our britax from Babies R US , the black seat with red lining. I hate the pattern but that was the only style available in the store. We bought it anyways because Britax marathon was recommended by everyone and we wanted the best for our baby. My son never once has complained while in it. He seems to like it. There are couple things we absolutely don't like in this seat. The black seat cover makes my son sweat a lot. We keep the car cool, but still his hair and shirt is almost wet with sweat. I am not sure why my son still doesn't cry even though he is so HOT in there. I am almost thinking of returning the carseat to the store and buy the same one online as they have options for different colors for seat covers. Do you have a Britax Marathon and have this issue? I am wondering if changing to a different colored seat would solve the problem , if it's the material of the carseat which makes my son sweat so much. We didn't have this issue in his chicco infant carseat. Also , another issue we didn't have with chicco is the way he rests his head while sleeping. He always seemed so comfortable sleeping in his Chicco. But the britax doesn't have good heard support. He is fine while awake. But it's difficlt to see him sleep with his head in such awkward position everytime. He just doesn't look comfortable at all.

Also another question, this is not just related to britax brand though. I have my son rear facing. He is very tall for his age. There is not a lot of room for him to stretch his legs. Most of the time he keeps his legs slightly bent , so it seems ok for now. At what height, did you have your tall kids front facing?

Thanks in advance!

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E.C.

answers from San Francisco on

can't answer your q about fabric and sweating, but the bent-legs-while-rear-facing issue is generally not a problem for little ones - they're much more flexible than we grown ups are, and it's actually not a major safety risk either. My now-9YO twins rear-faced until they were almost 3YO (would have rear-faced longer but their seats had a 30 lb. rear-facing weight limit). As long as your son is within your seat's rear-facing weight limit and has at least 1" of hard plastic shell above his head, he can still use the seat rear-facing (see explanation here: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=30201)
a few helpful references:
http://carseatblog.com/5168/why-rear-facing-is-better-you...
http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html

2 moms found this helpful
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M.K.

answers from Stationed Overseas on

I too had the chicco and loved it. We have a Britax roundabout not the marathon but my material is a tan color. We were living in Central America where it's in the 90s and above for most of the year and have never really had a problem with sweating. But maybe we were just used to the weather since it was year round. You are right about the head support when sleeping. There is no way to do it comfortably. But I also try not to let her sleep in it.

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L.O.

answers from New York on

I don't have an answer for you... but I can tell you my son will be all sweaty in his britax too! I'd love to find out if there is a way to prevent that!

But he would also get hot in his graco infant seat, but not as hot as in the britax.

B.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

My kids were all sweaty in their car seats in summer. They still are and all are now forward facing at 9 (booster), 5.5 (harness) and 4(newly forward facing).

Can you bounce the air vents up to him? Also you can find one of those little foam clip on fans that are battery operated to clip to the headrest of the seat he's facing to blow cool air back to him.

E.S.

answers from Dayton on

Hey, I was going to *try* to help w/ this the other day, but I had to go out and then by the time I was free we lost our electricity due to a storm for almost a day. Lol.
So now that life is back to normal...
Two thoughts: Sweating-I was going to suggest contacting Elite Car Seats.com but it seems they have removed their customer service center. :(

Are you sure the seat is properly positioned? In my moms SUV the seats are really slanty and we had our Britax Roundabout in it-the seat was way too forward. Does that make sense? I had to roll up a towel and put it at the front foot to make it recline at the proper angle.
If he looks really uncomfortable maybe that is the issue. Cause my son sleeps very comfortably in our Marathon in our van.

And yes, don't worry about the legs being bent.
My DD rides forward facing in a Britax Frontier...she has to cross her legs up on the seat on long trips because they fall asleep from dangling.
http://www.joelsjourney.org/

HTH!

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