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This is how to choose which Britax cars seat will work for you. It can be confusing and small differences matter.
The numbers 55 and 70 indicates maximum weigh of the child. CS means Click and Safe snug harness indicator, G3 is new line with 2 new features:
HUGS new chest pads with safecell technology that are designed to compress in a crash and reduce the amount of impact forces experienced by the child and
EZ easy buckle system that prevents the child from sitting on the buckle when boarding.
From the simplest to the most advanced the new G3 models go:
Roundabout (up to 55 lb), Marathon, Boulevard, Pavilion and Advocate (all up to 70 lb). First two are the base models and I only considered the Boulevard, Pavilion or Advocate.
I chose the Pavilion 70-G3 because has all the features that matter to me (Roundabout and Marathon lacks them, the rest have them);
true side impact protection,
new chest pads that are designed to compress in a crash and reduce the amount of impact forces experience by child,
click and safe snug harness indicator.
The Advocate goes further and has a bulky addition in the head area for more safety, but it was too bulky for my VW Tiguan. This the only difference between the Advocate and Pavilion.
Boulevard CS doesn't have NEW easy buckle system and Boulevard G3 doesn't have CS (click and safe snug harness indicator).
Overall I rate the this car seat 5 stars. No complaints:
my son loves it, looks comfortable and the middle position is perfect to sit and watch the world through the window and take a nap without his head hanging down,
easy to remove the seat cover ( manufacturer recommends only hand wash, no dryer but it is fine to use washer and line dry),
easy to keep it clean (I wipe it with disinfection clothes and looks great),
approved for air travel, although for me too bulky for plane (infant car seat is more useful for me on the plane and toddlers can just seat on the lap or seat),
made in USA ("with global components"),
they don't feel cheap, I compared different brands in the store and liked Britax the most,
seat is very secure, there is no movements I had some with my Chicco Keyfit 30 infant car sear, but this is different base and seat,
my son was never sweaty after a car ride,
easy to install but I wouldn't want to switch the car seat between 2 cars, would buy another one,
I bought it for my 1 year old who is big enough to use it forward facing (according to instructions and my judgement), but it is reversible for rear facing, can be used from the birth (obvious minus-can not take sleeping infant with the car seat outside).
UPDATE: My son is 2 years old, 30lb and still loves the seat and fits well in it even in the winter coat. After 1 year seat and cover looks like new. The only thing this seat is missing is a cup holder for older toddlers.
A second baby is coming soon so I probably will buy a booster type of seat 25/40 lb-120 lb for the older child and younger will inherit this one.
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I read everything on convertible carseats: differences between EPP and EPS foams, safety features and whats really important, fabrics, faulty manufacturing, recalls, ease of installing, etcetcetc. Surprisingly, after reading EVERYTHING, I nailed it down to 4 that I wanted to look at in person which were:Recaro Proride
Diono
Peg Premo
Snugli
How I ruled out the 4 above:
Recaro ProRide its quite a bit taller and I am pretty sure it wouldn't fit in the middle of our Audi Q5. It also doesn't have EPS or EPP foam in the side walls where as the Britax does. Granted, it isn't safety law to have foam on the side walls but if you can have it, why not get a seat that has it.
Diono SUPER tall and would also not work in our car. I also didn't care for the fabric. It doesn't sit as low as the britax does and from all my research I learned that it's safer for the child to sit low in the seat like a bucket. It is really heavy but I wouldn't mark it down for that because we would be putting it in the car and leaving it.
Peg Perego honestly, it's pretty much the same seat as the Britax. I would call it the Italian version of the Britax. I didn't choose it because the price point I could get the Britax for was better
Snugli after narrowing down it came between buying this seat and the Britax. I loved that the fabric is cooling since my daughter is a toaster oven and I really wanted to get it for that fact plus its super cushy and the fabric is slick. When I put my daughter in it, her head was pushed forward while her body sat back in the seat. The pillow on top is tooooo cushy and she ended up looking really uncomfortable. Granted, my daughter is a little girl at 13mo, 18lbs, 27".
Now, why I chose the Pavilion vs the other models:
Advocate only difference is that it has hard plastic + eps foam on the outer side of the seat. It's supposed to protect someone sitting next to the car seat as well as the baby inside the seat from getting hit by something on the side. In my opinion, that bit on the side is super hard and if you were sitting next to it, you'd still get hurt. I also thought the added width wouldn't fit in the middle of our back seat. I want her in the middle which would be safer than by the window so the side plastic bits aren't really necessary for us.
Boulevard only difference is that it doesn't have CS (click safe) In fact, the Boulevard CS is now called the Pavilion. We thought it was worth the extra $20 bucks to get a seat with CS, why not?
Marathon only difference is it doesn't have CS and it doesn't have EPP head cushions. I put my daughter in this too and since she is tiny, I liked that the Pavilion head rest hugged her a little more.
Why Britax:
because I liked that it uses EPP foam which is better quality foam than EPS. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298670
assembled in the US. Yeah, its foreign parts but my thought was that maybe while their assembling in the US, if they saw a flaw in a part they might call it out. That could be totally false but hey, it's just what I think =p
I am a germaphobe, so I like that I can take off the cover super easy and clean it =D
I can adjust it around my little kid
I figure Britax knows what their doing since they been at it a while
fabric is real soft and won't irritate my daughters skin like her graco snugride did =(
I haven't installed it yet but will update the review once I do that =) Happy hunting!
UPDATE: I had the car seat installed by the CHP which I HIGHLY recommend. They show you how it should go in and how stable the seat should be when it is in correctly. I had to remove the seat later on and put it back in myself and I knew exactly how to do it. After I installed it myself I found that I had not put it in as tight as the CHP tech so I had my husband give it a go. It definitely needed the extra muscle and he was able to do it with no problem. FYI this is all rear facing
I've been using this seat for about a month now and the only thing that I am not happy with is the velcro on the seatbelt. They put the velcro there so that you can stick the belt to the side walls of the seat so they are out of the way when putting your child in. The problem is, the hook part of the velcro can easily scratch your kid. I really dont understand why they didnt use the HTH velcro which is the hook velcro that is softer to the touch and mostly used on baby products. It's not a deal breaker but it is kind of annoying to have this great seat with this one stupid flaw that could have been avoid by using a better velcro.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine ProgramThe point of my review is to address the ease of putting a child into the carseat and taking her out. My daughter, in the video, is 5 months old and 14-15 lbs. At her size, it is easy for me and comfortable for her to go in and out of the carseat with safe and secure settings.
While I understand people have issues with larger children, I want to show that for smaller babies at least, this carseat is very accommodating and comfortable and easy (and of course top of the line in safety). So far I have no reason to think this won't last her until she's ready for a booster, because the straps seem to have plenty of room to grow with her.
She had been in a Keyfit 30, and this is definitely a much nicer/easier/comfier carseat for her. The Keyfit 30 was already feeling cramped.
Honest reviews on Britax Pavilion 70-G3 Convertible Car Seat
I've always loved Britax seats and it kills me to write a bad review, but I have to.I bought this car seat for my son just when he turned three this summer. He weighs about 34lb now, so is well within the weight limit of 70lb for this seat. I have no issues with the safety rating for this seat, and would give that aspect a 5-star rating. My big issue is that the straps on the 5-point harness are ridiculously short. Even in the summer wearing shorts and tshirt, there was very little extra on the straps, and only could be tightened up an inch before they were fully tight. Now he's wearing a thick sweater and/or coat, and it is damn near impossible to get the straps done up. There is nowhere near enough slack on the straps to get a child in easily (or at all when he's wriggling). I even took the seat out to check that the straps weren't caught on anything, but, no, this is just the way they are made. I don't think a child of 70lb could fit into these straps, and I think it is a serious design flaw from Britax. This seat is only a few months old and in perfect condition, but I'm now looking at replacing it for one that my son can actually fit into.
Very disappointed with Britax this time. A total waste of money in my case.
