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Advice on which Britax seat?
Hi,
We need an additional car seat now, and DH is insisting we just go with a Britax. One of our car seats is a Britax marathon we got from some good friends and the other is a first years true fit. DH hates the true for what a pain it is to install versus the Britax, despite that the addition of this seat to our household so that we have a spare for his part time nanny will mean we won't have to uninstall and reinstall the seat as often. But whatever.
Given we will be going Britax, here's our info that might help. DS is tiny, like 23 pounds max and just over 31 inches tall, and I want to keep him rear-facing for awhile. The reason our friends gave us the Marathon was that the crotch space got too small for their son and they switched to a different seat. I suspect DS would outgrow the crotch strap before he outgrew the height or hit the weight requirements, it's appealing to find one that has an adjustable crotch strap. But one of the Britaxes (Decathlon, I think) has an adjustable crotch strap, right? But is that the one that uses the push button adjusters instead of levers, and I read bad things about the push buttons jamming.
How many times did I just type one of my least favorite words, crotch? I don't want to know. Eew.
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Re: Advice on which Britax seat?
if you want to keep him rearfacing, I wouldn't recommend a britax. They're outgrown faster than most other brands on the market.
I'm surprised to hear that you had problems installing the true fit, it's the easiest convertible I've ever installed, including britax seats. The Graco MyRide is also an easy install.
If you absolutely have to get a britax, I'd get the boulevard. I believe it is their seat with the highest shell height.
I'm so glad you are on! I'll tell him about the outgrowing part.
I think one of the straps that goes with the latch system may be installed upside down or something, or maybe it's just our Jetta. Because it's a pain in the butt and the only way I've gotten it installed after 25 minutes of trying it the "right" way was to flip one the strap so that it's got a twist, and then it popped right in.
Now, the one reason to not go with the true fit was that we were going to take advantage of the BabiesRUs trade in -- our infant seat was from the same friends who gave us the Britax, and its going to expire this year, so even if we get pg again, we'll need a new infant carrier. These are the participating trade in companies:
*Participating brands are: Babi Italia, Baby Cache, Baby Trend, Bergamo, Bertini, Britax, Carter's, Chicco, Contours by Kolcraft, Cosco, Delta, Eddie Bauer, Evenflo, Graco, Jeep, Little Tikes, Safety 1st, Sorelle and Step2.
Can you recommend something from that list?
Graco MyRide or Evenflo Triumph from that list.
In all honesty, since your LO seems tall for his age (my kid is a peanut, so my perspective may be off), I'd spend the money and get a Radian. But they can truly be a PITA to install.
I'd also recommend looking up a certified tech in your area and having them look at your true fit. You shouldn't twist the latch to get it to fit, it's not safe. But, LATCH just may not be the best option in that car. Using a seat belt is just as safe. LATCH was only created to make things easier...and a lot of times, that just isn't the case.
Where in the Jetta is the seat installed?
No, my little guy is a peanut -- 3%ile weight, 25%ile height. Does that change things for you?
Good idea about asking a local tech, maybe we should do the seatbelt.
It's behind the passenger seat, by the window. It won't fit behind DH, and he's not keen on putting it in the middle. What do you think?
I'm going to be out for probably an hour.
Thanks so much for replying!
in that case, the MyRide should be a great seat for you. He'll still probably outgrow it by height before weight, but that's pretty much true of all seats. We have a MyRide in my car right now, and I really like it. I found it easy to install.
The boulevard harness is not much lower than the MyRide, but the MyRide is a LOT cheaper.
oh, and the reason I asked about the Jetta is that I've seen people have problems with LATCH, but they were trying to use it in the center, and you can't in a Jetta.
Our Twin Baby + a Big Girl Blog
And with the delivery trifecra of one twin vaginal, one c-section with general anesthesia for twin B, Spencer and Sidney joined us at 35 weeks exactly on June 18.
Thanks so much!
2 last questions:
And after looking at Graco vs Britax pricing, if you can rec the Graco, that's the way we'll go. But do you know if is it possible to get replacement covers for the Graco? The only one I think we are going to find at BRU is completely NMS.
And, are firefighters "certified techs?" I know at least here in Colo that they are supposed to be trained to install infant car seats at least. There's a firehouse on our normal walk route and DS is currently obsessed with firetrucks, so it would probably be a good visit.
yes, I do believe they do. I'd call customer service to make sure, but most seat manufacturers sell replacement covers.
Some firefighters are, some aren't. You can look here: https://cert.safekids.org/ or here: www.seatcheck.org for one by you.
Well, we just looked the Britax ones at BRUs, and the Evenflo and the Graco, and DH didn't like any of the colors enough for the latter, and the colors he liked better for the Britax weren't worth the extra cost. So, guess what? We are back to ordering another True Fit! Thanks, ladies. It was your insistence that led DH to decide maybe he really did install that strap backwards and now he's in love with our first one again, we'll get a new one, and then use the used Britax for babysitters (every T/TH, so a pain to uninstall one of ours that often).
Thanks!!