Please help me decide!!!

So I was all set to buy a convertible seat for my son. He is 6 months old and I just weighed him today and he is pushing 21lbs (tomorrow is his 6 month appointment, so I'll see how tall he is). Knowing he was close to the 22lb limit of my infant seat I've been researching on what car seat to buy next. I had decided on the Britax Marathon in the Cow print and was all set to order it online today. Well I went into Babies R Us to just test him out in the seat and am now concerned about where the straps cross his thighs. They seem REALLY low on the thighs. The person recommended that I look at the Evenflo Triumph. I put him in that one and the straps definitely don't cross as low on the thighs. I'm really confused as to what to do. I know that the safest seat is the one that fits my car and baby correctly, but I'm second guessing the Britax vs the Evenflo.

Does anyone else have any comments on where the MA crosses your baby's legs? I also put him in the Boulevard to see if the extra cushion would make a difference and it didn't seem to.

Thanks for your help in advance!!!


By the way, my son is a big boy all around... always in the high percentile for weight and height, so although he has some baby chunk, he is also pretty tall.

When a child is in a rear-facing seat, during a crash the body will "ramp up" the seat shell, toward the top of the seat. The harness's primary purpose when rear-facing is to hold the child down in the seat, so the seat shell can cradle the child and absorb most of the crash forces.

That's the reason why straps should be even with or below the child's shoulders when rear-facing. They hold the body down better that way.

To me, the straps crossing the thighs makes good sense; they will hold the body down better. Not to say that the Triumph is a bad seat; not at all. But it does have downfalls that I'll get into.

With a big baby, the Britax Marathon/Decathlon/Boulevard, the Sunshine Kids Radian, the Safety 1st Uptown or the Cosco Scenera are all better choices than the Triumph. The Britax and Sunshine Kids seats rear-face to 33 pounds and have very tall seat shells which ensure kids don't get too tall to rear-face before 33 pounds. The Uptown and Scenera have 35 pound rear-facing weight limits, great for a chunkier baby , but they have shorter seat shells than the Britax and Sunshine Kids seats (the Uptown's shell is taller than the Scenera's). The Triumph only has a 30 pound rear-facing weight limit, and a much shorter seat shell than the others. Most babies outgrow it by height rear-facing long before 30 pounds. I've seen more than one baby who wasn't even a year old yet and was too tall to rear-face in the Triumph. So I really don't like to recommend that seat...yet. It's being redesigned but the new version isn't out yet.

All of that info only pertained to rear-facing; forward-facing, the Britax and Sunshine Kids will last the longest (Sunshine Kids longer than Britax). They have taller top harness slots to go along with the taller seat shell, and higher harnessed weight limits. Britax MA/DC/BV to 65 pounds, with 17 inch top slots, Sunshine Kids Radian to 65 pounds with 18 inch top slots. The Safety 1st Uptown has 16ish inch top slots, I believe, and a 40 pound weight limit. The Scenera has 14.5-15 inch top slots and a 40 pound weight limit.

The Radian can have some install issues in some vehicles, and can be downright impossible in a few. The Uptown and Scenera are generally pretty easy. The Britax are almost always a breeze.

The Britax and Sunshine Kids seats can be tethered when rear-facing, the only brands that allow it.

The Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe is made by Britax, based on the Marathon/Decathlon. Same basic seat shell, slightly different base and recline mechanism, no rear-facing tethering option, same top slot height, 55 pound weight limit (which is more realistic for the top slot height, for most kids). It can also be a good choice if you don't mind not having the rear-facing tether or built-in lockoffs.

What vehicle (year, make and model) do you drive?

If your son is high in percentile, he'll last in the marathon much longer in height then the Triumph which has a short shell.

I don't think that it really matters where in the leg/thigh area that the harness is as long as the harness is properly adjusted. I personally would go with the Marathon. We love ours and my DD seems comfortable in the harness,

having the harness low on the thighs is a GOOD thing, BTW. the thighs are better able to withstand crash forces than the soft tissue of the tummy.

Thanks for all the great tips. I drive a 2007 Honda Odyssey.

I know that the straps are supposed to be across the the thigh, not the tummy, but I thought it should be a bit closer to the actual hip.

I think I'm going to go with my first instinct and the Marathon.

My husband actually found the Radiant80 in a search and he wants to know if there is a safety preference between that and the Britax... any thoughts?

Thanks again for all the help.

The harness is SUPPOSED to be low on the thighs. It's much better in a crash.

I'm aggravated they pointed you to an evenflo...it's an inferior seat by far for multiple reasons. :thumbsdown:

No safety preference, the Radian will last slightly longer due to taller top slots, and it's narrower and doesn't sit up on a base, but it can be much more difficult to install. I do think there's some Ody owners who also have Radians, though, so maybe post asking specifically about Ody/Radian?

Most seats expire after 6 yrs and the Radian is 8 yrs. Just a FYI. I have Britax and Radian seats and love both.

I ended up ordering the Marathon. Thanks very much for all the advice.

I'm a bit annoyed about the Babies R Us staff.... The woman working there spoke as if she was very knowledgeable about car seats and the proper use. I knew that in the infant seat the straps should be at or below the shoulders, but I hadn't read the convertible instructions so I asked the sales woman if that was the same in the convertible seat until you move it to front facing. She said that the straps are always supposed to be above the baby's shoulders in any car seat. I told her that the instructions for my infant seat indicate the opposite and she said that she had never heard of that. The reason it is so annoying is that some people don't read instructions thoroughly and rely on a sales person of the product.

Again, thanks for the advice.