are marathons really unsafe for newborns???

U

Unregistered

Guest
i am boggled right now.

i was just informed that marathons are not safe for nearly ALL newborns. apparently, it's due to the shoulder strap height being at 10". i have never heard this argument or seen it discussed and i'm at a loss.

my own very, very tiny newborn fit safely in her marathon, with the straps below her shoulders.

any links to discussions or information would be GREATLY appreciated.

this is rhetorical, but WHY would britax say the marathon fits 5-65 pounds of no 5 lb baby would actually fit safely in one?!?
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
It says it fits because they extrapolate down from the newborn dummy (who I think is seven pounds, I don't know that there's a smaller dummy, but I'm not very well versed on crash test dummies). However, since straps need to be at or below the shoulders so the baby doesn't ramp up during a collision the Marathon will not fit most newborns.

If you had a newborn who fit the Marathon at birth by torso then you didn't have a tiny baby. My babies have long torsoes and didn't fit at birth, and they were normal sized.
Wendy
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
5# and 65# are the outside limits at which it was tested -- or, really, data was extrapolated from testing, as Wendy wrote. Very few 65# children will fit safely in a Marathon (they will have outgrown it by height), and even fewer 5# babies will fit safely -- and when I write "few and even fewer", I mean practically none.

For the Britax convertibles, and many other carseats, outside limits should not be interpreted as usability suggestions.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
Britax used to allow babies to be up to an inch under the first slots, but has revised their rules to state that an infant must be at or over the first slots in order to use the seat.
honestly, I don't know why they say the seat can be used from 5 pounds. I can not imagine ANY baby who weighs only 5 pounds being anywhere NEAR big enough for this seat.
As the pp said, almost no babies fit into a marathon at birth. Certainly no small babies. Even very large 9-10 pound babies normally don't fit until 2-3 weeks when they have that first growth spurt. Normal 7-8 pound babies generally need 1-3 MONTHS before they fit, and smaller or shorter babies can take up to 6 months or more to fit into a marathon.
My very large 9 pound, 21 inch child would not have fit a marathon until she was a few weeks old.
My very tiny 5.5 pound, 17 inch long son did not truly fit properly until he was about a year old, although at about 8 months he began using the 10 inch bottom slots, even though they were still a "hair" above his shoulders, and I should not have technically been using the seat yet.

as an aside, no 65 pound kid is going to fit into a marathon either. Most kids become too tall (outgrow by height) the marathon when they are 35-50 pounds.
Actually, for these reasons, the Britax seats have fallen out of favor amongst CPS professionals. They do not fit newborns, so you HAVE to use anitehr seat first...then, they have only a 35 pound rearfacing limit (many seats now go to 40-45 seats rearfacing) and then forward facing, they only have about 16.5 inch top slots (many seats have 17-18.5 top slots now) so they are outgrown by height years earlier than many other seats. Also, they are extremely expensive, especially considering the reduced use you get out of them.

Again...i can't imagine a small newborn fitting into a marathon. The simple MATH precludes the possibility. The bottom slots are at 10 inches. A small newborn is going to be 18, 19, maybe 20 inches long, right? A significant portion of that is going to be that big ole newborn head, and some of it is going to be legs. It's simply not possible that for a human newborn who is 19 inches total, that ten of those inches are going to be torso. It's impossible. Is what I'm saying making sense?

now..I did think of one possibility, and that is if maybe a parent didn't know any better, and used a big thick snowsuit, or "bundleme" or other aftermarket baby product which might have artificially increased the size of the baby, the baby might have "seemed" to fit in the marathon, but sadly, was dangerously, improperly, unsecured. Obviously, we are trying to get the word out and educate parents against using these dangerous products, but it still happens, a lot.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
My-7 lbs.-at-discharge baby would have just fit at birth (well, discharge), but she has a GIANT torso. She was 20 1/2 inches long at birth and literally almost half of that was torso-- born with a 10 inch torso. You can see why most kids who are usually NOT half torso and often not even that long would probably not fit at birth! This same child outgrew the SnugRide 22 infant seat by height at 2 1/2 months because of the long torso.
 

Pixels

New member
My 8 pound, 19+ inch daughter didn't fit at birth. She didn't fit until 13 months old. I was helping two other families at BRU that day, both also with 13 month old daughters, both who were just then at the bottom slots.

My daughter grew into the Marathon right about the same time she outgrew all the 22 pound infant seats.
 

4boysmom

New member
I always find it amusing that my 8 9 at birth kiddo did not fit in the Marathon until he was +/- 20 pounds at 4 mo. I clearly remember him teetering on outgrowing his bucket seat by weight yet not being tall enough to properly use the marathon.

ETA: I see pixels posted as I was typing and had the same experience I did with a 20 pound kiddo just fitting, though at a way different age for the kiddo.
 

aja

New member
I wonder if the extra bulk of a cloth diaper might make a difference too? I know it makes a huge difference as far as pants go! :D

for our kids it didn't make much of a difference in the britax but it did in the snugride (where the crotch strap was way out and the baby slouched/slumped in a thin diaper). the cloth diaper made less than a half inch difference in the blvd.
 

luvsviola

New member
Both of my kids came home at 6 pounds (well, one was 5 15) and neither fit in Britax seats til 3 months old. :) We use cloth, but it doesn't make much difference.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
I asked some engineer at the Lifesavers Conference a couple years ago. They are extremely blase about the newborn dummy fitting properly in the seat. It stays in the seat (the lap straps help hold it down, this 'at or below' rule was invented primarily for seats without lap straps where the shoulder straps do more of the work, and for very heavy/tall toddlers who might ramp out of the seat), it doesn't rotate too far down, so it meets crash standards very easily.
Yet if Britax is so adamant about the harness being 'at or below', well, dangit, they've had a good 10 years to lower the slots, I don't know why they can't be bothered to do it, probably it's such a non-issue in terms of injury measurements on the crash tests, and in real life babies aren't launching out of seats, that there's no point to change things. (No matter how bothersome we find it :whistle:)

I can't find it now, but I think it was Saferidenews.com that had an excellent editorial pointing out how the 'at or below' rule should be changed to 'use the bottom slots till the shoulders are even with the second slots up', which makes it much more likely that newborns will 'legally' fit in seats, without increasing their danger, and it makes things simpler for parents who should not need to buy infant seats when convertibles are labeled for newborns and should be fine. :twocents::)
 

bubbaray

New member
DD#2 definitely fit at birth (8lbs 6oz, 21" long, all torso) and DD#1 would have (9lbs 3oz, 19" long, but even longer torso). DD#1 moved to the MA full time at 4m and DD#2 at 2m. We should have used the MA (or pretty much any other convertible) from birth b/c they both hated the SnugRide with a passion.
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
I can't find it now, but I think it was Saferidenews.com that had an excellent editorial pointing out how the 'at or below' rule should be changed to 'use the bottom slots till the shoulders are even with the second slots up', which makes it much more likely that newborns will 'legally' fit in seats, without increasing their danger, and it makes things simpler for parents who should not need to buy infant seats when convertibles are labeled for newborns and should be fine. :twocents::)

It was in the May/Jun 2004 issue of SRN, which is no longer available online (but can be ordered for $15). I've quoted the text before, though, so check it out here if you're curious.
 

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