Tell me about your RA 55

mamakc

Active member
I'm a little confused about the new britax seats. I see over and over again that the shells are shorter, but then I also see claims that kids have more room in them than in the old britax seats. So which is it? :)
 
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zactayaus

Well-known member
The RA55 has shorter top slots and a shorter shell then the original MA. If my 21mo were FF in his RA55 he'd already be on the top slots. In his Original MA he'd be on the 2nd to the top slots. I do have pics of him in both seats on the same day if you're interested.
 

mamakc

Active member
pictures would be great! I've been studying the spreadsheets of measurements and I'm definitely more of a visual person...lol There's also no measurement of the new gen. external widths :(
 

zactayaus

Well-known member
This first pic shows the RA55 (2nd seat in) next to the original MA (3rd seat in):
100_2160-1.jpg


Here's pics of ds in the RA55 and MA:
100_2196.jpg
100_2189-1.jpg


100_2146.jpg
100_2195.jpg
 

Mama Jo

New member
Oh wow, I'm just now realizing the new MA's are shorter than the originals... that doesn't make a whole lotta sense...
 

Meg

Well-known member
I'm a little confused about the new britax seats. I see over and over again that the shells are shorter, but then I also see claims that kids have more room in them than in the old britax seats. So which is it? :)

I see you have a CA, so I can show you how a RA 55 compares to that. I can throw in a RN too. ;) These pics were taken a day apart:

sep019.jpg
sep017.jpg
sep021.jpg

(The harnesses are obviously not in the correct positions.)

I have a RA 50 en route to my home right now, so I'll know how the classic vs. new gen. seats compare in a few days. :)

There's also no measurement of the new gen. external widths
What do you want measured.. the widest part of the seat? I can do that for you tomorrow, if you'd like.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Oh wow, I'm just now realizing the new MA's are shorter than the originals... that doesn't make a whole lotta sense...

It kind of does, though, they fit in more cars a lot better... average jane q. parent isn't going to make sacrifices to keep their kid RF longer, so if it fits better RF, then kids have even a smidgen of a chance of making it to maybe age 1, or maybe a little longer, kwim? And it'll still fit average kids till age 3 RF easily. I don't actually see a difference in growing room for Gavin, personally (and he's extremely tall, so not really representative of average or petite kiddos, kwim?)

Hey, Mama Jo, glad to see you around...every time I tell people we don't have those dumb bath seats anymore at BRU, I think of you and your little one being stuck in that goofy thing :eek:
 
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Mama Jo

New member
It kind of does, though, they fit in more cars a lot better... average jane q. parent isn't going to make sacrifices to keep their kid RF longer, so if it fits better RF, then kids have even a smidgen of a chance of making it to maybe age 1, or maybe a little longer, kwim? And it'll still fit average kids till age 3 RF easily. I don't actually see a difference in growing room for Gavin, personally (and he's extremely tall, so not really representative of average or petite kiddos, kwim?)

Ok, I guess that does make sense. Elias is on the tall side, too, but maybe not quite as tall as Gavin. I noticed it seemed smaller when I was playing with it, but I thought it was more due to the difference in the base.

Hey, Mama Jo, glad to see you around...every time I tell people we don't have those dumb bath seats anymore at BRU, I think of you and your little one being stuck in that goofy thing :eek:

I shoulda known that stupid bathtub seat incident was only a foreshadowing of things to come with this child...
 

fyrfightermomma

New member
I love it. I really don't think my kids had that much less room in it. Not any that I'd lose any sleep over. Sophia was at the 1" mark with a super torso (4/5T shirt) and 38 lbs. She was 3y8m when I tried it I think.

Evelyn didn't fit RFing but she was 5 1/2 and 47". I didn't really think she should fit at that age and height :). FFing she still has a good 2" growth. Sophia had a little more


Joseph is pretty darn tall and with a 2-3T shirt still has numerous inches above his head. He's the size of an average 2-3 year old at 34" and has probably 4 inches above his head. He won't outgrow it any time soon. And this kid is big for a 12 month old.

So yeah, I may lose a bit of growing room but the trade off a super easy to install seat that takes up WAY less room RFing was worth it to me.

But I also am the person who doesn't RF a kid past age 3 in any normal seat. I only use a Radian past that point (but I have tall kids). This should get average people to 3 at least. But for car seat nerds, just realize to ERF as long as many of us do, it's not gonna be the last seat you use. But it should give you plenty of years of use

Right now it's my favorite seat. I love it and I won't be giving it up until he outgrows it. I want to get one for DH as the RA50 doesn't fit behind his seat when he drives and he crams his seat into the car seat making it super upright :rolleyes:

Plus it's cute and decently priced :)

It is a fantom seat though to let you know. Many people have young kids that outgrew it in their cars while mine that were taller and had bigger torsos fit fine. So try it out first! Also it is one of those seats that trying it inside is almost no indication of actual fit. My big kids had all outgrown it RFing and FFing inside. Joey had like an inch or two. They gained tons of room once it was installed. So that's why the pics with kids in stores trying them should be taken with a grain of salt. This is one seat you really need to install to get true growing room
 

Mom2three

New member
I love it. I really don't think my kids had that much less room in it. Not any that I'd lose any sleep over. Sophia was at the 1" mark with a super torso (4/5T shirt) and 38 lbs. She was 3y8m when I tried it I think.

Evelyn didn't fit RFing but she was 5 1/2 and 47". I didn't really think she should fit at that age and height :). FFing she still has a good 2" growth. Sophia had a little more


Joseph is pretty darn tall and with a 2-3T shirt still has numerous inches above his head. He's the size of an average 2-3 year old at 34" and has probably 4 inches above his head. He won't outgrow it any time soon. And this kid is big for a 12 month old.

So yeah, I may lose a bit of growing room but the trade off a super easy to install seat that takes up WAY less room RFing was worth it to me.

But I also am the person who doesn't RF a kid past age 3 in any normal seat. I only use a Radian past that point (but I have tall kids). This should get average people to 3 at least. But for car seat nerds, just realize to ERF as long as many of us do, it's not gonna be the last seat you use. But it should give you plenty of years of use

Right now it's my favorite seat. I love it and I won't be giving it up until he outgrows it. I want to get one for DH as the RA50 doesn't fit behind his seat when he drives and he crams his seat into the car seat making it super upright :rolleyes:

Plus it's cute and decently priced :)

It is a fantom seat though to let you know. Many people have young kids that outgrew it in their cars while mine that were taller and had bigger torsos fit fine. So try it out first! Also it is one of those seats that trying it inside is almost no indication of actual fit. My big kids had all outgrown it RFing and FFing inside. Joey had like an inch or two. They gained tons of room once it was installed. So that's why the pics with kids in stores trying them should be taken with a grain of salt. This is one seat you really need to install to get true growing room

So, taking all of your info into account my smallish DS should have plenty of time in the Marathon70 I ordered?
 

KaysKidz

Senior Community Member
My 17mo old is 30" and 27lbs and in a BV70. She has several inches of shell above her head...I'd guess at least 3, maybe 4. I expect her to make it to 3....her 3.5yr old brother could still fit rf'ing, but he's a peanut. The other 3.5yr old has almost outgrown it...but he's significantly taller. He'd be lucky to make it to 4 in the seat. He is also moving into 5T shirts to give you an idea of his torso.
 

fyrfightermomma

New member
So, taking all of your info into account my smallish DS should have plenty of time in the Marathon70 I ordered?

I didn't get a MA 70 because for some odd reason people were saying their kids had almost no time in a MA70 but did in a RA55, even though they are *supposed* to be the same. I have no clue why but even when I tried it the MA70 seemed like it had less room

It was enough that I didn't get the MA 70. So they are supposed to be the same but for whatever reason kids here seem to outgrow it sooner and my kids *appeared* to have way less room. Like almost outgrown.
 

wvmommy007

New member
I think my next seat will be a RA 55, unless something magnificent comes out before I need one. I :love: Smokey Pearl and the new pink cover.
 

Meg

Well-known member
pictures would be great! I've been studying the spreadsheets of measurements and I'm definitely more of a visual person...lol There's also no measurement of the new gen. external widths :(

I just realized I never got that measurement for you. :eek: Did you still need it? I have my RA 55 and RA 50 in the house right now, so I can measure if you still need to know the width.
 

mamakc

Active member
no, I ordered one to try out and it'll be here tomorrow so I can wait until then. Thanks, though!
 

cpsaddict

New member
I just measured DD in her old and new MA. She has nearly the same amount of room in both. In the 70, she has maybe a 1/2" less room, but it is hard to measure because of the headrest thing.
 

DaniChildcare

New member
I just realized I never got that measurement for you. :eek: Did you still need it? I have my RA 55 and RA 50 in the house right now, so I can measure if you still need to know the width.

Can you get that measurement for me though? I just asked a similar question in another thread (stupid me didn't see this one first!) and i would LOVE to know the difference in width!
 

Meg

Well-known member
Can you get that measurement for me though? I just asked a similar question in another thread (stupid me didn't see this one first!) and i would LOVE to know the difference in width!

I just posted to your other thread. Let me know if you need any other measurements. ;)
 

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