Question Britax Marathon or Eddie Bauer 3 in 1

Please help me decide.

My 6-month old son is very quickly out growing his car seat.

I'm torn between the Britax Marathon (I keep reading that Britax is close to the best) and the Eddie Bauer 3 in 1.

This is how I understand them both. When I read about both of them this is what I'm seeing.

Eddie Bauer 3 in 1:

rear facing 5-30 lbs
forward facing 22-40 lbs
bolt positioning booster 40-80 lbs
It seems to me that this one is more bang for my buck and will last longer since it includes the booster. I'm not sure of the comfort level is has for my son or how easy it is to use.

Now the next one.

Britax Marathon

rear facing 5-30 lbs
forward facing 20-65 lbs
There is no booster for it so I would later on when my son outgrows this one I'll need to buy a booster. BUT is the Britax so good that this shouldn't hinder my from buying it? I'm not concerned about the money so much but if the Britax is REALLY THAT comfortable and easy to use then I don't mind spending the money. I guess I just need to hear it from some people.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

We are also going on a 10-hour road trip in a month and half so comfort is important but safety, of course, is by far the most important...please don't get me wrong.

Thanks everyone!

Just a question, are you in Canada? Those rearfacing limits aren't US limits (they go to 35 pounds RF here, 30 in Canada).

What the measurements don't tell you is that the top harness slots are a LOT taller on the Marathon. Most kids are too tall for the EB by about age 3-4, but fit in the Marathon harness till at least age 5. A 3-4 year old is WAY too young to sit in a booster seat (and you'd want a better one than the EB is, it tends to make the lapbelt ride too high on the abdomen, and keeps the shoulderbelt off the shoulder, which is very bad), but if you get the Marathon and use it till it's outgrown then get a really good booster seat like the Turbo Booster or Sunshine Kids Monterey, then you'll be a lot better off overall :thumbsup:

If you are in Canada... here are the top picks (the EB 3 in 1 doesn't even come close to making this list)...

Britax Marathon ~ $300 (TRU, baby boutiques)
-rear facing to 30lbs, forward facing to 65lbs
-tall top slots, will last most kids to 5 years old
-rear facing tether

Sunshine Kids Radian ~$229 (Baby Boutiques, online - Babyproofingplus.com)
-rear facing to 30lbs, forward facing to 65lbs
-tallest top slots for convertible seats on the CDN market
-rear facing tether
-low profile/no base seat, nice for getting kids in/out of the seat
-most leg room rear facing
-will last most kids to age 7

Compass/First Years TruFit ~$200 (TRU, Zellers)
-rear facing to 35lbs, forward facing to 65lbs
-nice tall top slots (second highest on CDN market)
-easily adjustable harness height, no rethreading required
-low profile/no base seat
-will last most kids to age 6

Evenflo Triumph Advance ~$150 (Sears, Walmart)
-rear facing to 30lbs, forward facing to 47lbs
-nice tall top harness position (comparable to Trufit)
-infinite harness height adjustment... straps are always at child's shoulders, very nice.
-side knobs for adjusting harness... will most likely get stuck in the captain's chair due to contouring. Not a huge issue as you can recline the vehicle seat, adjust and then put it back upright... may be a big deal if you like to adjust every time you get in/out
-will last most kids to age 6

If you want to post back with your vehicle year/make/model... we can tell you a bit more about how well/not well each of those seats will fit in your vehicle.

Also include whether you travel by plane a lot or whether you will need to put three seats across the same bench.

oh my goodness, thank you so much for all your quick and thorough replies.

I am in Canada. I'm doing my search now because the infant seat that my son is in right now is only good to 22 lbs and he's 19lbs right now. AND the Britax Marathon is $269.99 right now down from $299.99 at Babies R Us.

Our vehicles are:

2005 Nissan Titan
2004 Kia Sorento (but we are soon replacing this vehicle with an Acura MDX)

Also, I wanted to ask.....should we buy two of these seats since we are a two-vehicle household?

With my first child I had the 2003 eddie bauer infant seat and hated it. It was hard to adjust the straps and they always kept twising on me! Pain in the wazo. While in GA visiting family my daughter used there eddie Bauer 3in 1. straps were twisted and hard to tighten the straps. From that day on I vowed never to ever own a Eddue Baurer car seat. That was 2006 I am not sure if the straps have gotton better in 2years. My first Britax seat was a 2005 Wizard, now called the boulvard (sp). I love it. It is easy to install and I never had to re-thread it as my daughter grew. I now use it for my 1.5yr 23lb 31in old who is still rear facing in it. I bought my 4yr old the Britax Regant Nov 07. SHe loves it and is confe. Keep in mine your child will stay harnessed in the MA longer then in the eddie Bauer

Out of the two you picked the MA hands down.
If price is a concern then i'd look at the truefit, radian and evenflo triumph.

Baileysmom2 said:

Also, I wanted to ask.....should we buy two of these seats since we are a two-vehicle household?

Click to expand...

How often do you use both vehicles? If you use them both equally then I would get two then you aren't always having to move it and then once it is installed it is installed and you don't have to worry about it not being in right.

If your ds rides in both vehicles it would definitely be easier to buy two seats. If he is in one vehicle most of the time, and the other only occasionally you could get a more expensive seat, like the ones mentioned, for the main vehicle and a cheaper seat like the Cosco Scenera, or something like that for the other vehicle. If you have the money and want to get two more expensive seats, that works too. Personally I would go with either the Radian or the True Fit. I guess that's because my dh would never let me spend more than that on a carseat

It's important to recognize that children rarely reach the weight limit of a seat before outgrowing it. A child outgrows a seat RF when they are either over the RF weight limit or when their head is within an inch of the top of the shell. A child outgrows a seat forward facing either when they are over the weight limit, their shoulders are above the top harness slots and/or their ears are over the top of the shell.

Like the previous posters have said, the Marathon is a much nicer seat than the EB 3 in 1.

Like Jen said, do you travel by air with any amount of frequency? If you do, I'd be more tempted to recommend 1 Marathon and 1 Radian.

Both the Marathon and the Radian should easily allow you to RF until the 30 lb weight limit as they both have nice tall shells.

Baileysmom2 said:

oh my goodness, thank you so much for all your quick and thorough replies.

I am in Canada. I'm doing my search now because the infant seat that my son is in right now is only good to 22 lbs and he's 19lbs right now. AND the Britax Marathon is $269.99 right now down from $299.99 at Babies R Us.

Our vehicles are:

2005 Nissan Titan
2004 Kia Sorento (but we are soon replacing this vehicle with an Acura MDX)

Also, I wanted to ask.....should we buy two of these seats since we are a two-vehicle household?

Click to expand...

how often will you be switching cars? Assuming the MA installs like the wizard, it, takes no time at all to install it. If you or your husband are dropping off your child at day care and the other is picking up, then yes I would unless your able to leave the car seat at day care. It all depends on your budget.

If you use both vehicles equally, then I'd want to have two seats just so you're not constantly switching back and forth. Or if the little one goes to daycare, one parent picks up/the other drops off kind of thing... I'd want two seats.

You don't need to buy the same seat for both vehicles though. Buy what works the best for each vehicle and your needs.

Which version of the Titan do you have? (small bench back seat, full four door back seat) I have not installed seats in a Titan before, but if you have the full four door version with a big backseat, any of those four seats I listed should fit well... the backseat looks huge from the google pictures I saw.

I would probably lean towards the Radian or Marathon for this vehicle (Titan) as they can both be tethered RFing... with the glass right there, I'd want a seat that tethers rear facing to stop rebound into the glass.

Are you sure it was the Marathon on sale and not the Roundabout? I was just in our local BRU yesterday (Calgary) and the Marathon's were still at $299. The Roundabout was $269 though.

I'd probably skip the Triumph Advance in the MDX just because the sculpted back seats tend to let the side knobs of the Triumph dig into them and it makes adjusting the harness difficult. Both the Marathon and Radian fit great in the MDX, I haven't tried the TF out in the MDX yet.

Ooh I forgot to mention the air travel thing. We won't be doing much air travel....maybe twice a year.

I guess we should buy two because we may have to separately drop off and pick him up once I go back to work.

Is the Britax Marathon easy to install?

Thanks again for all your help. I will be buying the Britax Marathon.

The Marathon is fairly easy to install and I like it for rear facing on the airplane.

Okay one last quick question.

There's the Britax Marathon, Decathon and Boulevard.....would anyone suggest I get the Decathalon or Boulevard....as I read I'm assuming these are a bit better?

Baileysmom2 said:

Ooh I forgot to mention the air travel thing. We won't be doing much air travel....maybe twice a year.

I guess we should buy two because we may have to separately drop off and pick him up once I go back to work.

Is the Britax Marathon easy to install?

Thanks again for all your help. I will be buying the Britax Marathon.

Click to expand...

Twice a year sounds like a LOT of air travel to me

The reason the Radian is recommended for air travel is because it folds up and can it be carried on the back.

I believe there is something called the GoGo kids Mate or something like that that will hook onto the Marathon (and other seats?) so it can be wheeled around in an airport. Certainly, travelling twice a year, you will want to consider how you are going to deal with getting car seats from here to there while travelling. Once you get out of infant carriers, they don't click onto strollers so nicely!

The GoGoKidz works fantastic with the Marathon. We loved ours for travelling by air.

Once the kids are forward facing, I much prefer the Radian. Super easy to install on the plane, backpack straps for carrying, and low profile so the tray table can easily be used on the plane.

I'd probably get one of each for those reasons. Marathon for rear facing on the plane, Radian for forward facing on the plane and two nice seats for each of the vehicles.

aidensmom02, the Marathon (Onyx) is on sale online at BRU and I was just in a BRU yesterday (Edmonton) and the Marathon is on sale there too. Also, I was at E-children and the Marathon-Onyx is also on sale there. I'm not sure there's an E-Children in Calgary (probably though).

The Titan we have is the full-size, crew cab. BIG back seat....it can easily fit three grown men.

I think I'll take your suggestion to get the Marathon and the Radian (since both have good qualities for air travel).....Who makes Radian so I can figure out where to purchase this one from. Which car seat do you suggest we use out of the Marathon and Radian for a 10-hour road trip.....

Okay, I swear those are my last questions )

In Edmonton the only 2 brick and mortar stores that carry the Radian are e-children and Baby Sam's. I'm not sure about Baby Sam's, but last time I check e-children they only carried the radian premier. Seems to me last time I talked to Baby Sam's on the phone I was told the same thing, so if you want the version without the extra pillows (and $50 cheaper,) you'll probably have to order online.

The Onyx Britax MA is on sale at all BRU/TRU until a week from tomorrow. Baby Fest is on right now and it's included in the flyer. None of the other covers are on sale though.

To answer a separate question, the Decathlon is not available in Canada. A previous poster from the US also mentioned the Regent - this also isn't available in Canada and wouldn't be appropriate for the age/size of your little one anyways since it's a ff'ing only seat.

And just a quick note:

Evenflo Triumph Advance ~$150 (Sears, Walmart)
-rear facing to 30lbs, forward facing to 65lbs

Click to expand...

The Triumph Advance ff'ing weight limit is 47lbs. (I'm sure it was just a typo. )

eta: I don't think wal-mart is going to be carrying the EFTA anymore either once stock is gone, but TRU/BRU carries it as well as Sears. :thumbsup:

Nice on the sale prices. We do have an E-Children as well.

The Radian is made by Sunshine Kids and is sold at Baby Boutique stores. (E-Children has them in Edmonton). You can also find it online (www.babyproofingplus.com).

They are sold as the Radian and the Radian Premier. The Radian Premier is $270 and comes with an infant body/head pillow (the body pillow turns into a toddler pillow for when they are older) and one carry strap. The Premier also comes in different fabrics and is *slightly* more padded than the Radian.

The Radian is a microfibre fabric. The Premier are all velour fabrics, with the exception of the SuperCool cover which is velour on the outer edges and a mesh fabric on the inside. The mesh wicks away moisture and is really cool in the summer months.

We've had both a Granite Radian and SuperCool Radian Premier's and like them both.

The carry straps are $6 each... you can buy two to make the carseat into a backpack for air travel later on if you want to just go with the Radian (and not the premier).

For a 6 month old, I'd prefer the Marathon... more cushy and hugs the baby better. For an older child I'd prefer the Radian... low profile and more space shoulder/hip wise.

Which is why I suggest one of each. Marathon as a primary seat now and when the baby gets older (2.5 - 3 yrs), switch to the Radian being the primary seat. Just my :twocents:

We don't have the Decathlon in Canada. The Boulevard just arrived. It's got head wings (side impact protection) and an infinite harness adjustment (turn a knob to lower/raise the headrest). Personally I find the knob adjustment to be a pain because it takes forever to lower/raise the headrest, but you don't do it that often and typically only raise/lower it a little bit at a time.

Babies tend to either love it or hate it. The head wings have a tendency to push babies heads forward and the top harness position is slightly lower than the Marathon, so I prefer the Marathon. Especially for taller kids, the Marathon is already starting to be at the lower end of tall top harness slots (compared to the other top picks), but it will get the majority of kids to a good booster age. The Radian will get all kids to a good booster age.

ETA: I'd use the Marathon to start out with on your 10 hr trip and then go from there and see which one he prefers.

snowbird25ca said:

The Triumph Advance ff'ing weight limit is 47lbs. (I'm sure it was just a typo. )

eta: I don't think wal-mart is going to be carrying the EFTA anymore either once stock is gone, but TRU/BRU carries it as well as Sears. :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

Nope... not a typo, a c&p error. Although it was a typo from where I c&p'd it... Sorry, op!

Our Walmart keeps getting continued stock in for the EFTA, so maybe it's just a region thing?

ETA: Babyproofingplus has the regular Radian for $229 and shipping only took 4 days when I ordered my Premier from them. They are also the ones that have the backpack straps for $6 each.

aidensmom02 said:

Our Walmart keeps getting continued stock in for the EFTA, so maybe it's just a region thing?

Click to expand...

Maybe? We got continued stock for awhile, then the display seat disappeared a few months ago and nothing since. I guess it could be a supply problem - the seats sold pretty much as fast as they came in... but we've been without for a # of months now and the display is gone too - they usually leave displays out even when something is out of stock. :shrug-shoulders: