~~~ Help with HWH info??? ~~~

Hi everyone! I started making the decision (well, trying to make a decision) about which HWH seat to get about two months ago and here I am still trying to decide!!! We have a MA in my car right now, but we need another seat for my mom's car. I may keep the MA in my car and give mom the new one or I may take the new one, it just depends on what we get.

Anyway, to make a long story short - I started a spreadsheet to help me keep the info straight and I was going to attach it, but I can't attach an excel file. So, I copied and pasted it below. It looks a little funny because I couldn't fix the columns.

I've gathered this info from store websites and on here as well. Does this info look correct to everyone? Also, any comments to add?

Name Price Child Weight Highest Harness Slot Notes:
Britax Regent $270 80 lbs 20" NO built in lock-offs

Britax Marathon $250-$270 65 lbs. 17.5" What we have now

Britax Decathalon $290 65 lbs. 17.5" Didn't like the fastener, took one back

Britax Boulevard $280-$300 65 lbs. 17.5" Has SIP wings

Radian 65 $199 65 lbs. 19" NO lock offs;

Radian 80 $249 80 lbs. 19" NO lock offs; Harness slots are same height as Radian 65, but goes to 80 lbs;

Recaro Como $249 70 lbs 19" Has EPS body foam; No lock-offs

Regaro Signo $289 70 lbs. 18" Has SIP wings, but no EPS body foam

Graco Nautilus $149 65 lbs. 18" NO lock-offs; no EPS foam in body, only head

Compass True Fit $180 65 lbs. 18" Has built in lock-offs, first combo seat

Thanks a million for all your help!!!

Most Marathons are cheaper than $270...maybe a typo?

Thank you! Yup, it was a typo - and that's the car seat we already have. I changed it on my sheet and I'll go edit it in the original post.

The 65 lb britax convertibles are 16.5-17" at most. In fact, even Britax's site only lists a 16" torso height.

Namegirl- I think MSRP is $270, but they're often on sale. MSRP for the Boulevard is $300.

I would also add that the Como does not have lock offs while FF(that function, anyway). I don't know of anyone on this board that has gotten them to hold securely. Recaro is supposed to be redesigning them.

crunchierthanthou said:

The 65 lb britax convertibles are 16.5-17" at most. In fact, even Britax's site only lists a 16" torso height.

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I think the column you're looking at what the column I had headed as "Highest Harness Slot". It's hard to tell what the column headings are - they all ran together when I cut and pasted. Is 17.5" too high for the harness slot height on the Britax HWH for 65 pounds?

Yep, the Britax Marathon/Decathlon/Boulevard have 17" top slots at most, so 17.5" is a little off.

Oh and the Radians have 18" top slots, not 19...not sure about the other convertibles you listed though.

EDIT: We have 4 Marathons and I didn't pay more than $230 for any of them from Albee Baby. The first one was $209, 2 of them were $220, and one was $230 (and no, we didn't buy them all at once, lol).

Wynters*Mom said:

I think the column you're looking at what the column I had headed as "Highest Harness Slot". It's hard to tell what the column headings are - they all ran together when I cut and pasted. Is 17.5" too high for the harness slot height on the Britax HWH for 65 pounds?

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I understood which column you intended that measurement to be and no, the highest harness slots are not 17.5". The DC and MA are maybe 17" and the BLVD is closer to 16.5". They don't fit quite like other 17" seats either- the Apex and Radian both measure ~17". I don't know the reason, but the Britax seats are usually the first outgrown.

SamPacey&Joshua said:

Yep, the Britax Marathon/Decathlon/Boulevard have 17" top slots at most, so 17.5" is a little off.

Oh and the Radians have 18" top slots, not 19...not sure about the other convertibles you listed though.

EDIT: We have 4 Marathons and I didn't pay more than $230 for any of them from Albee Baby. The first one was $209, 2 of them were $220, and one was $230 (and no, we didn't buy them all at once, lol).

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Gotcha I got the 17/5" slot height from a document someone posted a link to on carseatdata.org, so I'm glad to know they're only 17". Thanks for all the info!!!

crunchierthanthou said:

I understood which column you intended that measurement to be and no, the highest harness slots are not 17.5". The DC and MA are maybe 17" and the BLVD is closer to 16.5". They don't fit quite like other 17" seats either- the Apex and Radian both measure ~17". I don't know the reason, but the Britax seats are usually the first outgrown.

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Thank you! The PP said the same thing about the 17" slots, too. I got the info from a Car Seat Measurement sheet someone posted a link to somewhere on here today, so that's good to know! Thanks for all the info!

Top harness slot measurements and comparisons don't give you the full picture due to other variations in how long the carseat will fit a child heightwise, such as how upright vs. naturally reclined the carseat is, and how the child fits in it when installed in the vehicle vs. trying it out uninstalled in the house or sitting in a display model inside the store. The Britax convertibles tend to be more naturally reclined and outgrown sooner by height compared to more upright Apex or Radian, even though their top harness slots might measure similarly.

Jeanum said:

The Britax convertibles tend to be more naturally reclined and outgrown sooner by height compared to more upright Apex or Radian, even though their top harness slots might measure similarly.

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Thanks Jean, that actually makes a lot of sense. My biggest problem that I only have access to the Britax seats. There isn't anywhere near me to try any of the others. I guess I'll just do my best at deciding and have to live with it!

There is the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe, sold at albeebaby.com for $129. 17" top slots, 55# ff, 33# rf, no built in lockoffs.

The True Fit is a convertible not a combo seat.

The Evenflo Triumph Advance has 17" top slots, 50# ff, 35# rf, no built in lockoffs.

That's all I can think of!

The Nautilus has significantly higher slots than the Decathlon, and based on the pictures someone else posted, also significantly higher than the Radian. My DD is even with the top slots of the Decathlon and just below the next-to-top slots on the Nautilus when the seats are installed in the same seating position in the same vehicle.

There's also the Safeguard Child Seat and the Safeguard GO.

I personally wouldn't bother w/considering the Fisher Price SVD b/c it fits differently than the Britax and will be outgrown before them. We have both a FPSVD and a Britax Decathlon. My nephew is on the third slots of the Dec (or maybe, today, just above the third slots using the top slots), but on the FPSVD he is even with the top slots! Huge difference in how these seats fit kids differently, even w/the same measurements.

If you dd isn't yet on the top slots of her Marathon, you may get a lot of use out of an Evenflo Triumph Advance or a Cosco Apex. But if she's close to the third slots or on the top slots, I'd go w/something w/higher top harness slots, like the Graco Nautilus or Sunshine Kids Radian.

And you can always get a Britax for cheaper than the prices listed--just check out www.albeebaby.com for MA's for $219 and Dec/Blvd for not much more. There's also a Britax sale coming up in February, and you could get a Regent for closer to a low MA price!

hths

henrietta

Thanks Melissa, Liz and Henrietta! I think I've almost decided on the Regent. I know it's big, but it's going in a Captain's chair. It will keep her harnessed the longest. The only thing I don't like is that it doesn't have much in the way of the wings and it doesn't have lock-offs.

I have light-weight locking latch plates in my car. Would I need to have a locking plate? I haven't read the manual yet, but I think I'll be using the seat belt and not the LATCH. My daughter is right at 39 pounds (probably 40 with clothing). My car allows the latch to 48 pounds, but I think I remember reading the Regent only allows LATCH to 40, or is it 48?

Thanks again and have a wonderful night!

The sidewings on the Regent are actually deeper than they look, just FTR. I've measured them before, but I forget what it was - 4-5" IIRC. In any case, they look shallow because the seat itself is so huge and they're tilted out a bit, but they're comparible to a lot of other carseats.

You can use the Regent to the maximum LATCH weight of your vehicle. The 40lbs is for which belt path you will use - children under 40lbs use the long belt path (either LATCH or seatbelt), and over 40lbs use the short belt path (either LATCH or seatbelt).

Also, with lightweight locking latchplates, you shouldn't need a locking clip.