Britax Roundabout 50 Convertible Car Seat

by Britax USA

Product Features

• 50-pound weight capacity for safety and comfort through the toddler years
• Side impact protection distributes crash forces, shields from vehicle intrusion, and contains the head, neck and body
• Patented, energy-absorbing versa-tether with staged-release tether webbing, anchors the top of the child seat at two points to minimize forward movement in a crash
• Premium, push-button lower latch connectors for a quick, simple, and tight installation
• Tangle free, five-point harness with 4 harness heights and 3 buckle positions for a snug and secure fit

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 25.5 x 19.5 x 27.5 inches ; 15.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 18.4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B003JBHLAO
• UPC: 652182061975
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: E9LA634
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,273 in Baby (See Top 100 in Baby)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Britax Roundabout 50 convertible car seat maintains many parent-approved features from the ever-popular Roundabout compact convertible car seat. With recent advancements in child safety and the best practice to keep children harnessed as long as possible, this Roundabout has been stretched to accommodate up to a 50 pounds child. The Roundabout 50 features a tangle free, five-point harness with 4 harness heights and 3 buckle positions for a snug and secure fit. Higher forward-facing weight capacity allows children to remain harnessed up to 50 pounds. Premium push-button lower latch connectors provide a quick, simple and tight installation. Unique features include the patented Versa-Tether for energy management, and rear- and forward-facing recline for child comfort and positioning. The Roundabout 50 fits children rear facing from five to 35 pounds and children forward facing from at least one year old and 20 pounds, up to 50 pounds. The Roundabout 50 is made in the United States with United States and global components.

Product Description

Britax Roundabout 50 Convertible Car SeatThe Britax Roundabout 50 Convertible Car Seat maintains many parent approved features from the ever popular Roundabout compact convertible car seat and comes with recent advancements in child safety and the best practice to keep children harnessed as long as possible. This Roundabout has been stretched to accommodate a child up to 50 lbs.  The Roundabout 50 features a tangle free, five point harnesses with 4 harness heights and 3 buckle positions for

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars (4.5 stars) A very good choice for safety and value, June 23, 2009

By 

Snap, Crackle and Pop (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Britax Roundabout 50 Convertible Car Seat (Baby Product)

The new Roundabout 50 is a very useful addition to the Britax line, if it matches what you're looking for. It's a somewhat compact seat with the safety and convenience features Britax offers (though with a couple convenience feature changes). And it's Roundabout-level price makes it a very good value, as a safe seat that will have a long useful life.

The notable differences vs. the original Roundabout is that this model can handle a child of up to 50 lbs, and up to 49 inches in height. (The original Roundabout was 40 lbs and 40 inches.) Given that a lot of children will outgrow the height of the chair before they outgrow the weight, this provides another somewhat compact option for parents, and lengthens the amount of time the chair is useful.

By the way, this seat is a "Roundabout" only in concept - a somewhat compact, moderately priced seat (compared to the rest of the Britax line). It isn't physically a version of the original Roundabout. Reportedly it's actually based on the Decathlon, and it does have the same overall dimensions and weight and very similar details like strap heights. (Though the Decathlon has the extra HUGS padding and more pillows.) So you may want to read comments on the Decathlon, too, if you're wanting more info on this new model.

Other important differences relative to the earlier Roundabout:
- Larger (19.5 W x 27.5 H x 25.5 D vs. 18.5 W x 24.5 H x 24 D).
- Bigger seat area (9.5 D x 11.5 W, vs. 9 D x 11 W)
- Heavier (15.5 lbs vs. 13.1 lbs.), but still lighter than many seats.
- Four harness slot heights, so seated shoulder height of 10.75" (rear facing) to 16.25" (forward facing), vs. three heights with a range of 10.5" to 15".
- Three buckle strap depths (2.4", 4.4", 6.4") rather than just one (6.6").

There are a couple features the Roundabout had that you may miss having on the Roundabout 50:
- The Roundabout 50 does not have the push button harness adjustment, which many parents really (really) liked on the original Roundabout. Instead it uses a lift lever.
- The Roundabout had built in belt lock offs, while the Roundabout 50 uses a locking clip. (We use the LATCH system on our own cars, the lockoffs were nice because they were easy to use on rental cars, but I imagine we'll adapt.)

I don't find any of these seats especially compact, though! We have a large station wagon and the back seat is very crowded with two. So you'll want to research how it fits in your specific car - since this model is new, perhaps see what people say about the Decathlon and your car.

We bought a 50 to use as our older child grows, and we'll use the smaller original Roundabout for the younger child, to help a little with the space in the back.

We did use another car seat (with a base and a detachable bucket) for the first several months, because we found it easier to put a newborn baby in the seat in the house and use that to carry her around in that, than to try to use a seat permanently installed in the car. So I can't say what it's like to use either of the Roundabouts with a newborn.

And just a reminder to keep your child rear facing well past the old 1 year / 20 lb guideline, if your circumstances make that at all possible - a quick web search will give you the safety facts. This larger seat will help somewhat with making that possible.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, yes, yes-- THE car seat for precious cargo, November 12, 2009

By 

J. Turner (BFT, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Britax Roundabout 50 Convertible Car Seat (Baby Product)

When our son was ready to transition from his infant carrier to a convertible ("big boy") car seat, we read all the Consumer Reports, asked friends and relatives, and then went to BRU to "test drive" all of them with our son. Suffice to say, we selected this seat, no question-- it was absolutely the best, hands-down. We wanted something that could keep him harnessed longer, and accomodate a higher height than most of the other convertibles. AND, it had to be able to fit in my compact car. Remember that the weight limit is not as useful a measure of the lifespan of the seat as the height limit is-- unless you have a really rotund kid, they are going to hit 48 inches well before they hit the 50 lb. weight limit.

Unlike other seats on the market, the buckles on the Britax models are SO much sturdier and clip securely. With other seats, I found myself squeezing and squeezing the buckles just to get it "snapped" in properly-- and this without even inserting the wiggling 7 month old! (And we confirmed this was not just the floor models at BRU by trying the same models out in other stores as well-- we continued to experience the same phenomena)

Many pinched fingers later, we were delighted to try out the Roundabout 50. Although the Britax brand is slightly more expensive, there are some things that are just worth the money. Those things being: crib, car seat, and stroller-- no sense in "cheaping out" on these three necessities, since you will be using them every single day.

In addition to the obviously higher-quality construction, I also appreciated the ease of installation (and so did the firefighters who initially installed it-- I have since done it myself once), and the ease of removing and "reapplying" the cover (for those inevitable baby messes). Best part is that the Roundabout 50 fits in my car, a 2007 Toyota Corolla, easily, while still having ample room for our son to grow-- this can not be said about many other brands.

I think this is an excellent choice for children 15-50 lbs. We have since purchased another Britax model-- Decathlon (to 65 lbs)-- for my husband's car, and I can actually say that after using them both for some time, I actually prefer this model, though it lacks some of the pillows and "plushness" of the Decathlon. We expect that both of these seats will make it through to our son's 5th birthday at the least. We have had this seat for two months now, and I highly recommend it.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the Roundabout, September 9, 2009

By 

Cher (Newnan, GA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Britax Roundabout 50 Convertible Car Seat, Berkshire Gray (Baby Product)

I have a Roundabout in one car and this Roundabout 50 in the other car. I bought the Roundabout before the 50 came out, but I wish I had waited so I could have bought 2 of these. The 50 has 3 positions for the bottom belt. My son is in the 90th percentile, so having the option to move the belt a little forward is important. The belt on the Roundabout always leaves a mark on his leg, but it doesn't on the 50. If you're deciding between the two, pay a little extra for the 50!

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