
littleangelfire81
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If it were me - I'd go with a Britax, though not necessarily the Boulevard. If its an older baby, definitely take him to the store to try out the Boulevard (BLVD) first. It is a great seat, but the TSIP (true side impact protection) wings are large, and some kids absolutely hate them. Some kids don't care, though. Also, while having a harness that you don't ever have to rethread is great, with the BLVD you actually lose a little bit of the harness height, meaning the child will outgrow it a little sooner, b/c the harness doesn't go up as high as the Marathon and Decathalon. So try before you buy. The Marathon, Decathalon, and BLVD all have the same exact shell, its only features that are different.
The reason I woudln't get a Signo is b/c of some things that happened when they first came out. See links for more specifics than I'll list. Both the Signo and Como came out last year, same shell, just different features, and they were touted as having built-in lockoffs, like Britax convertibles do. Well, once people ordered them and got them home, they all discovered the lockoffs didn't hold the seatbelt tight the way they were supposed to. After spending almost $300 on a car seat expected to have a lockoff, they were having to use a locking clip! And then, Recaro did some serious backpedaling and announced that they never intended them to actually lockoff the seatbelt, but as a shoulder belt guide. Er....right, that's why its called a 'lockoff'? And Recaro offered everyone a 'free locking clip. I find that awful customer service, and misrepresenting their product, as well as wondering did they never test the lockoffs before sending them out? Another reason - I like convertibles that sit on a base, most do, but the Recaros sit freakishly high on the base, so even in some SUVs kids heads are touching the ceiling.
Good choices, basically, though, from safety point of view. Whichever you choose, make sure you keep child rear facing AS LONG AS POSSIBLE! Experts recommend rear facing to the max of the rear facing convertible seat, or at least 2 years. |