My 15-month-old daughter has been in need of a car seat upgrade for a few months now, and a few weeks ago, she received a brand-new rear-to-front-facing heavy-duty cool-as-all-heck car seat. I had my doubts about paying so much. But after hearing several frugal friends sing its praises, I ordered one.
The Britax Marathon. Cue angels singing. I’m serious. Lots and lots of angels.
This may be the nicest thing I’ve ever owned. If you’ve talked with me in the last few weeks, I may have already listed the features for you:
- The box it arrived in used no tape. I just pulled it apart and voila, fully put together car seat!
- No slipping the shoulder straps in and out of tiny slits to adjust the height. Instead, the whole mechanism moves up and down with the squeeze of handy little release.
- Velcro tabs on either side of the seat to hold the waist straps in place while taking her in and out of the seat. Glorious!
- Rubbery thing that helps keep the chest straps from getting twisted and helps them lay flat.
- A pad behind the buckle to keep the buckle where it belongs, not twisted down in the recesses under my child’s bottom.
- Nifty clamps to keep the seatbelt super-tight and secure as it passes under the car seat. I’ve never seen a car seat wiggle that little.
- And lots of other safety features, of course.
My 3-year-old also received a new car seat: the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1.
While still very nice, its box was plastered with tape, a pain to open, and a pain to put-together. But it’s not the Nautilus’ fault. I opened the Britax first….
Ramblings of a Writer 