When I was pregnant with my first son, I spent a lot of time on the Babycenter.com message boards. This was back when I only read one or two “mommy blogs.” I’d been privately blogging since 2001—but sharing parenting info online was still new to me.
One of the women on my “birth board” for children due in April 2006 had just lost her son in May of 2005. Three-year-old Kyle David Miller died in a car accident when the seatbelt holding his booster seat failed and he was ejected from the vehicle. No one else involved sustained injuries.
Kyle’s mother started the Kyle David Miller Foundation to teach parents about car seat safety. Through this foundation I learned about 5-point harnesses and keeping babies rear-facing for as long as possible. I strongly encourage you to visit the Kyle David Miller Foundation to learn about car seat safety.
Having been exposed to this horrible tragedy while I was pregnant, I turned into sort of a crazy person about car seats. We were very fortunate to have a group get together to get us the car seat we registered for, the Britax Marathon. After researching, I chose the seat based on the LATCH system, comfort, parent reviews and the fact that it could seat children up to 65 pounds.
We’ve been using our Marathon since lately 2006 and it looks no worse for wear. It’s comfortable, easy to get the baby/toddler/preschooler into, and it looks nice in my car. It is also HUGE. Always make sure to check for compatibility with your vehicle. We drive a Mazda 6 and it has room for two carseats in the back, but you can’t put two next to each other.
When our second son was ready to transition to a convertible car seat, we turned the Marathon around for him and purchased a Britax Frontier for our three-year-old. This is a newer style and so far I love it. It can hold kids forward facing with tether up to 80 pounds, and converts to a booster to up to 100 pounds. It has side impact features and looks cool enough for my son to enjoy sitting in it. We’ll see how he does when he’s five or six, but for now he doesn’t mind sitting in a normal 5-point harness.
Speaking from experience, I highly recommend both these seats. My mom also uses the Britax Roundabout for my kids, which is smaller than the Marathon and is also very comfortable. We’ll have to switch the baby over to it fairly soon and purchase another Frontier for her car at some point.
I rarely make big-ticket purchases for my kids. I believe in hand-me-towns and consignment shopping. But when it comes to car seats, I don’t buy used, and I am willing to invest.
I encourage you to comparison shop, to research what works best in your car, and to look for sales and specials. We bought all of our Britax seats on sale.
Free Shipping
Right Start offers free shipping on orders over $99. This is a great deal if you’re getting a car seat! Amazon also offers these seats with free Super Saver shipping. Don’t know how long the discount will last, but it looks like the Frontier is currently less than $200.
About the author: Maria is surrounded by boys. She gets all aflutter when she finds good deals, new episodes of Gossip Girl, and big bold bottles of red wine. Read more from this author.
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We use a Marathon and Frontier for our 4 and 2-year-olds. I will never buy anything but Britax! Our 3-month-old will be moving into a Marathon soon as well. Like you, I got all our seats on sale and our first Marathon was bought in 2005 and is still going strong. Definitely worth the investment.
The only flaw I have found so far in the Frontier is that the cover is ridiculously hard to remove for washing. Ours also says to hand wash – pssshht, yeah right. I put it in the washer and it came out okay, but I thought it was crazy that they didn’t make sure it was safe for the machine. What mom has time to hand wash?
I agree. One thing I will not take handme down is a carseat. I feel better and I think kid’s safety is worthy any amount of money. I have the marathon and love it….glad you reviewed the frontier as well.
We use/have used the Britax Roundabout, Marathon and Frontier and they are all excellent in safety and comfort! My children won’t ride in anything other than a Britax!