Great carseat, beautiful fabric color!

When my friend had a baby just after high school, I started to learn about child products. I remember that my mother wanted to buy a carseat for her car because the baby spent so much time with us. She wanted a convertible carseat like this one so she didn't have to buy 2 seats. She did her research and found out the Britax is one of the top brands as far as safety. I know there are tons even better, but they are at prices only the rich and famous can afford, and I'm sure can't be THAT much better. No carseat guarantees that your child will be safe in ANY or EVERY wreck.

With that being said, when I got pregnant with my daughter 2 years later, I remembered what my mom found out about this company and how great their crash test ratings are. Being young and broke, we simply couldn't afford it. We bought a Graco Travel System which worked just find, though we weren't in any car accidents with her anyhow.

Once she started outgrowing her infant seat, we knew we'd need to get a bigger one. Our tax return was coming up so we decided the first thing we would buy would be her carseat. Seeing as how that was "free" money that we weren't having to dip into paychecks for, we decided we would go ahead and get her a Britax carseat.

I wanted a unique pattern and ultimately decided on the Shannon color because of the purple. I like pink carseats because when we were all little, everything was boy colors so you could use them again. Now that there are girly carseats, majority that I've seen are pink, so it was nice to have a purple one for a change.

We bought this Britax Boulevard carseat in Shannon in the Spring of 2007. We loved this one because it seemed to be the safest one and the one that looked as though it cradled the child the most to help with side impact especially. It was also the "best" Britax carseat at the time of purchase.

Since purchasing this product, they have come out with a Boulevard CS, CS meaning Click & Safe. The following was taken from the website: "Click & Safe™ harness adjuster “clicks” when the harness straps are snug as an audible aide to help determine when the harness is snugly secure."

I do agree that the click would be helpful when putting your child in the carseat. I only wish they had this when we bought ours! Not a huge loss though.


It's very heavy, but, it's not like an infant carrier...it's meant to stay in the car, so the weight isn't much of an issue. It's only an issue because when we clean the car, it's heavy to take in and out to vacuum and shampoo the car.

We have had several spills, leaks, etc. in this seat, and the material seems to be holding up well as it's been washed at least 5 times since we bought it, probably more. We have a Whirlpool High Efficiency washer and dryer and we wash it on the delicate cycle and dry it on a very low setting to help keep the fabric looking nice. I noticed the last time I washed it, the fabric seems to be sun fading at the top, the purple isn't as vibrant, it's more of a light lavender color now. That makes me not want to put it anywhere but the middle because then one side will be sun faded, at least the top isn't as noticeable.

My daughter always falls asleep in this carseat on long trips because it's so cushy for her! Sometimes we still use the body pad that wraps around the back when she's not wearing bulky clothing like a winter coat.

I love the fact that this carseat can go from 5 to 65 pounds. She started out in it forward facing, though you can start rear facing for newborns. She was 20 pounds at that point, and now she is 2 and is 27 pounds, so we still have a long time before she will outgrow this seat.

The headrest also adjusts to grow with your child, a simple crank feature raises it and lowers it to get a good fit to brace your childs head in the event of a crash. Very quick and easy adjustments. It's also a good idea to check the level of the straps at their shoulders, as this crank also adjust that level as well.

The 5 point harness has velcro on the sides so you can attach it to the side of the seat for when you're putting your child in next time, that way you can put the kid in and strap them up instead of them sitting on the straps and trying to get them out from under them and then strapping them up. Sometimes the buckle doesn't click very loud, so it's hard to tell if it's attached or not, but now that they've made a Boulevard CS which means Click & Safe to assure you that it's buckled, you won't have to worry about that anymore should you buy the CS version...but for those who don't have a CS a simple tug check is all that's require to make sure it's buckled.

The straps are very easily tightened and loosened for adjustment, which comes in very handy when you have changing weather to adjust for bulk of clothing and jackets.

My only other "complaint" is that in our car, a 2005 Dodge Neon, she was in the middle. We had a baby boy in December of 2008 and expected to put that carseat, a Britax Companion, in the middle and move her seat to one of the sides... The thing is, her Britax Boulevard was so wide that we will had to put one child on each side and nothing in the middle. It's only a small complaint though because the size and bulk of the Boulevard will keep my daughter safe. So even though we won't be able to put our newborn son in the middle, I still feel like they will be safe because they are in such good quality seats.

We have never been in an accident with the children in the car, but I've read several reviews from people that have been, and their children were either completely unharmed, or very mildly injured when they "should" have been worse off.

They have just come out with their newest and greatest since this carseat and even the CS version! The newest got a name change but from what I spoke with the customer service representative, it is the same carseat as the Boulevard CS. The newest feature are these side impact cushions. It is called the Advocate CS. The side impact cusions are located on the upper sides of the seat. The following was taken from the Britax website: "Side Impact Cushion Technology is comprised of air-filled, energy-management cushions on either side of the child seat that protect both your child and any adjacent passengers in the event of a side impact crash.  The cushions reduce side impact crash energy by 50%. Currently these cushions are found on the Britax Advocate CS convertible car seat."

Though I love my Boulevard, I will most likely get the Advocate CS in a few months when my son needs to switch from his Britax Companion that was retired in January. As I stated above, the Advocate is the same as the Boulevard, just with the new air cushion feature. The customer service representative that I spoke with said the air cushions not only protect that child, but somehow protect children in other carseats next to this one as well as passengers not in carseats, so that's another bonus. That can all be reviewed on the Britax website.

These are very pricey carseats...but in my opinion worth it. Think about it...you can't put a price on your child's life!