Convertible car seat question

Chatterbug6917

So I'm currently in the market for 2 new convertibles- I currently have a britax boulevard that I like but don't love..I'm giving that to my mom for her second seat and need to purchase 2 for my car one for my 5 month old and one for my 2.5 year old.. I'm going back and forth between a britax marathon and the chicco nexfit .. I guess my real question is should I even bother looking into the frontiers for the 2.5 year old or do you think I will get plenty of Use out of another convertible? The 2.5 yr old is 32 lbs and 37 inches so he's not huge, what age do they stay in convertibles to? Also anyone have opinions on either of the seats? Pros/cons? Car size is not a problem.. Thanks

dogperson11

The NextFit will last a lot longer rear facing. It's recommended to keep a child rear facing to as close to 4 years old as possible. It's also recommended to keep a child harnessed as long as possible and not transition to a booster until 6+ years old. The Facebook group Car Seats For The Littles is a great resource.

LittleApple

Is the older child RF still?  If not, then you can just go with a FF only seat like the Nautilus or Frontier.

As for the  5 month old, if you are not fond of the Boulevard, you probably won't be fond of the Marathon,  It's the same seat except for the bigger head wings and the Chicco Nextfit has big head wings too.

laurel22

I would go with either the Britax Fronteir or the Graco Nautilus for the older child, since they both convert to boosters.  We have the Graco Nautilus and like it, except that it's very "upright" and DS doesn't sleep as well in it as he does in our Britax Boulevard.

For the younger child, I guess it just depends on the features you want in the car seat.  I'm curious what you don't like about the Boulevard?  We have it and love it - much better than our other car seats, but I don't have a Chicco.  In general, it's easier to install, easier to adjust, and more comfortable than the other seats we have used.  Like PP mentioned, if you don't like the Boulevard, you're unlikely to like the Marathon - they are almost the same, but the Boulevard has more side-impact protection.

ebp913

I would definitely do the Nextfit for your baby.  It's a much longer lasting seat than any Britax convertible.  I also agree that ideally your 2 year old would be rear facing but if you are already forward facing and don't want to switch back, you are much better off getting a combination seat that is forward facing only.  

Here are some recommended options from a group of techs 

https://csftl.org/recommended-seats/#combination