Car Seat Recomendations

Sorry - don't know what a Zenn. safe is, but we like the Britax Marathon. A bit pricey but very nice. Has LATCH attachments so it is (relative) breeze to put into the Prius. Also has a top tether. I recommend using the LATCH, top tether and seatbelt. If the seatback fails in an accident, the seatbelt will help keep the seat from folding forward, but since the top tether attaches to the seat itself, it would not keep the seat from folding forward in a seat failure.

You might also want to try consumer reports though and see what they say.

 

I have a Britax Marathon and recommend it as well. It has all of the features of the most expensive Britax models, but in a more compact size and about $100 less.

Great car seat. We used it rear facing for the first few months we had it until our daughter reached the limit. We then moved the car seat to the center, facing forward.

 

We're currently using the Britax Companion, but will switch over to the Marathon when our son is big enough. So count me as another vote for the Marathon.

 

A Roundabout customer here. Not a complaint. Also recommended, if you plan to travel by plane, is the Gogo Kidz stroller accessory. Easy to attach to and detach from your Britax car seat. We bought it before our most recent Hawaii trip. It saved us a lot of hassles through airports.

gogo Kidz Travelmate Car Seat Stroller by Go-Go Babyz - babyearth.com

 

I also have the Britax. That's all my kids will ever travel in. They're by far the most expensive consumer seat I've seen. You'll walk into Kids R Us or similar and see these things for like $250 and the next closest in price being $99... but really, they're the best and each time I've bought an additional car seat I've always asked myself the question, "Am I going to live with myself knowing that the additional $150 could have prevented my son/daughter from getting injured in an accident?". That sells it for me right there every time. I currently have 4 of them (well, 2 of them are Britax booster seats).

Mike

 

I'll jump on the Britax (roundabout) band wagon. It's expensive because it's worth it, especially if you plan to use it for multiple children, as we do. I'm cheap by nature but I can easily justify the extra money spent here. We use it everyday and my kid's safety and comfort are worth it. We also have a cheap Cosco (or similar) in our other car. Just getting him in and out of that compared to the Britax reminds me of how happy we are with Britax.

As far as "easy to move" goes, any modern seat and car will have LATCH system, which makes it fairly simple but if you plan to relocate the seat a lot I would recommend a second seat for the other car, although I shudder at the thought of getting rearended in a Zenn with an infant in the back.

 

We actually have two Britax for our two cars. Decathlon is the other one. That way we don't have to move the seat from one car to the other all the time.

BTW, I forgot to mention that the Gogo Kidz stroller can remain attached to the child seat when you strap the whole thing into the car's (or airplane's) seat. That makes it very easy to take it from the car, move it through airport security then onto the plane without any disassembly. What a great invention and a life saver for traveling families. So worth the investment. Before we discovered this device, we had to have one person carry the baby while the other carry the car seat through airport terminals and onto the plane (not to mention all the other carry-ons as well.)

 

Chalk another up for Britax. Well worth the money.