Marathons in Canada?

Can anyone tell me what the RF weight limit is on the MA's in Canada? SafetySuperstore says theirs rf to 33lbs, but I thought the limit was 30lbs here?

Also, at about what age do kids outgrow the MA's typically?

TIA!

Sarah

The rf limit on the MA in Canada is 30lbs, a lot of sites just copy & paste descriptions from the main manufacturers page not taking into account the difference between countries.

As for age, most kids will fit to age 4.5 to 5, some as long as age 7. (talking ff'ing here.)

Some kids will outgrow it younger though, it just really depends on the child.

It does have some of the highest slots available in Canadian seats right now though, but some kids do end up needing the Radian to get to 40lbs. Both the Radian and the Triumph Advance give more growing room height wise, with the Radian providing the most.

When the Nautilus and Frontier eventually show up in Canada, they should both allow more height room than even the radian, but they will also be ff'ing/booster combination seats and not have the option to be used rf'ing. There's also the new true fit that will be coming out sometime in the next few months, how it'll fit kids IRL in comparison to the other seats I can't speak of right now. I'll be able to answer that question once it's available locally though.

Is there any word on when the Nautilus or Frontier are oming here? At the most, I only have until December, when my AO expires...crossing my fingers...

northernmommy said:

Is there any word on when the Nautilus or Frontier are oming here? At the most, I only have until December, when my AO expires...crossing my fingers...

Click to expand...

Well, I'd definitely expect the frontier by then since it's april or may for the US. As for the Nautilus, Graco is suddenly being tight lipped on it's CDN release date. I expect it to just magically show up on shelves here on day just like it did in the US. And if they're trying to beat Britax to the punch, then maybe it'll show up here before the Frontier does.

My *guess* though, is that at least one will be here before December, and I'd guess one will be here before September. But this is 100% pure speculation on my part.

I am coming over here from mothering.com - where I had a similar (but different question).

I have two Britax Marathons - one made in March '03 and one in November '05. The '05 seat has a RF 30 inches and 30lbs. sticker on the side and the '03 seat has a RF of 37 inches and 33 lbs. (I think on the weight - confident on the height ...too cold to go back outside and check again.) The weight isn't as much of a deal to me as the height - we won't hit the weight, we will hit the height.

Has there been a sticker recall on the Marathons for those age groups that anyone knows about. I tried to go on some gov't site (some Britax recall on the Marathon in '04) but the site wouldn't open.

Here's an alternate recall list:
http://www.tsfbcaa.com/Content/Documents/childseatrecall.pdf
{This is generally updated within 2-3 days of TC's releases}

Nobody can tell you to use your '05 seat off-label. There's obviously a lot of confusion here, since we've always been told by manufacturers that as long as there's 1" of shell above the child's head, the seat has not been outgrown RF by height. Now it appears there's some confusion out there with these new height rules and their origins.

Thus far, the best theory on why we're seeing such low height limitations on some seats (which we may have incorrectly ignored thus far, due to the 1" rule) is because of testing differences between the US and Canada. Canadian testing facilities may still be using the older benches, and may have different testing practices when it comes to using the 33lb dummy rear-facing. Unless a methodology is released, we can only speculate. It may be an issue of seats being installed at 45 degrees for toddlers (whereas in reality, the recline would be much less than this for a toddler) or it may be something else...

I suppose my best advice would be that, as a parent, you've got a "best use" decision to make. Fortunately you do have an older seat, and can continue using that seat per manufacturers instructions until the manufacturer tells you otherwise.

-Nicole.