Convertible Car Seat (5-70 LBS)

Britax has developed one of the best reputations among car seat manufacturers and a loyal following of parents, thanks to their focus on safety and ease of use. Unlike many other brands, they give special attention to side impact safety and to the fit of the seat in the rear facing position. Britax recently overhauled their entire convertible car seat line, coming out with the newly improved Next Generation series equipped with new gadgets, improved safety features and increased weight limits between 55-70 pounds. 

We have three Britax seats (Roundabout, Marathon, Boulevard) and have been very happy with all of them. I get asked a lot about buying the Britax Roundabout versus the Britax Marathon so hopefully, this review will help answer that debate. The Britax Marathon is not necessarily better than the Britax Roundabout, it really depends more on your individual needs and the size of your car. If you are interested in the Marathon Car Seat, I would also suggest that you also check out it's cousin, the Britax Boulevard, which is the same size seat with added safety features.

Some features that differentiate Britax Car Seats:

• Locking clips which make the seats very easy to install using a regular seat belt in the case that you are traveling or don’t have a LATCH in your car.
• An industry first reversible tether (Versa-Tether). When the seat is in the rear facing position, the tether is attached using a special clip to the underside of one of the front seats. This feature dramatically improves installation and security. Once you see how well this works, you will be surprised that no other companies offers this feature.
• The Britax LATCH clips, which you can see in the picture (above right) are designed like seatbelts and are extremely easy to attach and release versus other seats. They also store away inside the seat when not in use.
• Built in Lock-Offs, both forward facing and rear facing, are designed for easy reach and operation when using traditional belt routing.

Some features that differentiate New Generation Car Seats:

• SafeCell Technology featuring Safecells located in the base of the seat, compress in a crash significantly lowering the center of gravity and counteracting the forward rotation of the child’s seat.  The Safecells reduce the risk of our child crashing into the seat in front of them during a crash, minimizing potential injury
• Steel bars located under the car seat strengthen the connection to the vehicle and reduce forward flexing of the child seat during a crash, thus minimizing the risk of your child being propelled forward and hitting the seat in front. 
• Rear and forward facing lock-offs that ensure a snug lap and shoulder belt installation with minimal effort

The Britax Marathon 70 is the big brother to the more popular Roundabout 55 (See Britax Roundabout 55 review). The primary difference between the Roundabout and the larger Marathon is size, although the Marathon also has slightly better side impact protection than the Roundabout because its taller sides allow for more EPS foam.  In addition, the newly designed Marathon 55 is equipped with a Harness Ultra Guard System and an easy-to-use Quick Adjust Harness feature. The Marathon is designed for up to 70 pounds (Rear Facing: 5 to 40 pounds, Front Facing: 1 year old and 20, up to to 70 pounds), meaning it can prolong the need to switch to a “big kid” booster seat.

As a first time parent, it’s tempting to just go with the smaller seat, thinking that you will worry about what comes next when the time comes, which is what we initally did. However, you will eventually realize the value of the larger seat when your child is only 3 or 4 and outgrows other car seat weight limits. It’s much safer at this age for them to continue to be in a five-point harness. The problem is that if you have a seat with a lower weight limit and don’t want to use a traditional booster, you then have to buy another expensive in-between seat, which is essentially a booster with a five point harness such as the Sunshine Kids Radian Car Seat or the Britax Frontier.

If you have two cars, you may want to consider purchasing one Roundabout and one of the larger Britax Seats (Marathon/Boulevard). This way you will have one seat that will last longer and another that will fit better in the smaller car and that is easier for travel. This is what we did and what we have recommended to all of our friends. Britax seats are worth the premium. They are extremely safe and are easy to install and remove from your car.

Devil's Advocate:

The Marathon 70 is big and is really better suited for a mid size or larger automobile. If you have a smaller car, you should test it out first in both directions to make sure that it doesn't require the front seats to be too far forward. Although it may be approved for aircraft use, the Marathon can be too big to lug around the airport and may not fit well in your seat, depending on the plane. On the other hand, the Britax Roundabout will fit better.