Britax Marathons recline and angle ?'s

Our twin girls are 7.5 months old. Yesterday, a policeman helped me install 2 britax marathons into our 98 Olds Intrigue. He said they had to be in the reclined position. (If this is true and had I known this, I wouldn't have purchased these seats).

Unfortunately, this leaves me almost no room in my seat to drive. I feel uncomfortable and not entirely safe driving the car in this position. My husband doesn't fit at all.

Today, I moved the recline position of one of the marathons (the one behind driver's seat) into the upright position.

1. Is this safe for a 7.5 month old? She has great neck control and is 17+ pounds.

2. It's secure (but not as secure as the policeman had it). When I tightened the tether, the base of the carseat is now slightly elevated. Is this okay? It feels secure, but there is a small gap on the bottom. In one way, this is good because the tether force made the seat slightly less upright, but I'm worried it's not safe enough.

3. If this scenerio isn't recommended.... Can you please recommend a carseat that will better fit my car? I bought the marathons online so return shipping and restocking fees is alot of $$$.

Thx for your help!

If I recall correctly you must use the Britax seats in the recline position when rear facing. You can however adjust the angle by the way you install the seat. My dd is almost 5 and still rf in a RA. She does not need to be reclined and infact appreciates an upright seat. I simply use one noodle instead of 3 to install the seat and what with tightening up the belt the seat does sit more upright. It will of course depend upon what car you have and how much of an angle you want for your twins but you should be able to have them upright enough for you to use your front seats.
With Britax seats you can also 'brace' the top of the carseat against the cars seatbacks and give the carseats more stability as well as the occupants of the front seats more room.
C.

I'm confused.

In the manual, it says they must be upright for forward facing. But how I read it I think it says that they can be in either position for rear facing. (reading manuals and making sense out of them is never easy, is it?)

The cop told me there has to be space btwn the back of the front seat and the car seat - so according to him - I can't brace it that way. (because he wouldn't let me put my seat any further back). Is that accurate?

Where do you put the noodle? Is there anywhere I can see pics with the use of a noodle?

For Samantha more upright will be okay. Sydney I think she needs more reclined (because of reflux pain she is often uncomfortable "scrunched"). So I plan to leave the passenger side as installed yesterday. It's just the driver's side that must change or else no one can drive the car.

Britax supports and encourages bracing the seat. No other manufacturer allows this that I know of.

Can you move that seat to the middle to allow for a bit more space? You can install it with the seatbelt in the middle.

Hi. Some vehicles and car seat manufacturers prohibit car seats from touching the front seats. Britax does not (Evenflo is the only manufacturer I'm aware of that currently disallows car seats to touch the front seats), but you should read your vehicle manual to verify that part. Mostly it is the newer vehicles with side torso air bags in the front seats that prohibit it. So, if it doesn't specifically prohibit the car seat from touching the front seat, slide the front seat back.

The base of the Marathon should be completely flat on the vehicle seat. You can use the tether to get a decent recline angle if needed. A 7.5 mo. old probably doesn't want to be at 45 degrees any more and a cop without kids won't know that . I was told by a Britax representative at a conference that the Marathon can be installed rear-facing in the upright position if necessary (I asked because my van seats are fairly flat and I had problems with over-reclining); however, you will want to add some recline with the tether so she's not sitting straight up. I would install it this way as a last resort, though.

To answer your question: here's a page with pics of how to use a noodle (but you rarely need them with Britax seats): www.CarSeatSite.com/reclineangle.htm .

I just wanted to add that most car seats that you buy will also have to be reclined when r-facing. I know my alpha omega had that requirement anyways... So this might be a problem no matter what seat you have unless you bought a seat with a shorter shell - though that would mean you'd get less time r-facing out of the seat.

Have you tried the middle position?

Try this. Pull the MA(reclined) back so the front is about 3-4 inches from the seat back. Now push down really hard between the buckle and harness adjuster till the MA touches the seat back in your car, buckle it in like that, super tight. Try to rock it at the belt path, if there's less than an inch movement continue. Even in recline it's going to be near perfect upright. Attach the tether to the anchor, put the front seat in the possiton you plan to keep it in, and adjust your tether till the MA touches the front seat, or is 45 degrees. Whichever comes first.

I hope that helps!

RubysGirl said:

Try this. Pull the MA(reclined) back so the front is about 3-4 inches from the seat back. Now push down really hard between the buckle and harness adjuster till the MA touches the seat back in your car, buckle it in like that, super tight. Try to rock it at the belt path, if there's less than an inch movement continue. Even in recline it's going to be near perfect upright. Attach the tether to the anchor, put the front seat in the possiton you plan to keep it in, and adjust your tether till the MA touches the front seat, or is 45 degrees. Whichever comes first.

I hope that helps!

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This is what I do. Piper's seat (she's four) is in the recline mode, but I pull it an inch or two away from the seat bight and then install it. It is WAY upright at that point, practically pointing to the trunk. Then I tighten the tether and tweak it until it's at an angle she likes (a benefit of RFing an older child, they can tell you) and then it's done.

Wendy