It is time to move the LO from rear facing iinfant seat to a front facing car seat. We got a Britax Marathon a couple of month's back and installed it rear facing in one of the cars.....we will be going this weekend to the fire station to get it changed to forward facing as the LO's knees are hitting his chin now - not enough room......I would also like to get another lighter car seat that we can use in the other car, the nanny's car as well as for travel....the Britax is sooo heavy that I can't imagine moving it from car to car......so the plan is to keep the Britax in my husband's car which is what we use over the weekend's and roadtrips but get another lighter car seat that we can move around....any suggestions???
your help is greatly appreciated!
Our LO is in the 85th-90th percentile for height so when I put him in his seat his legs go way up on the back of the car passenger seat....we were trying to keep him rear facing as long as possible but he seems so uncomfortable...................I will check at the fire station when we go to get it changed to see what they recommend as well.........thank you for all your help!
I would stick with another Britax.....really safety should be the first concern, not convenience. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ
I have used many different carseats...and to be perfectly honest, our Marathon (and our older Roundabout) is the only seat I don't mind moving because it is really easy to get in the car good and tight.
I struggle w/ every other seat.
Never sacrifice safety for convenience.
The Graco MyRide might be a decent spare seat option...but I can't imagine it is much lighter.
What makes the Marathon so easy to use it that it has individual straps on each side (for Latch) that can be tightened separately. If you have a strap that runs behind the seat (our Graco Nautilus is like this) and only one tightening pull...that makes it very difficult to get in the car tight. Does that make sense?
HTH!
Your child is WAY under 2 (which is the new recommendation) so keep him rear facing! There's no reason to switch him. There is no way on earth that a 16 month old has outgrown a britax marathon rear facing. My kids stayed rear facing in the same seat until 3 and were still under the weight/height limit. RF-ing is so much safter. No one plans for accidents, but if you're ever in one, and your child is seriously injured, paralyzed, or killed - will you be wondering if the outcome would have been different if they were rear facing? If not - then a very light car seat that is very portable is the combi coccoro.
My DD is 3.5 and under 35lbs. She crosses her legs or hangs them off the side or puts them on the back of the seat. Is it that he doesn't fit or just that he needs to figure out what to do with his feet? My DD is still RF.
While I don't prefer to move seats around in general (we have 2 Marathons that typically stay in each car), we do take the one in the van out regularly for DH to haul stuff. If you want a lighter seat, certainly get one, but for me it was more learning how to set it up and not totally removing the RF tether that made it easier to re-install. We moved the Marathon a lot when we were in the UK - most of them were LATCH installs but now and then we used the belts (which we do at home). LATCH is very nice.
Edit to add: I shouldn't be surprised, but I did not know that the Graco only has one point of tightening for LATCH. Really? I remember my nephew struggling with their Graco infant seat (really hard to adjust the straps from the back when putting baby in and sometimes I worried she was not secure). The Marathon has 2 LATCH hooks (like seatbelt clips), one on either side. If you can buckle a seatbelt, you can install the seat. It also has a single point to loosen and tighten the harness straps so it's very easy to get the kid in/out and secure. That's a feature I liked on our Keyfit, too.
Personally, I'm fine with the heavy carseats because they just feel more safe and secure. I have a Britax Marathon and don't think it's that heavy though.
I've had a lot of different car seats with my three kids and I find the britax marathon although heavy is the easiest to install in hurry especially if you want it installed correctly. So easy!
We love our Maxi Cosi Priori seats, http://www.albeebaby.com/maxi-cosi-priori-convertible-car...
very solid yet easy to move. However our 17 months old(70% for hight) still rear faces in them. I feel that broken legs can heal, broken neck not so much........
We have the Britax Frontier 85 and it's not heavy at all. I have to move it all the time and it's not hard to install.
I liked the Graco Convertable - 3 in one Forward Facing, then a high backed booster then a standard booster it was a few hundred but worth the cost - we are LOVING it and our friend has one too and raves about it as well. It has been thru airplaines, and travel (light and easy to tote around - considering) and not too complicated to convert. Plus I like that it has a cup holder and two little side compartments - my son puts his water bottle in the holder and keeps his sunglasses in one compartment and a few toys in the other.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Graco-Nautilus-3in1-Car-Bravo/8...
Mine has 3 latches ... one on each side at the bottom and one at the top - not sure what Graco only has one.
Honestly, the car seats don't get truly manageable until you have a pure booster seat. Then, it's heavenly! For now, I'm afraid you're stuck with the super heavy convertible seats (and steer clear of 3-in-1 seats ... you think a convertible is heavy ... those beasts way a ton!).
