Kate CPST–There are plenty of children who can fit in a marathon past age 4. My daughter turned 7 in April and she still fits in her Marathon. I promised her a booster for her birthday, though, so that’s where she is now. My son is almost 5 and still has plenty of room in his Marathon. He’s 39 inches tall and 32 lbs.

Every child is different.

My daughter is 4 years old and we switched to the Britax Regent a few months ago. We absolutely LOVE this seat. It is expensive but this will be her last car seat that she is in and she will use it for a while. Most of her pre-school friends are in boosters without a 5 point harness and that just scares me. The Regent is like a booster but has a 5 point harness and it makes both me and my daughter feel secure.

I know she’s unusual but my almost 7 yr old granddaughter still fits fine in her Marathon. It all depends on torso height. She has another 1/2 inch before her shoulders are even with the top slot.

Great article!

My older daughter grew out of her Britax Marathon in height at 6y4m which is when I switched her into a Britax Regent to keep her harnessed in my car. She rides in a Britax Parkway booster in my husband’s car which she isn’t in that often.
My daughter also extended rear faced in her Marathon. I love that seat!
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/chloeMA.aspx

Thank you for posting this as I know it will reach thousands of families. Car crashes are the #1 killer of kids under the age of 15. We are so careful not to leave young children alone in the bath because of drowning yet too many parents put their kids in boosters too young which is a WAY bigger threat to their lives.

Lanna

I belive the Frontier and the Nautilus have the same harness slots but I may be wrong. Check out car-seat.org they have lots of reviews of both seats.

Actually, the Frontier and the Nautilus have almost the same top harness slot height (around 18.25″). If anything, the top slot on the Nautilus is a fraction higher than the Frontier. : )

Thanks so much for this series on car seat safety – our kids deserve to have parents as informed as possible when it comes to their safety!

I’d be curious to see a review of the new Britax Frontier (has higher harness slots than the Nautilus – my kids always outgrow height limits years before weight limits)… That’s what we’re thinking of putting out 4.5yo in when I need his Marathon for his younger brother in a few months. I’m keeping my wiggly kiddo in a 5-pt harness for as long as humanly possible, and since we homeschool and don’t do preschool, he doesn’t know any different and is just excited about the possibility of having a red carseat.

For those wondering, the first picture is a Graco Nautilus. Harnesses to 65 lbs, booster to 100 lbs. Great seat for under $150. Yes, the chest clip appears a little low, but when I look closely it is at armpit level.

Andrea, great article! Keep up the good work!

Kate, great reminder. Seats are outgrown when the child hits the height or weight limit, which ever comes first. Many heigh weight seats are outgrown by height before weight.

Mary
the first car seat is the Graco Nautilus. I love that seat. I plan on keeping my daughter in a harness as long as I can. Many people think im nuts for that.

Thank you for posting these. I see so many people doing lots of things wrong. Can you do one about after market products that the celebritys are using. They are so not safe.