Britax Carseat (please read if you've used one)

[finn's mom]

I am really bummed out about the Britax Marathon that we got off our registry. The seat is designed and marketed for "5 - 65 lb" babies/children. But, upon attempting to get it installed by a certified person (we made an appointment with a lady at our fire department), we discovered that it doesn't recline far enough for a newborn.

We are still keeping it for when Clara has more head control, but at this point, there's no way I'm putting her in the Britax. From what I'm hearing, after finding this information out and doing even further research, the company suggests putting a towel under the seat to help elevate the front of the seat, thereby reclining the seat. I'm sorry, but for the price of the seat and the safety of the child, I am not going to do that.

I know there were several moms on Pet Talk that have said they either have used or are using the seat, and I wanted to know how old your baby/child was when you started to use it. I did a lot of research before choosing this seat, but never really noticed that all the good reviews I read were from parents with older babies.

We have another car seat already, but it was really disappointing to find out from several reputable sources that the Britax isn't really designed correctly for a newborn. I've even been told by a couple of parents that they wouldn't let them leave the hospital with the car seat because it wouldn't recline. I mean, it does a little, but no way is it designed to recline to the appropriate laying down position for a newborn. Unless, of course, you do the high tech towel trick.

Please, if you've had one or have one, please let me know your thoughts on this! I would love to find out that we're all just overlooking some switch on the seat that would recline the baby safely!

[JenBKR]

I'm not very familiar with Britax - but I think that one is a convertible car seat? Meaning it starts rear facing and can convert to forward facing? Personally, I don't like convertible car seats. Infant car seats are designed specifically for infants (not to mention the convenience of snapping so easily into the stroller). Does the Marathon have a base? If so, the base may be adjustable.

[Cookiebaker]

Hi Kari,

we have a Britax, and I LOVE it! We started using it when Lydia outgrew her infant carseat (around 10-11 months).

I would highly recommend using an infant carseat the first few months, one that pops out of the base. It makes transporting them into the house/places SO easy if they are sleeping. They can just keep sleeping instead of having them wake up. Also, the seat fits right into the grocery cart and makes shopping so much easier.

The nice thing about the Britax is that it is either rear or forward facing. So at one year, we turned Lydia forward facing, and she should be able to stay in this same carseat until she is 4, when she will graduate into a booster.

[finn's mom]

Oh, I love that it's convertible, from rear to front facing! Definitely a quality I liked right away. And, I know as she gets older, it will be a fantastic way to travel.

As for the removal of the carrier, I don't **plan** to take the seat in and out of the car, but that, of course may change immediately upon Clara's arrival. I've been in grocery for over two years now and have seen both sides of that coin (bringing baby in a car seat/carrier and placing it in the cart), and realized quickly that it's not always the best way to transport the baby from car to other location. For those it works for, bravo! For those it doesn't, those poor women look miserable. I plan to use the Baby K'Tan carrier for transport outside of the car.

But, again...I may change my mind 100 times before I settle on what's best for our family! (I've already changed my mind many times about lots of things!) The internet is a great way to get lots of information and tips, though, and I do read a lot and appreciate any stories from you moms out there!

[prechrswife]

Mary Joyce started in hers at 9 months. I can't remember exactly when we transitioned Katherine, but it was when she outgrew her infant seat. We have an Evenflo infant seat that we used with Katherine and are using again with Malcom. We will transition him when he outgrows the infant seat, also.

If you eat out at all, you will very likely take the infant seat in and out of the car. Until the baby can sit up in a high chair, it is just easier. We don't use our car seat in the grocery store, either, unless we are just running in for a few items and can set the baby seat down in the basket of the cart. We use our Snugli if we are going to be in the store longer. We also use our car seat when we need to put the baby in the stroller.

[popcornbird]

I don't know if it is just the Britax, or all convertible seats. We've been 'window shopping' lately, looking at different car seats, and I didn't think any of the convertibles looked safe or appropriate for a newborn. They look great for older babies and toddlers, but don't seem to recline enough for a newborn baby. We've decided to go with an infant seat for the first 6 - 9 months, and then change to a convertible. Of course I have no experience on this, but that's how I felt after looking at all the car seats.

[Sirrahsim]

Everyone mom that I know uses/used the removable infant car seat. They are worth more than their weight in gold. For the first few months of life, your little monkey will spend most of his or her time sleeping. Think about having to pull the sleeping infant out of the comfy carseat EVERY time you go somewhere. Think about driving around for an hour in an effort to get your fussy bundle to fall asleep only to wake him or her up when you pull them out of the car seat. It's SO much easier to just pull out the car seat with the tug of one little lever and let the angel sleep. With a baby, sleep is GOLD and in my experience, you will quickly learn every trick in the book to keep from waking them from that peaceful slumber.


and wow that sounded really preachy... but the point is that I think that you would probably be better off getting the infant seat with a removable base for now and switching to the Britax later. I switched Austin to a convertible rearfacing seat when he was around 8 months old.

[Sirrahsim]

By the way, I have an Graco infant car seat complete with base that is doing nothing more than taking up space in my closet. You are welcome to it if you want it I'll be heading out to the Dallas area sometime next week
I also have a graco pack and play style baby bassinet that you can have. I can take pics if you are at all interested.

[finn's mom]

Thanks for all the replies, guys! I have heard different sides to the carry the car seat or carry the baby "controversy" if you want to call it that. I have a couple of friends that their babies would immediately wake up and scream when they would pull the car seat out of the base, and they would end up carrying the baby and pushing the grocery cart.

I can see the restaurant thing, but we won't eat out much anyway and if we wanted to, we may just enlist David's sister to watch her for us. But, again...I may end up with a baby who only behaves in the car seat and who hates the carrier I've chosen. We'll just have to see!

As for the car seat, I didn't know the first thing about it, but I did weeks of research on safety and consumer reviews and then went by the company's claim that it was fit for "5 to 65 pounds." It surprises me that they can make that claim even though there's no way it's fit for a newborn! Lesson learned! I don't regret putting the seat on our registry , as the it is one of the best, and we will certainly use it when she's older.

[finn's mom]

By the way, I have an Graco infant car seat complete with base that is doing nothing more than taking up space in my closet. You are welcome to it if you want it I'll be heading out to the Dallas area sometime next week
I also have a graco pack and play style baby bassinet that you can have. I can take pics if you are at all interested.

Well, we just got the car seat my mother picked up for us (she has the stroller it goes with back in SC and will bring it with her when they come out here), but thank you! That's an awesome offer!

We JUST bought a pack and play, too! About a week too soon, apparently, hahaha. But, thank you!!!!

[Sirrahsim]

ooops! I just sent you a PM darn the bad timing!

[Cookiebaker]

Wow, I seriously never heard of this kind of thing being a 'controversy'....but then again, I don't know much.

Seriously though, before I had a baby I thought that it was easy peasy to get the baby to sleep, because that's what babies do, right? Wrong, especially after the first few weeks! And when they finally fall asleep, you do NOT want them to wake up and start howling again!! Like Missy said, I found the infant carseat to be worth its weight in gold and was sad when we had to switch to carseat that we couldn't pop out of its base. (Now, we resort to sitting in the car until naptime is over sometimes because she still will wake up if I try to transfer her to her bed).

but at the end of the day, its what WORKS FOR YOU and your baby. No two babies are alike, and you could be a lucky one.

[finn's mom]

Wow, I seriously never heard of this kind of thing being a 'controversy'....but then again, I don't know much.

That's why I put it in quotes, because it's not really a controversy. I've joined (mostly just read, not much conversing) several forums dedicated to pregnancies and babies, not to mention the classes David and I have taken, and through all the reading and listening, I've heard so many different things on so many different subjects. I haven't had any practice on anything baby related, so all I've done is listen and learn. And, that's one of the subjects I've heard the most varying responses to.

If Clara doesn't respond well to being removed from the car seat and carried in my arms or in a carrier/sling, we'll adjust accordingly. I hope that's not the case, though. We took a "Happiest Baby on the Block" class together, and David and I (neither of us having ever held a baby before) have been able to quickly calm screaming babies with the techniques we've learned. I hope they work for Clara, they definitely worked with the babies that didn't know us at all.

I think another issue I have is that it seems like the babies just go from a crib/bassinet to a swing to a car seat in the car to a car seat in the store/restaurant to a stroller etc. Seems like they spend a lot of time flat on their backs. And, the women and men I've seen with slings/carriers generally seem a lot more comfortable than those with car seats. Again, I've just been observing and taking mental notes. I'm not against any mode of transportation for the most part, just have my preferences.

I also had my preferences on breast feeding and bottles and pacifiers and have since changed my mind and exchanged the products I've purchased for different ones. Who knows if I'll change my mind again?

[JenBKR]

Wow, I seriously never heard of this kind of thing being a 'controversy'....but then again, I don't know much.

Me neither! I have never heard anything bad about it. It was truly a lifesaver so many times!

I should have said in my first post that I didn't like convertible car seats for little babies. We do have one, and Ty started in it when he was around 10 months.

I am totally with the other moms who loved the infant car seat. I can't imagine life w/o one! Carrying the baby around or using a sling is nice and all, but you will still be put in the position of waking a sleepy baby. And they do NOT like to be disturbed if they are sleeping soundly! I learned that one the hard way

Seriously though, before I had a baby I thought that it was easy peasy to get the baby to sleep, because that's what babies do, right? Wrong, especially after the first few weeks! And when they finally fall asleep, you do NOT want them to wake up and start howling again!! Like Missy said, I found the infant carseat to be worth its weight in gold and was sad when we had to switch to carseat that we couldn't pop out of its base. (Now, we resort to sitting in the car until naptime is over sometimes because she still will wake up if I try to transfer her to her bed).

That was me! I read all the books before having Ty and thought I knew what I was doing. There are tons of methods for getting babies to sleep, right? It would be easy, right? Well, no...Ty was a cluster feeder and didn't sleep for more than an hour or two at a time. Several times we drove him around in the car until he fell asleep, carried him in in the car seat, and let him sleep in the car seat. It's amazing what you will do for sleep when you don't get any!

[Cataholic]

Hi Kari. I just wanted to share MY thoughts/opinions on carseats with you. My boy was a bigun' 8.6 at birth, and was in the top of the charts for a while. I used a travel system carseat, installed by a certified person, prolly until Jones was around 4 months??? My memory isn't what it used to be, forgive me. I stopped using the travel system thing when he outgrew it. To me, as a smaller sized mom with a big boy, losing the travel system was not a big deal. It really got to the point where I could not navigate the thing, comfortably.

So, at some point, maybe around 4-5 months, Jones moved to a Britax marathon. Hands down, they rock- safety, ease of install, etc. Expensive? No doubt. But, I felt safest with Jones in the safest seat. Yeah, it stunk, cause Lillycat needed one, too, but, safety first. So, I never contemplated putting Jones in a Britax from birth. He sat in that Britax Marathon from 4-5 months until one month ago- nearly age 5! LOL.

Just last month, I went and bought two Graco seats. They, according to the research, were the safest things on the market. Five point, high back boosters. They were around $150 each. They will last him to the point where he will go to a no back booster, I think 100 pounds. Again, for me, safety first.

I have watched one too many videos with the effects of an inappropriate carseat for weight/height. It is simply heartbreaking. I can tell you to do the research, look at what the non-seat manufacturers sites tell you, and go with that. I do remember using a 'noodle' to safely install the travel system seat. I had it checked by TWO certified inspectors (after being told by a new mother AND a police officer (who had a child himself) that it was correctly installed). If they haven't sat through the 40 hour course- they don't know what they are talking about.

Be safe. Be cautious, and double check.