Hi. I just bought 2 britax advocate convertable car seats for my twins. They arrived at the house and they are HUGE! I am so worried that they wont fit in our mini van but I ordered them b/c of their safety ratings. My doctor had actually told me to get the Britax marathon but when I did my research I found that the Advocate tested as an even safer model so I bought it. I guess I have a few questions:
1) I notied on the Advocate that there isn't much padding under the child's bottom. Doesn't this make for very uncomfortable car rides when you need to travel far? Is there extra padding that you can buy?
2) Is the Marathon more confortable than the advocate and a better deal overall?
I am just worried that I got the "better" car seat and that it might actually be overkill?
Definitely overkill. The Marathon is a great carseat. Bergstroms always has them for a great price too if you want to look at them in person.
Best of luck!
I have two Advocates and a minivan. Trust me, the Advocate is worth every penny and not worth the compromise. Although, I'm sure the Marathon is also a great seat, you are right that the Advocate tested higher in safety ratings. Both of my Advocates fit perfectly in the third row of my Toyota Sienna but leave little room for the third row middle seat--- again totally worth giving up a seat for. They would also each fit in the second row as well. As far as comfort goes, my kids seem perfectly comfortable and haven't complained about their seats (and trust me they complain about a million things!!!) Good luck and enjoy your choice--- I think it's a great one!!!
never had the advocate. LOVE LOVE LOVE the marathon. we have "bought" 6 for our 2 girls. (there were 2 car accidents. CA law mandates the insurance company replace your car seats after an accident to be on the safe side.) in our 2nd car accident we hit a 400 lb. Buck at 4am heading home from Utah going 70mph. My kids were obviously sleeping in their seats and they didn't budge in those seats! The marathon is great. I would always be safe then sorry, but I don't think the marathon is a compromise either.
I don't believe overkill for carseats because it is matter of the safety for your children. Britax is very good about the safety reason. I think they are both fine I bought marathon for my both kids. They are great.
I think either carseat is probably fine. I have the Boulevard and Marathon for my children, and I've been mostly happy with them. The padding is fine -- it may seem wimpy, but the kids are actually quite comfortable in them. As far as the size, they really are big, but if you have a minivan they will fit. I have three children in Britax carseats in my minivan, and they all three fit. You may have to move your center seats back a bit in order to fit them in, but it will work. My previous car was a smaller SUV, and three seats were a no-go in there!
My advice on the Marathon is that it's a bit smaller than the Advocate (which seems to be closer in size to the Boulevard) and they will outgrow it quicker. I know the weight goes up higher, but when I see my 1.5 year old in the Marathon compared to his older brother/sister in their Boulevard, I feel like he's not going to be in it for long, and he's NOT a tall kid. The Boulevard is taller, and has better side-impact protection. I plan on moving my youngest into his brother's Boulevard as soon as we move up to boosters.
You have nothing to fear from choosing Britax. Sometimes I feel like I overspent for mine (three in each car -- yikes!), but I feel like you can't really overspend for safety.
I wouldn't worry about it. my daughter is still using the Boulevard and she is 5... and I think they are both equally big seats... and will fit fine in a minivan! As far as padding... kids don't really care about stuff like that, I wouldn't stress it. I have never had an issue and we travel long distances quite often.
I don't have any experience with the Advocate. But both my kids were/are still in Britax carseats. LOVE THEM! My son outgrew his Marathon at age 4 1/2 (but he is a pretty tall, lanky kid and is now 6). My daughter is 3 1/2 and probably will never outgrow her Marathon. We moved my son up to the Frontier and he loves it! He hated the ones with those side impact things by the head. We drive from San Diego to S. Dakota and back every year (2200 miles each way). My kids never complain about being uncomfortable in the seats.
I am thinking about moving my daughter up to the Frontier just because both her Marathons (one in DH's car) are either older than or getting close to being 4 years old, which is the age limit where they recommend that you get a new one because of general wear and tear. Plus, she wants to be like her big brother and have cup holders attached to her seat which will come in handy for our next S. Dakota trip coming in May. Also Babies R Us is having their baby gear trade in sale until March where you bring in your old gear and get 25% off the purchase of new baby gear, including carseats/convertible seats/booster seats (which I guess the Frontier is considered a booster seat).
I also have a mini van, a Toyota Siena and both seats fit fine in there in the middle seats. I have had up to 4 carseats in my car when I tote around my best friends kids and she has a Marathon and an EvenFlo Triumph booster (similar to the Frontier). Two carseats in the middle and two carseats in the rear seat plus 2 adults.
Before you return the seats, do a test run. Install them both in your car/van, put your kids in them and drive around for a bit. That's the only way you will know if they fit and if your kids are comfy in them.
We have Marathons for our two little ones. We LOVE it.
