Britax Roundabout Convertible Car Seat Onyx

Great forward-facing car seat. Easy to install with the tether adding extra safety and peace of mind. Seems very comfortable. I did not use it as a rear-facing car seat so I cannot give any opinion on the convertible aspect.

We purchased 4 convertible safety seats. We could not understand why everyone raves about Britax until we bought one -- they are the best by far. Solid, safe construction. Much easier to install than any other brand we tried and our son was very comfortable in it. Even the compact versions -- Roundabout and Diplomat -- take up more room in the car so it won't work for everyone but if you have the room, buy a Britax.

There is a Britax sale each year around February when most of their models go on sale. Prices come down as much as $50. Most of the big baby websites, including Amazon, Baby Center, Albee Baby, Tiny Ride, have the sale. I already had the Marathon and decided to buy a Roundabout when the sale came around again since I have 3 trips coming up and read that the Marathon was too wide for some airplane seats. I bought the Roundabout for $167 on Amazon but saw it for $165 - $185 elsewhere. The Marathon is a VERY BIG seat and rather bulky for travel. I was expecting the Roundabout to be a smaller version of the Marathon but was quite surprised when I carseat arrived.

The LATCH system on the Marathon is a really great design. There is a tubular "L" shaped metal bar that is attached on either side of the seat. The LATCH straps are looped around these bars and adjusted up on one end of the "L" for forward and down the other end of the "L" for rear facing. When I first opened the Roundabout I noticed that there was no bar on the side of the seat and actually had a hard time finding the LATCH straps - they were tucked inside the seat. The LATCH strap on the Roundabout is actually removable and threaded under the seat where you would loop the car safety belt if you weren't using LATCH. When it comes time to position the carseat in the forward facing position, you take the whole LATCH strap out and loop it around the back of the seat (again just like how you would loop the car safety belt). Don't have me wrong, it works fine; it just wasn't what I expected.

The roundabout is also much smaller than the Marathon and I would expect a tall child to outgrow the seat fairly quickly. My son is on the small side 10%tile for weight and 40%tile for height and at 13 mos the top of his head is less than 6 inches from the top of the seat. For proper fit, your child's head needs to be at least 1" from the top of the seat. He's about foot from the top of the Marathon. Children actually outgrow their carseats by height much sooner than they would outgrow them by weight.

I love this car seat! It fits very securely in my very small, 2 door, cavalier Z24! It was very easy to install and adjust to my baby's needs. He is almost 5 months old and has hated his infant seat since day one. He would cry from the moment I put him in it until the moment I got him out. The Britax Roundabout puts him to sleep the second I start the car! His head does not slump forward and he has room to move his arms. It is so worth the money, and trust me, I am not made of money, but it has no factor when it comes to my little boy's safety, and I can tell a huge safety difference in this seat compared to other less expensive seats that my neice had when she was a baby!!

Not only is this carseat rated one of the safest, but it is great for someone who has limited space in the back seat. My daughter has plenty of room and so does the passenger whose seat is in front of hers (unlike her infant seat - ouch). I love the velcro on the shoulder harness so when you take the shoulder harness off the baby to remove him/her from the car, you can velcro the strap to the side of the seat; that makes it so easy when you put the baby back in the seat - shazam! there's the strap ready to go, no need for digging under the baby. The only downfall I've found is that the velcro stick to her wool sweaters and fuzzes them up a bit, small price to pay and I'll take it! Excellent seat - I am hooked on Britax!