convertible question

i am torn between the marathon and the roundabout 50.
its really a weight thing. i feel like 65 lbs is HUGE and my kids won't even be in a car seat!!!!

 

If I had known then what I know now. :laughing: We went from the snugrides to the Roundabout (only up to 40) at the time. Then to the Radian 65 and now to highback boosters. If I had to do it over again I would get one that goes up to 65lbs but also converts to a regular booster. It will save you money in the long run and I know there are several options out there that do just that.

 

In my opinion, unless your babies are in the 99%tile, no. My son is in the 75% and at 5, he is 45lbs and 48 inches. He is one of the tallest/biggest kids in his class. We had him in a 5pt harness until he turned 5, then he went into a belt positioning booster. The 5 pt is safest but belt positioning boosters are also safe and easier to move between cars (something that happens more often when they are older) so we switched.

 

I got the marathon thinking we would only replace it with a booster, but my guy may hit the height limit long before he hits the weight limit. He's on the tall side (can't figure out where that's coming from), but if I'd settled for another Roundabout we'd be looking at another seat within the next year.

And if I had it to do over again and we had a big enough vehicle, I'd definitely spend a bit more money to get a seat that could become a booster later. The years pass quickly!

 

This is why we bought the Britax Marathon, because Colin seems like he will be a tall boy (though he is a little skinnier than his brother). I do like the idea of getting one that can convert to a booster later though. But if I recall correctly just booster seats are fairly inexpensive so we can cross that bridge years down the road if need be.

 

We went from Snugride to Marathon to high back booster. If I were doing it again I'd do Marathon right away and no Snugride. We kept the girls in the Marathons till Jazz's head was over the top. She wasn't above the height limit but she was taller from waist to head than from wait to toe.

 

We got the marathons for my older boys when they were still rated for 47/48lb. They maxed them by height about the same time they hit the weight limit. They would be useless to us with 65lb limit.

We bought Frontiers for them to keep them harnessed longer (4.5yrs and 6yrs) and they then convert to boosters.

 

With my first we went from the snugride to the marathon. I loved the marathon, but my daughter outgrew it at the crotch well before hiting the height and weight limits. She was four so it wasn't a real problem since she was more than ready for a high backed booster.

 

I bought a marathon for my oldest dd because of the higher height adjustment. But the weight limit is useless for me. My oldest ds is 8 and not even 65 lbs! :lol: So when my best friend offered me a second marathon for the twins I was soooo grateful!! I was going to get a second one only so that they had the same seats. If my oldest dd hadn't been so tall (she's been 90+% since birth), I would have stuck with my graco comfortsport and when they hit the weight limit on that (I think it's 40lbs) I would switch to a high back booster.

 

My twins went from infant seats to Marathons and they ARE STILL in them.

They were worth every penny and I highly recommend them.

 

I have the Marathons. One of my girls is very close to outgrowing it at 43 inches even though the height limit is 49. In fact I switched my girls to graco turbo boosters. One of neighbors almost 7 year old is still in a the Marathon.

 

My above average height and weight 5YO still rides in a Marathon. She fits in it just fine. We will be transitioning her to a booster soon.

 

Going for the big one...our laws have changed around here and I think it's something like 80 lbs/8 years old and I know they height is 4'8"...that seems overboard to me but gotta go with the laws.

 

I'd worry more about the height than the weight. Mine always grow out of theirs by height, not even close to the weight limit. I now have 3 sets of Graco Nautilus seats which will be the last ones they need. It's a 5-point harness up to 65 pounds, booster, and backless booster.

 

My niece will be 8 shortly and weighs 59 pounds.

The Graco Comfortsports have a 40 inch height limit though, which is why mine are no longer able to use theirs. They only weigh about 30 pounds.

 

The roundabout 50 goes to the same height limit as the marathon but less weight. I agree about height being a better determining factor.

 

focus on seats that can be rear facing for a long time and then forward facing. After that seat you can get the ones that convert to a booster, but I don't think the ones that convert to a booster can be RF.

Go to www.car-seat.org for more information, the gals are great.

 

this is what I'm trying to do... get ones that rear face for a long time to give me options to keep them rear facing. some say rf until 35 pounds, but are only able to for 34" in height when you read the fine print... which is just around the corner since ours are already 32" at 21 monnths. I am trying to be able to rear face at least until 2 yrs old, and thinking about 3 or 4 yrs old. there are many carseats now that rf until 40 and 45 pounds... and have higher height restrictions too.

(ones I've found that can rf longer are some of the Britax models, the Radians by Sunshine Kids, Complete Air by Safety 1st, TrueFit Premiere by The First Years... I'm still figuring it all out for us!)

good luck figuring out what you want to do. if its not that much more money, I'm trying to find seats that will last for a long time, even if it just means you use them as a 2nd set for a different car, and get new ones for the main car.

we will be utilizing 5 point harnesses for as long as possible too.