Boulevard Barrington Convertible Car Seat
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Similar in Car Seats
- Adjustable Recline Positions: Adjustable Recline Positions
- Additional Features: Latch System Central Harness Length Adjustment Top Tether Strap
- Type: Convertible
- Seating Direction: Rear / Forward Facing
- Restraint System: 5-Point Safety Harness
- Stay-in Car Base: No Detachable Base
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Everything you expect from Britax
Pros
TSIP, harness adjustment, comfort
Cons
None!
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
You can't go wrong with any of the Britax seats. But the Boulevard meets my needs for ease of use, comfort and safety. Perfect package!
Britax was the first place I turned when needing to replace the carrier-style infant seat for my 11 month old son. I would consider no other brand after being so pleased with my previous Britax Roundabouts & Parkways that I have used for my 2 older children. I've always loved how the seats are so plush, comfortable and the covers wash so well - plus of course the awesome safety records. They are all worth the money! But shop around, you can find deals on them many times.
Looking for a convertible-style seat that would fit my son for as long as possible, I was faced with 3 options: Boulevard, Decathalon and the Marathon (I excluded the Roundabout as it has a smaller weight limit). I learned that all 3 are built on the same frame, therefore weight & height guidelines are the same. I sat my son in all 3 seats at the store and considered the padding (comfort), ease of buckling/unbuckling, ease of adjusting the harness and reclining as the child grows, and of course safety. Here are the main points I considered:
Ease of buckling/unbuckling:
The Marathon and Boulevard have the hidden lift-lever to loosen the harness, while the Decathalon has the push button. I preferred the lift-lever as I had problems sometimes with the buttons on my Roundabouts getting stuck after a couple of years. I had read a review somewhere, though, that a mom complained that these lift-levers made it too easy for her child to figure out how to loosen the harness and climb out. I noticed however that the seat cover on my new Boulevard better conceals the lever than the seat we had tried out in the store - so my fingers are crossed. And brownie-points for Britax for redesigning the product to help with this!
The Decathalon has a 3-position crotch buckle to accommodate a growing child. This sounds helpful, but when I sat my son in the seat, the buckle was in the middle position and already felt snug. Perhaps this was due to all the padding of the Decathalon and would fit better once the padding is removed as the child grows.
Padding:
Right away I eliminated the Marathon since it comes with no extra padding for a smaller child and thought my son would not feel secure and properly supported while he's still small (he's 11 months and weighs 21#). On the other hand, the Decathalon has tons of padding to accommodate little ones - and much of which is removable. The Boulevard is the middle of the road, with the one removable body pad just enough to make my little guy fit just right.
Ease of adjusting harness:
Boulevard takes the cake with the turn-knob on the side of the seat that moves the harness and head shield up and down without having to remove the seat. Awesome! All 3 of the seats recline the same, with the squeeze lever at the front bottom of the base.
Safety:
The deciding factor for me was that the Boulevard offers the True Side-Impact Protection (TSIP) by adding the head shield (or wings). I do have a couple concerns with this though. First that it would make his head too hot, and second that it would frustrate him by blocking his side views. We'll have to wait and see. So far I don't see a problem with the heat - there's enough room between his small head and seat for airflow. And I'm hoping that since he's starting out with the wings, he'll never know what he's missing with not having them. A benefit to the wings besides the safety is that it gives more support to his head for when he is sleeping.
So I decided on the Boulevard in the Barrington fabric. I love it! I love the fabric - it is attractive and has a very plush feel. It is black on the sides and light gray down the middle, with little dark gray swirls. I was afraid the black would attract the sun too much, but felt that the light color in the middle would compensate.
Good luck and as long as you go Britax, you can't go wrong!
Looking for a convertible-style seat that would fit my son for as long as possible, I was faced with 3 options: Boulevard, Decathalon and the Marathon (I excluded the Roundabout as it has a smaller weight limit). I learned that all 3 are built on the same frame, therefore weight & height guidelines are the same. I sat my son in all 3 seats at the store and considered the padding (comfort), ease of buckling/unbuckling, ease of adjusting the harness and reclining as the child grows, and of course safety. Here are the main points I considered:
Ease of buckling/unbuckling:
The Marathon and Boulevard have the hidden lift-lever to loosen the harness, while the Decathalon has the push button. I preferred the lift-lever as I had problems sometimes with the buttons on my Roundabouts getting stuck after a couple of years. I had read a review somewhere, though, that a mom complained that these lift-levers made it too easy for her child to figure out how to loosen the harness and climb out. I noticed however that the seat cover on my new Boulevard better conceals the lever than the seat we had tried out in the store - so my fingers are crossed. And brownie-points for Britax for redesigning the product to help with this!
The Decathalon has a 3-position crotch buckle to accommodate a growing child. This sounds helpful, but when I sat my son in the seat, the buckle was in the middle position and already felt snug. Perhaps this was due to all the padding of the Decathalon and would fit better once the padding is removed as the child grows.
Padding:
Right away I eliminated the Marathon since it comes with no extra padding for a smaller child and thought my son would not feel secure and properly supported while he's still small (he's 11 months and weighs 21#). On the other hand, the Decathalon has tons of padding to accommodate little ones - and much of which is removable. The Boulevard is the middle of the road, with the one removable body pad just enough to make my little guy fit just right.
Ease of adjusting harness:
Boulevard takes the cake with the turn-knob on the side of the seat that moves the harness and head shield up and down without having to remove the seat. Awesome! All 3 of the seats recline the same, with the squeeze lever at the front bottom of the base.
Safety:
The deciding factor for me was that the Boulevard offers the True Side-Impact Protection (TSIP) by adding the head shield (or wings). I do have a couple concerns with this though. First that it would make his head too hot, and second that it would frustrate him by blocking his side views. We'll have to wait and see. So far I don't see a problem with the heat - there's enough room between his small head and seat for airflow. And I'm hoping that since he's starting out with the wings, he'll never know what he's missing with not having them. A benefit to the wings besides the safety is that it gives more support to his head for when he is sleeping.
So I decided on the Boulevard in the Barrington fabric. I love it! I love the fabric - it is attractive and has a very plush feel. It is black on the sides and light gray down the middle, with little dark gray swirls. I was afraid the black would attract the sun too much, but felt that the light color in the middle would compensate.
Good luck and as long as you go Britax, you can't go wrong!
