Customer Reviews

Britax Boulevard 70 CS Convertible Car Seat (Current Version), Sophia

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We bought the 70 CS to replace our son's infant car seat. This seat is extremely well made and doesn't take up too much space in our Prius. I like the safety features and extra padding on the shoulder straps and across the belly. Although the cover can be removed easily, it must be hand washed and line dryed. The washing instructions are a definite negative in my view, but, not enough for me to rank the seat less than 5 stars. I am unclear on what difference (if any) there is between the new 70 CS and the old model. I'll leave other reviewers to comment on that. Overall, I'm very pleased with this car seat. My son likes it too!

We transitioned our baby to this car seat at four months. He was a long baby, and the infant carrier seat was just never comfortable for him. He would cry and cry every time we got in the car. Once we switched to the Boulevard, he was SO much happier. I drive a tiny car (a Scion xA) and the seat fits comfortably behind the passenger seat. It's so simple to install, and although it's large, I can still easily see our baby via the mirror attached to the headrest.

We were hit the week before Christmas, and I'm happy to report that the baby was perfectly okay. I'm sure a lot of this is thanks to the sturdy, steel frame of the carseat, as well as the absorbing materials. I suffered whiplash and am still seeing a chiropractor for it (a month later).

Our baby is now almost 11 months, 22 pounds, and 31 inches and is still riding comfortably rear-facing.

I am glad I chose to go with the Britax Boulevard 70. I thought it might be too big to rear-face in our 2004 Saab 9-3 sedan, but it actually fits great, and we can even use it in the middle position of the backseat. My husband is 6'2" tall, and the driver side seat still goes back far enough for him to drive comfortably. The Boulevard takes up the same amount of space (in the middle seat position) as the Baby Trend infant car seat that baby just outgrew. It's taller, though, so it comes up higher, but I can still see baby in my rearview mirror with the baby mirror we have installed on the seatback. There's just no reaching back from the driver seat to try and put a binky back in baby's mouth anymore. It's a little difficult to get baby into the seat because of the high sides and the fact that it's installed in the middle seat position--but I know he's safer in this seat than in any other, and I feel like he's even safer in the middle of the car. To put him in the seat, I have to get into the backseat while holding him, turn him a little sideways and kind of lift him up and over into the car seat. He's 22 lbs and about 28 inches long. Hard to do when he doesn't want to sit down...but that would be the case with any car seat. There's a little room to grow yet in the rear-facing position...but not a whole lot (although I don't think any seat would be able to offer much more rear-facing room--his feet are just about touching the seatback. The click-n-safe mechanism is supposed to click when the tension in the harness is tight enough, but I find that by the time it clicks, the harness is sooooo tight that my boy is very uncomfortable and whining, so I always end up loosening it a little (only enough to get one finger under the straps). The velcro tabs that hold the harness open are a nice thought, but they don't keep the upper portion of the harness out of the way--unless you completely loosen the straps each time you get baby out, so there's slack to hang over the sides of the car seat. That isn't too inconvenient, I am just used to leaving the straps adjusted for baby, like in the infant seat we had. It's really easy to tighten the straps, though, with an upward tug of the extra strap found near baby's feet. And you adjust the harness shoulder height/head protection with a click of a button and a tug, so it's super easy--no rethreading. I also like that the base of this seat is very streamlined, and there's room for people to still sit in the backseat on either side of the car seat. A lot of the other car seats we considered have HUGE profiles--this seat is remarkably 'petite' for such a high-weight capacity convertible. The seat installed in a matter of minutes with the LATCH system. The Britax Boulevard looks and feels sturdy, and I highly recommend it. I would save money and go without the CS feature, if you know how tight the straps should be adjusted.

Overall, I am extremely happy with my Britax Boulevard 70 (Blueprint). I love the pattern, and I love the fact I feel secure in knowing my daughter is safe in her car seat. We have a brand new 2012 Kia Sorrento and in many ways the Britax car seat fits better in our back seat than the Graco Snugride 32 w/base did. We have our Britax rear facing in the middle seat secured with only LATCH, and there is absolutely not wiggle or give. Which is awesome because that means we did not need to worry about using the tether strap to secure it more. My husband is 6'3" and he doesn't have any problems with moving the drivers seat back to the position he likes. With the infant carrier, he was not able to position the driver seat to his preferred setting. I can see better out of the rearview mirror with the Britax than I could with the infant carrier.

After reading more reviews than I care to count and comparing the Britax Boulevard CS model to the Boulevard models w/o CS, I finally chose the CS model mainly because I wanted the Blueprint pattern. Unfortunately, I wish I would have chosen the regular model. While I think the CS feature is a great idea, I find it is more of a problem for us than a help. My daughter is very squirmy and as soon as she sits in the car seat she is either trying to climb out of it or is leaning very far forward to see out the doors/window. This means that if you try to pull the strap to tighten the harness, the CS feature engages very very quickly. Even with holding my daughter in the seat in order to tighten the harness, I still have the CS feature engage way before the harness is snug enough. Which means on many days the CS feature will engage as many as 3 times while trying to strap my daughter in. And like the other review stated, I often find when the CS feature engages when the harness is snug, it is actually too snug for my daughter. On my daughter you can see the harness pressing into the tops of my daugther's shoulders.

The concept of CS is excellent, but I think it can provide a false sense of security. This feature was created to ensure a person tightened the harness snug enough, however, when it engages too early, and the harness is in fact not snug enough, it becomes unsafe. I know you are suppose to check the snugness and fit of the harness, but I think with the CS feature some people may assume that "it clicks it's safe" regardless of the snugness of the harness.

If it comes down to cost, and you feel comfortable enough that you can secure your child snugly in a car seat. I would say save the extra dollars and buy the Britax without CS.

My son was almost 1 and we had to upgrade the car seat. Din't know much about the convertible ones I went to the store to see them in person.
Only Britax ones seemed to be sturdy and had enough cushion.

I went with Britax Boulevard 70 CS;
- it had more protection than Marathon (insert head and lower body cushions),
- it has clip and click option (it clicks when baby is strapped safe, no need to recheck with fingers between baby and straps), Marathon and regular Boulevard don't have this option,
- it doesn't have bulky wide additional support for head like Advocate CS.

Basically in the order from the simply to advance models it goes: Marathon, Boulevard, Boulevard CS and Advocate CS.

The Advocate has more protection, but I already have a safe car (Audi and than VW Tiguan) and didn't want to take additional space (the cars are not that huge inside). The sit is placed behind a passenger seat and there is enough room to sit normal (not like with the first car seat that is obviously longer).
Color Onyx matches nicely black interior.
Also considering the cost (Amazon had the best price I found) I think that was excellent choice.

Convertible seats are not that easy to switch between cars and it was harder to install than our Chicco Key30, but now I have a one car so this is not a problem.

The sit is set to the medium recline, and it look comfortable for my son to sit and watch the road or to fall asleep.
He loved it from the day one; totally different experience to sit forward facing. I was a heart melting experience to his happiness and surprise. Also when I stop at the light I can turn my head and see him, give him a bottle etc.

I never install it in a rear facing position, recommended for up to 2 years old. My son was big enough according to instructions.

Comfortable and safe. Fits with no problem in BMW X5. Would choose this model again. Moved my son in this seat when he was 22lbs and 7mo. No regrets on purchase.

This is the best car seat ever. I wish I had one when my older child was a baby. The seat is super easy to install and one of my favorite features is that you can remove the seat cover to wash it without having to uninstall the seat from the car. If you have ever stuggled to tear apart a car seat to clean the cover you will understand what an amazing feature that is! Another great feature is the velcro that allows you to attach the straps to the side of the seat when not in use. No more stuggling to find the straps when baby is in the seat! I highly recommend this seat. They are fairly pricey, but worth every penny!!!

We have been using this car seat for over a month now. We absolutely love it!! We transitioned our daughter from an infant carrier to this one & she loves it. We don't have any complaints about it. The features we love best is the click safe (a great indicator for her relatives that watch her from time to time), the side impact wings(great safety feature & they make a great pillow when she is asleep in the car) and the steel bars. We would recommend this to anyone looking for a comfortable & safe carseat.

I bought this carseat for my son when he was 6 months old because he weighed 22 pounds and that was the limit for his infant carrier.

I have to say I absolutely LOVE this carseat! It is so nice to see all the safety features it comes with, it makes me feel good to have my son in a product I trust. I have to say my favorite feature is the Click and Safe tightener. I was never sure how tight the straps on my sons car seat needed to be and I would either have them WAY too tight or a little too loose. It is so nice to hear that "CLICK" when it's adjusted properly. Living in Minnesota I have to adjust the car seat straps a lot based on what he is wearing and this makes it so easy to be sure I have him in safe and secure every time.

I also love that this carseat is rated rear-facing to 40 pounds. Recently they have changed the time they recommend turning an infant from rear-facing to forward-facing from 1 year or 22 lbs to 2 years or 40 lbs. It's nice to know that with this car seat I can have him in the safest position for his age a lot longer. I was worried at first that his little legs would be squished but so far that has not been an issue, the Britax gives plenty of room.

I am very excited by the fact that this carseat can be used for children up to 70lbs. The car seat is a little pricey at first, but when you think of how many other carseats that the 70lb weight limit saves you from buying I feel it is well worth the money. It's nice to know that my son can be in a very safe car seat for years to come. The look of those no backed booster seats just makes me a little skeptical of their safety in a crash.

This car seat does take a little time to install and can be a little daunting when you first get it, but once you've done it once or twice it is a breeze. I am a very visual person so I watch a lot of installation videos on YouTube. Britax even has their own channel on there which was SO helpful.

I would definitely recommend this product to everyone and will be purchasing a second one when my youngest son outgrows his infant carrier.

I bought this seat for my daughter when she was almost a year old. She is now 15 months and is still rear facing in it. We absolutely love this seat and we LOVE the Click and safe feature. It makes it so nice. She looks so comfy in the seat and I do not feel that the head pads on the side of her head block her vision. She seems to like them and they are so nice for when she falls asleep in the car.

We definately recommend this product!