Britax Marathon not truly to 65 lbs.

We own two Britax Marathons, one for our daughter and one for our son. I did my research when my daughter was born in 2003, and this was the best car seat. One of the pros to it was that it stated that it could hold a child up to 65 lbs. My daughter is tiny, in the lower percentiles in weight and height, very petite. She is just about 40 lbs now, and is having trouble fitting in the seat, the buckle is too tight in the crotch area. When I phoned Britax, they had no explanation, and no suggestions for getting any more use out of her seat. This has also happened to three other children in her playgroup. If you want the seat to be able to grow with your child past 40 lbs, DO NOT BUY THIS SEAT!! Otherwise it is a good seat for babies, and did make me feel safe.

Why would Britax think the same crotch position would be ok for an infant and a 4 year old?

I think most of us have had similar experiences. But given the other choices in 2003, don't you think it was the longest lasting seat on the market? Now there are lots of other choices...but back then? Well, the chances of a kid making it to 40 pounds in any of the other convertible seats were pretty much zilch, so this was really *it* at the time.

By the way, have you taken care of the recall? All the adjuster straps on seats made prior to 7/23/04 have been recalled and must be replaced.

My own child was too big (tall) to fit all the 40 pound weight limit convertibles on the market in 2001-2004 by the time she was 2-3 years old, 30-35 pounds. She would have fit in a Marathon until almost 5, and 45ish pounds.

Almost all seats are outgrown by height before weight; the weight limit is just that: a limit, the maximum the seat can hold. It's unrealistic to expect every child to make it to the maximum weight limit. What's important is that a seat has tall enough top slots and adequate weight limits to allow children to stay harnessed to a minimum of 4 years old *and* 40 pounds. Ideally we like to see children harnessed to age 5-6, and the Marathon generally does allow that. My own child was in the 90th+ percentiles for height and weight and would have fit until almost 5.

Also, since most seats have only a six year lifespan before they expire, the Marathon does pretty good if it can last the majority of children from infant until 6 years old. It's a rare seat that is actually useable for the entire six year seat lifespan. According to clinical growth charts, the average (50th percentile for height and weight) 6 year old is 45 inches tall and 44 pounds; based on my own experience and what I've read here on these boards, most kids do fit to about that size (a few long-torsoed, tall kids might be too tall at 43 inches, a short-torsoed, smaller kid might fit until 50 inches). :thumbsup:

To give some examples: my daughter was too tall for the harness on the Graco ComfortSport by her 2nd birthday, at about 30 pounds, too tall for all of the Cosco/Eddie Bauer/Safety 1st 3-in-1 seats at 2.5 years old, 33-35 pounds, too tall for the Marathon at almost 5, 45ish pounds, too tall for the Cosco/Safety 1st Apex/Biltmore at about 6 and 50 pounds, too tall for the Sunshine Kids Radian 65 and Radian 80 at about 6.5 and 57 pounds. She's got a little bit of room in the Graco Nautilus right now, at 59 pounds. She's got maybe a year in a Britax Regent, so she'll be too tall for it around 65-70 pounds, based on her consistent growth.

My point with all of that is to obviously illustrate that most seats are outgrown by height before weight. The carseat manufacturers need to be able to accomodate short, stocky children as well as tall, thin children, and it's difficult to do that. Parents of lightweights and/or tall children need to be aware how important top harness slot height is when selecting restraints, as that is mainly what dictates when a seat is outgrown forward-facing by height.

Weight isn't really relevant for the majority of parents purchasing a seat that harnesses above 40lbs. It's all in the top slots. My dd outgrew the Marathon at 7. She didn't use the seat anymore because it was too narrow in the shoulders but, the crotch buckle never bothered her. She weighed 42lbs. The Britax Regent is cushy and wide and she loves it. BUT...I'd never put a little kid in one. Not enough sleeping support for little ones (and it doesn't rear-face).

So, for us, it was the best seat we could've bought at that time. She needed a convertible since we wanted her rear-facing. I think the Marathon had the highest top slots of any convertible on the market in '01. Not absolutely sure, but I know that I never considered any other seat.

What seat have you replaced the Marathon with?

Also, my dd is 44lbs and 7y 6m old. Following her growth curve, she'll be 65lbs around age 11. I can't expect the carseat I got her when she was 7 months old to still fit. I wish though!

Another thing to remember is that with the extra weight harness you get extra height through the torso. My daughter will also outgrow her big Britax by torso height rather than weight. She'll probably be six and a few months. A Roundabout or similarly sized seat would have only lasted her to four. So even though she will be less than 40 pounds when she outgrows it, or right about there, she's gotten over two years more in this seat than she would in another smaller 40 pound seat.

Most kids don't outgrow seats by weight. The average weight for kids to outgrow a big Britax is about 50-55 pounds. The Regent is often outgrown before 70 pounds (it has an 80 pound limit). But with the Regent you're getting three extra torso inches out of it than the Marathon. That's nearly nine inches overall height. That's quite a lot of time!! I think I projected that Piper would be 53 pounds when she outgrew the Regent, and if her proportion holds true she'd outgrow it around 53". That's 11" more than she is now. Which for the way she grows would be another 4-5 years. Would I get angry that she didn't hit 80 pounds in it? Nope. She'd be 10 or so before she outgrew it, and that's quite all right by me. It's money well spent.

Wendy

My daughter si 8 1/2 years old and still fits in the Marathon. We have never had any problem with the buckle being too short.

My 4 1/2 year old weighs 45 lbs and still fits in her MA.

I think you're referring to having to dig the crotch buckle out from under your child's bum, and while it can get frustrating at times (particularly during a tantrum) it's not dangerous. I remind my DD to "scoot (your) bottom all the way back" and we're good to go. You can also loosen that harness when you buckle if it makes it easier for you, just don't forget to retighten.

FWIW, my daughter is in the 75th percentile for height and weight, so she is not a petite child.

My DS is 4yrs, 44lbs and still fits in the Marathon with no issues about the buckle. Though I moved him to the Regent anyway.

My oldest just outgrew her Marathon by height earlier this year, at 5 years 9 months old.

Like PP said, at the time, the Marathons were about it for allowing children to be harnessed beyond the 40 lbs that most all other seats had at the time, so definitely worth it's weight in gold for keeping kiddos harnessed longer.

I highly recommend the Britax to those who are looking for tall top slots and higher weight limits on the harness.:thumbsup:

I agree with all the PP's- height is what matters, weight is only a guideline. But I personally understand how frustrating it is when your child outgrows a seat before you thought she would/should. My DD outgrew her 40 lb seat at 32 lbs and 2.75 yrs old...she is too tall for the Marathon now at age 4, but is only 42 lbs. She was never comfy in a MA even at 3 yrs old because of the crotch strap and tight shoulders, so we tried a lot of different seats.