Britax Carseat Review

The majority of you do not know that I have been blogging for the past month in bed with 2 broken legs and other minor injuries. My daughter and I were in a severe head-on car crash and it is a miracle that we are both alive. A Dodge Viper was driving fast on the other side of the highway, lost control and flew across the median into us. A car crash of this severity is something you think happens to other people you read about in the news, so it was a real shock that it happened to me. You don’t go out for the day thinking anything like this will happen to you and you can’t. We wouldn’t survive or enjoy life and parenthood if we lived in fear. What we can do is be prepared by purchasing the safest vehicles, car seats and do our part to be smart drivers. Those are the things we can control.


I am thrilled to write a review of Britax car seats. I feel more passionately than ever before that these are the best car seats on the market and they are worth every penny. They are more expensive than many other brands on the market, but it is such an important investment for you child’s safety. My daughter’s Britax carseat SAVED HER LIFE. She walked away with only a broken collar bone, bruises and minor injuries. The car seat diverted the impact and served like a cocoon or guardian angel sparing her precious life. Our car was totaled to the point that we had to be cut out of the car.


We owned Britax’s top-of-the-line Britax Boulevard CS (Click & Safe) car seat. The core body is almost identical to the popular Marathon, but it has added side protection features for the head and body and I loved that you didn’t have to rethread the straps to heighten and adjust them. We all want the best for our children, but cost is always a reality. So it is important as parents that we decide where to invest our money. If you consider the amount of time we spend in the car, a car seat is a much more significant purchase than many families realize. (Budget still tight? Win it right here!) Car seats also have an “expiration”. After an accident like ours they can no longer be used or after 6-9 years for Britax products, which is longer than many manufactures.


The Marathon is one of Britax’s most popular car seats because of its large weight capacity, safety features, side impact protection and price. The Britax Marathon, like the Boulevard, has a weight range up to 65 lbs. so you only need one car seat from birth for the average kid. Make sure to check the height requirements as children often come short when infants or outgrow the height requirements before the weight capacity. Make sure to carefully read your owner's manual before and while using any car seat. The Click & Safe (CS) feature was just released last summer and was only available on the Boulevard until now. The Click & Safe feature lets caregivers know if their children are secured properly in their car seats and was developed as a result of a study by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that indicated 59% of harness straps were dangerously loose.


“The Marathon CS is a tangle-free, five-point harness seat, and accommodates children rear-facing from five to 35 pounds and forward-facing children from at least one-year-old and 20 pounds up to 65 pounds. The seat also features Britax’s revolutionary side impact protection which uses deep side walls with energy-absorbing foam, to shield from vehicle intrusion, contain the head and body, and distribute crash forces in side impact collisions. This is critical because approximately one in four of all motor vehicle crashes that involve children occur from the side, and these result in a significantly higher injury rate than frontal or rear impacts, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.” It is this side impact protection that played a role in saving my daughter’s life.


“Making seats that are safe, comfortable and easy to use is a top priority for Britax. As a result, the Marathon CS also includes the Britax Versa-Tether® to manage energy and reduce the forward movement of the child in a crash both for rear- and forward-facing installations, rear- and forward-facing recline for child positioning and comfort, and premium push-button lower LATCH connectors for a quick, reliable installation.” I love how easy their LATCH system is to use and I also had the Versa-Tether installed during the accident for added stability. Remember properly installing a car seat is the first step to insure your child’s safety, then properly securing your child in the seat. Visit Britax’s website for detailed information and instructions.