List Price: $319.99
Sale Price: $223.00
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We bought this convertible car seat for my 8 month old daughter. One of the selling points is that it is convertible, or reversible from rear-facing to forward-facing as the child grows. We bought the first generation of the same model, the Britax Boulevard 70, for my son in 2010 and we've been so happy with the first one that when my second child came along, we decided to get the G3 for her in the "Caitlin" style.
THE CAITLIN
From the manufacturer's pictures posted above, it appears that the "Caitlin" model is mostly blue. The seat is actually a mixture of lavender and blue-gray leaves, light silver, and dark background with purple bead trim. I posted a few pictures to give better detail. Even though the colors don't match Amazon's picture, they're still very nice, subdued colors for a girl's seat.
THE SEAT ITSELF
Newborn (5 lbs) to 70 lbs: I love the versatility the seat offers. It works for children from newborn all the way up to 70 lbs! In my naivety as a new mom, if I would have known that you didn't have to buy a portable infant car seat and upgrade at 1 year to a "toddler" seat, I would have saved my money on the first (Graco) seat and just bought this one. They provide extra padding that can be removed as the child grows to allow a newborn to ride supported in the seat.
Padding: Lots of padding adds to the comfort of the seat. In shopping around, I saw seats that have very little padding and fabric over hard foam. This padding in this seat is much more comfortable for my daughter. The side impact bumpers are even nice as they provide head support for when she sleeps.
Headrest and Straps Adjustment: In other seats I've had, I've had to take the seat apart to adjust the straps, but this seat doesn't require the extra effort. The headrest and straps can be adjusted from a squeeze and pull lever on the top of the seat. As the child grows, it's an easy fix to move the straps and headrest up. The two are one unit as well, so if you move the headrest, the straps are going to move with it.
Recline: The seat is adjustable to 3 recline positions. The recline lever is located on the front of the seat, just behind where the child's feet would hang. I'd suggest reclining the seat to the position you want before you install it, if you are installing it rear-facing. The lever is harder to get to when the seat is backwards. Otherwise, it's fairly simple to adjust.
Rear-facing and forward-facing: Rear-facing is required until the child is 1-year-old and suggested until at least 2-years-old. This seat was designed to work rear-facing until the child is 40 lbs, that's normally about 3-years-old.
Material: The material is polyester and well padded. To give you an idea, it feels soft like a new bed sheet, not crinkly as another reviewer suggested.
Washing: It says it can be hand washed with mild soap, then line dried. I would suggest not machine washing it as the material would probably lose its original shape and shrink.
UPGRADES TO THIS MODEL
There are a couple upgrades that have been made to the seat since the original Britax Boulevard 70:
The chest pads now have something called SafeCell Technology which is designed to compress and dissipate the energy from a crash. The top of the pad look the same as the previous model, but are noticeably thicker on the underside, about 1/4" thick.
The EZ-Buckle system is supposed to keep the bottom buckle forward so they don't sit on it. However, when putting my daughter in the seat, that was the first thing I had to pull out from under her.
SAFETY
One of many things I like about Britax are the safety features it incorporates into its car seats. This seat was designed to not only handle the crashes from front and back well, but also from side-to-side. Something often not addressed by some other car seat manufacturers.
RECALL
There was a recall issued for the plastic HUGS chest pads that affected a few lots of the 2012 model, due to some kids biting off the plastic. I have not had a problem with this happening, but Britax sent out replacements for the chest pads on all affected seats and fixed it in the later models. It should no longer be an issue. You can check the Britax website for the serial numbers of the recalled chest pads.
OVERALL
I'm very pleased with the purchase of this car seat. It's well designed, versatile, and above all a safe seat that I feel comfortable to trust my child in.
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We just purchased this seat for our eight month old son. We are still planning on using his Combi Shuttle 35 seat (just in my husband's car) to save having to move seats back and forth. I asked all of our friends with young children about their experiences with convertible seats, and after hearing their stories we decided that we wanted a Britax. They have an awesome safety reputation, and everyone we asked said that it was worth it to just buy the best first.Besides the many obvious safety features, the things that swayed me were:
-No re-thread straps
-Easily removed cover (no uninstalling when it's time to launder!)
-High weight limit
-"Tru Safe" head protection
As stated above, we bought a Combi brand infant seat, and it had all of the same great features. I was really, really spoiled with the easily adjustable harness and I was not about to downgrade to something more complicated. The Side Impact protection was a selling point, too. The Boulevard was the lowest cost model to offer the same level of protection that our infant seat did. Britax has plenty of models that offer great side impact protection, but this was the one that met both our safety requirements and budget. The only thing I wish this model had was the Click and Safe feature, but to be honest, you can go one step up and buy the Pavilion model if you can afford it.
The user guide was a bit daunting at first, but after reading it completely twice, consulting my car's owner manual and wrestling the seat into the car, it was very easy to install! We have it rear facing, obviously, since our son is under a year old. I even had the installation checked at our local fire station and the inspector told me it was installed perfectly! I feel as though if I can do it, it's pretty easy! For reference, I wrangled this rather MASSIVE seat into my 2011 Nissan Sentra, and it fit! (Check out Nissan's "Snug Kids" online guide if you have a Nissan...it can help you decide if a seat will work in your vehicle BEFORE you purchase it. Not sure about all makes, but at least Nissan has this!)
As for using the seat, my son seems pretty comfy in it, once he's cinched down. He's always HATED having the harness tightened, so I don't blame Britax for that. Once he's in the seat, he rarely cries! Even with the head restraint, he can see out of the car, and I really can't wait till he's big enough to face froward. Actually tightening the harness when my son is in the seat is a little difficult, but we are talking about a rear facing seat. Other than the rotating models I've heard of, I can't imagine ANY rear facing seat being easy to adjust.
I know that this seat has been recalled, but a little research into the actual recall put my mind at ease. The only reason this VOLUNTARY recall was issued was for the HUGS chest pads. Britax makes it very easy to replace this part and if you register your seat (that's a no brainer) then I see little problem with the seat. As for the review that states Britax ignored a choking child...well, I can't speak for that individual, but my interaction with the company has been nothing but the opposite. I'm very happy with this purchase.
***UPDATE***
We've been using this seat for nearly a year now, and it's been a great investment! I've used it both rear and forward facing, with both the LATCH and seat belt installation. I will say that installing this seat with the super LATCH connectors is a breeze and I've installed it in at least five different vehicles. I've laundered the cover several times, and only had to uninstall the seat once (for laundering) because my son managed to spill food all over the harness and buckles! Though the cover explictly says not to machine wash, I took a chance and washed it on delicate, with Tide Free and Gentle detergent, then hung it up to dry. It did great!
My son is a BIG toddler nearly 36" and 35 lbs at 18 months old and it's great to know that he can continue to use this seat for a while. One of my favorite features has been that I can adjust the harness SO easily! I can adjust it to fit my son, or my friend's older daughter, then adjust it back to fit my son again in mere seconds! Now that he's forward facing, I did have to remove the vehicle head restraint from the seat this carseat occupies, so that the carseat's own head restraint will not bend at a weird angle. If you have the kind of head restraint that you cannot remove or adjust, you may need to put this seat in a different location.
I will also say that installing this seat with the vehicle belt is considerably more difficult. Not impossible, by any means, but not as easy as using the LATCH system. Since Britax recommends not using the LATCH system after your child reaches 40 pounds, this is probably something that you will have to face learning at some point during the life of the seat. I usually need another person to help me install it with the vehicle belt. The built in lockoffs *do* help to keep this seat nice and snug, so that's a plus.
If you can afford it, even if it's a stretch for your budget, you will NOT regret buying this seat. It's comfortable, it's safe and it's EASY to use! Combined with the high weight and height limits, this seat is a GREAT investment. Just buy it!
Best Deals for Britax Boulevard 70-G3 Convertible Car Seat
There are so many choices when it comes to car seats! We wanted the safest we could buy without going overboard (for us the Britax Advocate was a just a little overboard). Here's why we picked this one:1. Very easy to install. We have the LATCH system and I think it took maybe 15 minutes to install, and that was using the rear tether (not necessary but highly recommended). We had it inspected at a free inspection event at the hospital near us and they said it looked great.
2. True Side Impact Protection (TSIP). This is one of the only differences between the Boulevard 70-G3 & Marathon 70-G3 (that and the HUGS technology is a little different. Britax has a great comparison tool on their site). We wanted the extra protection because we may have it on one of the outside positions at some point (right now it's in the middle) and because it helps keep our baby's spine straighter. For us it was worth the extra $20-$30.
3. Rear facing maximum height/weight. It is now recommended that children are rear-facing until age two, but we are going to keep our son rear facing for as long as possible, yes, even if his legs are bent. The little ones just don't have strong enough neck muscles for forward facing.
I read a lot of complaints about the HUGS on the straps and recommendations by other reviewers to remove them (in other places than Amazon) . I really don't think this is necessary. They can be a little cumbersome, especially if you are used to the Chicco Keyfit straps (which we were) but all you need to do is lift them with your fingers while you're pulling on the center strap. If that doesn't work you just need to tighten the straps a little at a time and move the HUGS down a few times. It's an additional safety feature and there for a reason, so we make it work, which again is not really that complicated.
I guess the only "con" might be if your little one's legs are longer than average you may want to consider something like the Chicco NextFit that may offer a little more legroom. This isn't the case with us so we're happy with our purchase.
The icing on the cake? We ordered it from Amazon and got it in 2 DAYS! And we don't even have Prime :).
Honest reviews on Britax Boulevard 70-G3 Convertible Car Seat
The single most important thing about a car seat is to have the child in it, and strapped in properly. Britax seems to have forgotten this when they designed the HUGS straps. Quite simply, the straps are nearly impossible to adjust. I purchased both a Marathon and a Boulevard, and while the Boulevard has more safety features, if you can't adjust the straps properly, it is not nearly as safe as the Marathon. I would definitely recommend the Marathon over this product.I had no problem installing it (forward facing), it seems comfortable, but my kid is not the biggest, and he seems pretty snug in the seat, I can imagine a larger (i.e. more stocky) child would have difficulty fitting in. Again, a safety issue if the child doesn't fit properly. I can't see how my kid will ever fit in this seat at anywhere near the height and/or weight limitations of this seat. He is 36 inches and about 30lbs. I doubt he will fit in this seat for another year.
Sometimes simpler is better. I was very disappointed in this product.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Britax Boulevard 70-G3 Convertible Car Seat
Prior to this car seat I had an infant car seat Graco snugride 30. My son NEVER liked riding in the car. A big problem as we do a 3 hour drive every Friday and Sunday night. It was very painful. We tried everything even breast feeding him IN the car seat while driving down the highway We were starting to think we had to stay home all the time. The closest we ever came to a nice ride was if he was in the front seat with the airbag off not ideal.A more experienced mom suggested I look into a convertible seat. Another experienced parent suggested Britax. I took my son to Baby r Us and sat him in every single car seat. I tried to pay attention to angle and cushion and how he responded. He seemed happy in this one. My 5 month old is quick to let you know when he is not comfortable.
He also liked another popular brand so we had to choose. This one just looked nicer. It seemed more low key then the sticker filled second choice
This car seat was easy to install, angled nicely for a baby with reflux and for the first time we drove home Sunday night with no baby screaming, no stops on the highway to cuddle and calm him down. He still fusses a bit in the car but once he gets comfortable he is happy and acts like a normal baby is suppose to and falls asleep!
We have only had this car seat for a weekend but already I think it is worth every penny we paid for it!
I did purchase a mirror and a sun shade I think that is needed when you lose the ability to pull the cover on the infant seat.
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