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Another Car Seat Thread . . .

Loves Vintage

Ideal_Rock
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I'm looking at convertible car seats, since my 4.5 month old is quickly approaching the 29 inch limit of our snugride. I'm considering the Britax Advocate. Does anyone have it? Sounds like it's huge?!?

It would be going in a volvo wagon. There is not currently enough room with the snugride, but I'm hoping with the convertible (since it seems it's more upright?) that there will be more room, but this is probably just wishful thinking on my part?

For convertible seats in general, are you able to keep the seat in the center position? It seems there are some seats that are better sized to keep in the center than others?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 

fieryred33143

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Hmm don't think the convertible is going to help you out with spacing issue. It's going to have to be rear facing until 1 (and really longer than that) and reclined because of the age. Whether or not the middle will work well is dependent on the room you have to keep it rear facing.

Britax makes great seats so you can't go wrong. I prefer other brands personally. You can get the same quality seat with the same features for less.
 

Lanie

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OMG is she about to outgrow it? I wonder if A is about to outgrow his....We have the Chicco. I thought he'd be in his for awhile. Maybe I'm wrong?!? Gotta go look it up now!

Also, I might be mistaken, but I think they changed the rear facing age to 2 now.

ETA: Just looked it up. It is 2 now. Seems like such a long time!
 

Loves Vintage

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Fiery - Thank you. Maybe I should read past the B's in the Baby Bargains book, eh? I don't know, in that book, they say the Advocate has added side impact protection cushions,which they say are like side impact airbag cushions for the car seat. This is in addition to what's in the Blvd. How can I tell if other car seats have this? If not in the center position, do most people put the seat on the passenger side?

Lanie - S was 26.8 inches at her 4 month appointment. The snugride is rec'd for up to 29; however, I feel like it's on the small side for her now, and I really don't take it out of the car any longer. I prefer to carry her,so I figure there's no sense in delaying on the bigger seat.
 

fieryred33143

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Lanie-2 does seem like a long time but it's not that bad (assuming your kid doesn't give you a hard time or distract you from driving). Sophia will be 2 in 4 weeks and she's in the 95th %ile for height and is still rear facing. We don't have plans to turn her around any time soon. A lot of the PS moms also have their kids rfing at toddler ages.

LV-Britax is a great brand so as I said you can't go wrong! A lot of the seats have side impact. First Years True Fit and Safety First have it as well. I'm sure there are comparisons out there but Britax is great. Our seat us behind the passenger. I've heard conflicting stories that it's better behind the driver seat since the driver protects their aide first. But it just isn't practical for us. FI is a big and tall guy so it won't fit behind him and my car is small so it doesn't fit behind me.
 

lizzyann

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Loves Vintage, I own the Advocate. This is the link to the one I own.... http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4300646 I really like the padding on each side of his head for safety and when I bought it I just felt that it seemed like the most comfortable chair. The padding on each side of his head is nice too for when he falls asleep in the chair because he can just lean his head up against it instead of his head just kind of resting on his shoulder. It fits in the center of both our cars. We have a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Land Rover LR4. It also does rear facing too so you could use that until it is safe to switch to forward facing. They are pricey, but I felt at the time it was the mac daddy of convertible seats! Let me know if you have any questions.
 

fieryred33143

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Liz how funny. When I wrote my original response I wrote that Britax is the mac daddy of the seats and then edited before submitting. So funny to see you write that ::) That's exactly how I feel about the Britax.
 

Mara

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we have a Britax Blvd and it's kind of ginormous. Definitely check the size/dimensions and make sure it can fit in your car rear-facing and that you can move the front passenger seat back OR if you put it in the back center, then make sure both seats can be adjusted or that the driver at least is able to move their chair back if necessary. You can also google the name of the carseat and your car and see, sometimes parents post on a blog or something about whether or not a certain seat fits in that car model.

I got the Blvd for a ridiculous price during an FAO sale which is why I went that route.the added side protection was a nice bonus, but sooo many parents have and love the Marathon.

That said, Britax is super popular so I don't think you can go wrong if that's the brand you're looking at. We moved J at 7-7.5mo I think because he was reaching the height limit on his snugride. One note about moving the baby when they are younger. I felt like until maybe 9-10mo J looked so uncomfortable in the convertible... the snugride did a better job of 'cradling' their blobby bodies in my opinion than the convertible which was just made for an older kid. You may decide to keep the baby in the snugride as long as possible, but I'd def put her into a convertible to just see how she lays.
 

Loves Vintage

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LizzyAnn - I knew someone here would have the advocate! Do you have one for both cars? I'm sure you have more room in both of your vehicles, hmmm. I read a few reviewers of the blvd who complained that the lower belt was too low, and they constantly had to reach under the kid in order to pull it out and buckle it, but aren't all car seats that way? Did you notice that with the advocate?

Fiery - Thank you for that link. It seems like so much information. Hoping your link will help me along.

Mara - Thank you for chiming in. Yes, I read through some old threads this weekend and remember that you commented on how oddly large the convertible seemed for your son at the time. I really feel like I'm stuffing this kid into the snugride at this point, and she's growing so fast. I meant to measure her yesterday to see where she's at now because her apptmt was a few weeks ago, but never got around to it!! I think the advocate is a few inches wider than the blvd. I may just order the advocate and see how it fits in theory, then bring it to the fire dept for proper installation. Thennnnnnnnnn, I'll have to worry about what to get for my husband's car . . . .

If anyone's considering a britax, they're on sale now at both amazon and albeebaby. The advocate is about $100 less than at BRU right now! :o
 

Dreamer_D

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LV we got the Marathon and it fits a smaller car really well. It does not go up to 65lbs, but in reality, I think that the carseat will hit the height limit way before any weight limit, so that is why we did not worry about the lower weight limit on the marathon compared to the boulevard et al.
 

nfowife

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Dreamer, do you mean the Roundabout? Because the Marathon does go to 65 lbs. forward facing (new Marathon 70 goes to 70 lbs.). However, very few kids (unless they are very stocky) will get that high in a Marathon. My daughter has outgrown hers at 6 and she is not even 50 lbs. yet, but she's tall!

I would recommend any of the Britax seats. The Marathon classic is what I have (the 70 was not out when I got mine) and the 70 has the added side impact foam and slightly higher weight limit. I've been really happy with both of mine. I have my 4 year old in one and the baby is in my older daughter's old one. It is about to expire so I will be putting her in brother's Marathon, getting him the Evenflo Maestro for Dad's car, switching the Graco Nautilus to my car to use full-time, and DD is in a turbobooster in both cars. It's like musical chairs!!
But I have been really, very happy with my britax seats.

For travel or a second seat/spare I can't recommend the cosco scenera enough. Great seat, super lightweight, great price.
 

TravelingGal

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I have the advocate, marathon and blvd (older models) so can speak somewhat about all three.

You ain't seen giant until you've seen the advocate. However, the space it takes is on the SIDE of the chair. The footprint and overall height of the chair is the same as my blvd...so it doesn't affect the rearfacing space.

But it's definitely bigger from side to side...enough so that if you were to put two of them right next to each other, not sure it would fit.

And the bottom belt is low...I always have to reach under Amelia to pull it out, but it doesn't bother me to do it.
 

Mara

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I also always have to reach under J to pull out the buckle but it doesn't bother me, you just pull on the little flap of fabric it's attached to and then it pops right out from under him.

re: the side space, the Blvd in our car makes it so that our 3 seater backseat is really only good for one more person (or two really small ones lol). so we have the carseat and i can take one passenger in the back. the Blvd pushes over into the space for the middle passenger and makes it almost impossible to buckle the middle belt.

and yeah I remember being really surprised at how small and floppy J seemed in it at 7mo...! he looked like a monster in the snugride. but he filled into it more around 10mo i think (from spotty recollection).

oh and whole reason I did this reply/post, I wanted to also ditto the Cosco Scenera as a great 2nd carseat or infrequently used carseat. i wouldn't recommend it for really long rides or very often use because it has NOOO padding but it's got great safety ratings and is a great price.
 

Dreamer_D

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nfowife|1307380767|2939048 said:
Dreamer, do you mean the Roundabout? Because the Marathon does go to 65 lbs. forward facing (new Marathon 70 goes to 70 lbs.). However, very few kids (unless they are very stocky) will get that high in a Marathon. My daughter has outgrown hers at 6 and she is not even 50 lbs. yet, but she's tall!

Yes, I meant the Roundabout! Thanks for the correction. I can't keep them all straight. The Roundabout goes to 55lbs and 46 inches. Enough that we will get a booster style convertable before he is likely to ourgrow it anyways.
 

lizzyann

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Fiery, ha ha! Too funny! I just remember at the time we purchased the Advocate, that for some reason all of the other convertible seats just didn't seem that comfy. The Advocate seemed like the comfy chair in your living room that everyone would want to sit in you know? So we went with the Mac Daddy! :bigsmile:

LV, I only have one convertible seat which is the Advocate. I am a SAHM and my DH works from home so generally we just use one vehicle with my son in it. But if one of the cars has to go in for an oil change or something, we just move the Advocate over to the other car. It's really easy to take in and out so that is what we do. I can't really speak to the size as I don't really have anything to compare it to. But In both of my vehicles, it fits in the center back, and we can also fit two adults (with seatbelts) on either side of my son's chair. It is super comfy in my opinion. Some of them just seemed hard and uncomfortable. You do have to reach for the buckle under him but it isn't a big deal and I have a feeling most chair's do that. Hope that helps!
 

Loves Vintage

Ideal_Rock
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So, I ordered the Advocate from Amazon yesterday. Three hours later, I received a shipment notification. How do they ship so fast? I LOVE AMAZON.COM!!

T-Gal - Thanks for chiming in. Do you have a preference for one seat over the other? Do you think the extra side protection in the Advocate is a marketing gimmick? I kind of feel a bit preyed upon as a super-duper worried (in a potentially not so healthy way, ha!) momma and am always skeptical of marketing ploys, but in this case, not skeptical enough to have it affect my purchasing decisions.

Thanks, Lizzy! I didn't realize they were that easy to move. I'll probably get two (maybe the Cosco referenced here, or maybe the Marathon -- it comes in a super-cute girl print, or maybe another Advocate if I'm feeling really crazy! :loopy: ) The advocate comes in a nice print, but I do prefer the Marathon print, hee-hee!

And, thanks everyone for chiming in about the lower belt thing. I think that's one of those things where you read a review, and you're like, well, I don't want to deal with THAT, but in reality, all seats have the belt in the same position. Just because some guy doesn't comment on Amazon on the belt position for another seat, doesn't make that seat better.
 

Lanie

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Does the Marathon do the 3 in 1 thing that the Nautilus does? I really want the Marathon based on so many people's recs, but I also don't want to buy another car seat/booster down the road. The description of the Nautilus says that it's the last carseat you'll buy, and I was almost sold!

ETA: Nautilus is only forward facing, so not getting that. Nevermind!
 

Kunzite

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O just hit 28 inches so we installed the Roundabout this weekend .... and boy is it big! I don't know if we could have fit a bigger model :o
 

Deelight

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LV I have a similar chair to the one you posted (Britax in Australia is Safe and Sound) and I really like - the chair does have side cushions around the head I bought it specfically for this reason. We have ours in the centre in hubby's sedan we can still fit two other adults comfortably the only bad thing I will say about the chair is due to all the extra cushy padding it can make bubs a little hot however the chair looks so ultra comfortable and L seems to like it - the paddin also stops the head from lolling when they sleep as well :)
 

diamondseeker2006

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I just wanted to say how helpful these threads are! Our daughter and son-in-law are expecting their first child in November, and I love to check PSer's recommendations on things because you all always have great advice! I check Consumer Reports and read Amazon reviews and then mesh all the info!

My top choice is the Britax Marathon 70. If she doesn't get a car seat as a shower gift, we'll probably get them this for Christmas.
 

dcgator

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To Kunzite and LV - Are you both still in love with the Advocate and Boulevard? My mom wants to buy S a convertible seat so I am debating which one to get. Any pearls of wisdom after having these a few months

For anyone else with these seats, please feel free to chime in!

Thanks
 

Kunzite

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dc - We have the Roundabout, but I still love it. The size is pretty big though, and we have a small car. When we flew with it it took up the entire seat space. Now with the prospect of three car seats at once ( :-o ) I'm really glad we didn't get something even bigger.

I think a lot of people are sold on the higher weight limits on some of the other seats, but that wasn't a realistic concern for us. The Roundabout goes up to 55 pounds, and looking at O's growth chart at his current percentile of 50% he's projected to be around 31 pounds at three years old. So weight isn't something I worried too much about when picking a seat. (IIRC he shouldn't hit close to 55 pounds until he's 8!)

ETA - A lot of sites I've read say they don't recommend the Roundabout because kids will outgrown the rear-facing height requirement of 40 inches too fast. Looking at a boy growth chart the 95th percentile hits 40 inches around three years old, so I don't really see that as a potential problem either. Not sure why they make such a fuss about it because it seems to be plenty tall to me, but maybe I'm missing something.
 

Loves Vintage

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Hi DCGator,

I do like both the Advocate and the Boulevard. From what I've read, Britax's are very easy to install, so that's another thing that makes them appealing. I'm happy with them, but I have nothing to compare them to, really. Did you know, btw, that the Britax Marathon has a print called Sophia! Not that you should base your car seat selection on a print name, but just thought it was a cute coincidence, and the print is soooooo sweet. It's the one we have. Let us know what you decide!

Britax Sophia.jpg
 

Logan Sapphire

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Kunzite|1324072116|3083052 said:
dc - We have the Roundabout, but I still love it. The size is pretty big though, and we have a small car. When we flew with it it took up the entire seat space. Now with the prospect of three car seats at once ( :-o ) I'm really glad we didn't get something even bigger.

I think a lot of people are sold on the higher weight limits on some of the other seats, but that wasn't a realistic concern for us. The Roundabout goes up to 55 pounds, and looking at O's growth chart at his current percentile of 50% he's projected to be around 31 pounds at three years old. So weight isn't something I worried too much about when picking a seat. (IIRC he shouldn't hit close to 55 pounds until he's 8!)

ETA - A lot of sites I've read say they don't recommend the Roundabout because kids will outgrown the rear-facing height requirement of 40 inches too fast. Looking at a boy growth chart the 95th percentile hits 40 inches around three years old, so I don't really see that as a potential problem either. Not sure why they make such a fuss about it because it seems to be plenty tall to me, but maybe I'm missing something.

We have the Roundabout too (had the older version too) and I have a tall kid who is 20 months and over 35 inches. I didn't think that there was a height restriction, per se, for the RFing position- just that the kid has to be btwn 5 and 40lbs, shoulder straps at or slightly below the shoulders, and at least 1" below the top of the seat shell. So theoretically you could have a long-legged tall child who would still fit into the seat over 40" or a long-torsoed child who wouldn't fit in. But, correct me if I'm wrong...

Don't forget that you have to switch the using seat belts rather than LATCH at 40lbs for most cars (depends on the manufacturer). We also have the Britax Frontier SICT, in case anyone's looking ahead to when their child is older.
 

dcgator

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Logan, LV and Kunzite - Thanks for chiming in. My mom (aided by DH) decided to go with the Boulevard b/c it has the True Side Impact protection versus the normal side impact protection with the Marathon. My mom really wanted the Cowmooflague color, but LV, I :love: the Sophia print too, though it might be a bit gender specific. We will probably be buying our convertible seat soon too, and I think we will go with the Boulevard as well. Thanks again ladies
 

Skippy123

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I need to get a convertible! How old was S when you switched her?
 

monarch64

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I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee as well and was very concerned about how not to give my child whiplash--the Advocate looks awesome. We will do some more research but I think we'll end up going with that. So glad these threads exist!
 

Loves Vintage

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Skippy, I switched S at around 5 months. She was a little over 28 inches then. Each car seat has a weight/height limit. I had the snugride, which goes to 29 inches.
 

dcgator

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Ooops, I just realized that I wrote the wrong thing. My mom actually got the Marathon 70. I think we are going to get that as well this weekend for S, although we are special ordering it, so it may take a few weeks.

Skippy - My S is almost 28 inches, but she feels a little too tight in her Britax Chaperone right now and is starting to cry when we put her in it, which she NEVER did. She loves to ride in the car too. And, she is getting kinda heavy to carry, so I think it may be time to switch her soon.

Monarch - If you go with the Advocate, make sure you get the Advocate 70, not he original. The Advocate 70 has the more advanced "True" side impact protection, versus the normal side impact protection. Additionally, the 70 is not as wide, so it will likely fit better in your car. Just some points I noticed in my research. Otherwise, the Marathon and Advocate are very similar.
 
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