Britax Carseats: Marathon vs. Roundabout

Most parents are pretty informed when buying a carseat, but there are so many choices out there it is difficult to decide. Even once you decide on a specific brand there are different carseats within the brand. We decided on the Britax brand because, through our research, we found it to be the safest and most reliable. It has the 5-point harness, a great locking mechanism to tighten the seatbelt, a Latch system, and the straps don't get twisted which can be a huge inconvenience. Plus, many of our friends owned one and gave it the thumbs up.

Once we decided on the Britax brand, we needed to choose the best specific carseat. We went back and forth between the Roundabout and the Marathon, finally deciding on the Marathon because we thought our daughter could stay in it for longer, the carseat accomodates up to 65 lbs, and it is safe for an infant five lbs. and heavier. Once we had our daughter we decided to buy the Graco infant carseat and a snap-n-go stroller so she was easily transported when sleeping, so the Britax feature of infant compatibility didn't matter. Then when our daughter was too big for the Graco we put her in the Marathon. The problem was the size of the carseat. When facing backwards, the passenger in the front seat has minimal leg room. Once the carseat was turned around, when our daughter was one and over 20lbs., it was great. Oh well we thought, at least she can be in it for a long time now. What we weren't thinking is that once we had another baby, what would we buy then? Our daughter was three when our baby was born. We used the Graco infant carseat again for the infant, a must have in my opinion. I needed to decide what to do when our infant was too large for the infant seat. I needed to buy a new seat for her or for our toddler. I decided to buy a booster seat for my toddler, which was cheaper than buying another Britax. My infant is now in the Marathon, facing backwards and cramping the legs of the passenger in front, and my toddler is in the Compass booster seat.

Bottom line, the Marathon has been a good carseat, when facing forward, but I don't see any reason why to spend the extra money on it over the Roundabout unless you don't plan on having more kids. There were two reasons we chose it over the Roundabout and neither one mattered; our daughter didn't use it as an infant and she won't need it up to 65lbs. The Roundabout accomodates children up to 40 lbs. and has all of the safety and comfort features you'd want. Plus, it's cheaper and when your child is facing backward the front seat will have more room.

Looking for a good travel carseat? Check out my other hub.