Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat - Graystone
From Britax USA
Keep little ones safe and comfortable during trips with this quality car seat that can be adjusted to two positions (rear- and forward-facing) depending on your child's development.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #15222 in Baby Product
- Color: Graystone
- Brand: Britax USA
- Model: E9L06D5
- Released on: 2008-08-11
- Dimensions: 27.50" h x 19.50" w x 25.50" l, 16.50 pounds
The Britax Marathon is a convertible car seat ideal for parents seeking premium comfort and a higher, forward facing harnessed weight capacity. The tangle free, five point harnesses with four harness heights ensures a snug and secure fit. Premium push button latch connectors provide a quick, simple and tight installation. Unique features include the patented versa tether for energy management, and rear and forward facing recline for child comfort and positioning. The Marathon fits children rear facing from 5 to 30 pounds and children forward facing from at least one year old and 20 pounds, up to 65 pounds. The Marathon is made in the USA with U.S. and global components. Britax ships all convertible car seats with the lower LATCH connectors stored underneath the cover.
Great, but not perfect.
Don't get me wrong....I would own nothing other than Britax seats at this point. We have 4 children and we've tried various models. We've donated the others to Goodwill. We currently own 5 Britax car seats for 4 children. We have 2 Regents, 1 Parkway(used as a spare), 1 Marathon, and 1 Roundabout. I feel as though I'm a walking advertisement for Britax and we've been accused of being uptight about car seats.
As far as I'm concerned, there are three main features that we look for in a car seat:
1. Does it fit securely in the vehicle?
Forward facing, this seat is awesome. We don't have the latch system in our van, so we never had the opportunity to use the latch belts although I'm sure they work fine. We use the shoulder belt and we've never seen any other seat get as secure as our seat. When we try to move the seat side to side, the van moves instead. The beauty of the system is that after you've tightened the lap part of the belt down as far as you can, you then slide the shoulder part of the belt into a slot that latches down on the side of the seat. Once you've done this, the belt doesn't develop any slack. Then for good measure, you attach the tether to the underside of the rear of the seat (or a tether hook in some cars). This seat doesn't move after that.
Rear facing, the seat could be improved. This is why the seat doesn't get 5 stars from me. The side lock down mechanism is tightened more by the thickness of the belt. Unfortunately, it can pop open without much pressure. (As a side note, the lockdown on the side of our older Roundabout works great. It is a different design. I'm not sure if Britax thought they were improving and have changed the design or if they have a different lockdown on this seat.) The annoying thing about this is that you have to continuously check to see if it has released.
2. Condition of the straps is important. I haven't seen one manufacturer compare to the quality of the straps. The shoulder straps are thick and wide. They don't fold up on themselves or get tangled. They are also wide across your child's shoulders.
3. Child's comfort. The side guards around the head are great for when they are getting tired and the safety foam is the same as you would find in bike helmets.
Overall, the seat is great. If I could have given it 4.5 stars, I would have. The rear facing problem was minor to us because we could use our Roundabout rear facing, but for someone who needs to use it rear facing for a while, it might be more of a problem. I'm hoping Britax improves that one thing, but overall, this seat is highly recommended by me.
A Miracle!
This car seat was a life saver!
Our daughter is almost 4 months now and cried everytime we placed her in her infant seat, except on the day home from the hospital. We couldn't drive down the road without listening to screams - the only time we went anywhere was if she was asleep and often she woke up the minute we put her in her seat. My 8 year old and I would both sit in the back seat with her, it didn't matter. I read the reviews on this seat so we went to 2 different stores and placed her in the demo. She was fine. My mother offered to purchase it for us so we got it.
Sketptical?
I was skeptical, so I first took her for a 5 minute ride - no crying. The next day I chanced 15 minutes - still no crying. The third day we went to my mother's - a 40 minute drive each way. Within a week we were willing to try her on a 3 hour trip. She did great!
I think the key for us was my daughter can see out and doesn't feel confined like the infant seat. She spends most trips gazing out the window and quietly sucking her thumb.
Size
I've read people complain about the size, but it fits fine in our Toyota Prius and our Subaru Outback. In fact it actually allows the front passanger seat to be further back than our previous car seat with a base (Graco Snugride).
Buy Two!
We've had the seat now for 3 weeks and no crying! My husband asks me everyday "How was she in the car" and everyday I say "GREAT!" We bought a second one for the other car.
Installation
This is the easiest car seat I have ever installed, we use the latch system in the Prius and in my mother's car. IT is so much easier than the latch with the Graco seat. Using latch it takes only minutes to go from one car to another. In the Subaru we use the regular shoulder/seat belt (it's 8 years old so latch wasn't available). Which I still like better than the Graco.
It is quite expensive, but to us well worth it. If you're still reading this then you want this seat! (It doesn't feed hungry babies, so they may still fuss.)
A year late...
My daughter is 15 months now and the seat is still wonderful! We now have the seat facing forward and we still love this car seat.
The Roundabout is a better seat for boys than the Marathon
This is a good car seat, with some observations.
Older children may not fit into the Marathon, as the base is too tall and they're likely to outgrow it in height way before they reach the 65 lb weight limit. In contrast, the Roundabout has a lower weight limit (to 40 lbs) and may be a better choice if you're transitioning from an infant seat.
The Marathon seat is shallow and the crotch strap is too short, especially for toddler boys. The Marathon measures 6 inches from the back of the seat to the base of the strap. The Roundabout is deeper, 7 inches from seat back to the base of the strap, which is perplexing. Why would Britax make the larger seat shallower, if it has to fit both infants and older children?
Second, the quick release of the Marathon is so easy to use (gently lift the metal part under the front flap) even a toddler can do it- if they fiddle with it they can loosen the harness while strapped in! Teaching the child the meaning of "no" and placing safety pins on the flap are possible solutions but not what one would expect on an expensive car seat.
It helps to tuck the excess straps between the BRitax and the car's seat.
Please note that some models of the Marathon have a flap with velcro that's easy to lift. The Marathon Greystone sold by Target has a slightly different flap (the metal clasp is still underneath but hidden by a flap that's sewn on the sides - not velcroed like the picture). This looks like an improvement, as most Marathon models have the velcro version. I don't know if the amazon model has this new flap.
The Roundabout has a different harness release system (button) and you need to press hard to release it which makes it more child proof.
Lastly, the Marathon and the Roundabout are handwash & drip dry only according to the owner's manual and care instructions attached to the seat.
It's a good seat for young toddlers, not so much for older ones, especially boys.
