Customer Reviews

Roundabout Convertible Car Seat - Grey Wicker

5 star:		(132)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

My daughter is almost 4 and will soon outgrow her Roundabout, which is very disappointing because I love this seat so much. We have two, one for each car. I was very concerned about buying her car seat and wanted to get the safest possible model. After extensive research, I found that this was it. I have our car seats professionally installed and our installer states he would not put his children in anything else. (He also is disgusted by how many people come to his dealership and spend $45,000 on a new SUV, but then balk at spending $200 on a carseat...but I digress...) In addition to it's safety record, this seat is comfortable, attractive & easy to use. My daughter has never ever complained about having to be in this seat, it's well padded and very comfy. When she grows a little bit more, I will be buying a Britax Marathon or Husky, because I am so impressed with the quality of their products.

In response to some previous reviewers questions:

YES THE ROUNDABOUT WILL FIT IN A STANDARD (COACH) AIRLINE SEAT. Keep in mind that the seatbelt buckles on airplanes are different from auto buckles, they secure in the center not at one side so it IS A PAIN to install and uninstall the seat on a plane...helpful if you have small hands...but with that said it's the fault of the airplane...I don't think there is a forward facing carseat out there that is really easy to install with that type of buckle. Most often you can't use the seat rear-facing on the airplane because of the seat in the row ahead (if the seat is reclined it smashes into the car seat). It may be possible to reserve a seat in the front row to alleviate that problem, call your airline EARLY to inquire about such arrangements. Some airlines do not allow you to use ANY rear facing car seat on the plane...they will have you use the front facing seats only or ask that you lap hold your child instead...again call your airline to get the scoop well in advance.

MACHINE WASHING: The label may say not to machine wash...(I never bothered to read the tag) but....I HAVE machine washed my cover NUMEROUS times (I have the 'cool blues' cover which is denim and white/tan/blue plaid combo). The cover cleaned very well in the washer, regular cycle cold water with Tide detergent, it never shrank or tattered etc. I would recommend line drying the cover only. The cover is now 4+ years old and is in great condition except for fading on the denim parts from being used in a car without tinted windows in CA for two years (lots of sun!)

DOES IT WORK WELL FOR NEWBORNS? I have used this seat for newborn to 3 years of age. The newborn fit is great, use the reclined position for rear-facing newborns. An inexpensive, after-market head support roll is also helpful until baby can support the weight of his/her own head better. The Versa-Tether was a nice feature while using the seat rear-facing, it just connects around the car's front seat anchors to really keep the Roundabout rigidly in place...you will be impressed by how secure your baby is in this seat. The five point harness with the push button adjustment really makes this it a breeze to use with babies...you can really open the straps up while positioning and then just press the conveniently located adjuster button in and pull the strap tail to snug the harness up....really important for those of us in cold weather climates where coats, buntings, snowsuits are a factor.

My soon to be three year old daughter recently passed the weight limit on her Roundabout and she CRIED when I told her she had to get a booster seat. It made her happy to see that her new baby sister will be using this seat again though....this is child #3 utilizing the same seat....after numerous plane trips and rental car swapping and grandma borrowing...this seat is DURABLE.

The Britax Roundabout is BY FAR the best investment in baby gear I have ever made. I have a model from 2000 (pre-LATCH). It really doesn't matter, the built in seatbelt lockclips are such a snap to use that I will not be bothering to switch to a LATCH model....my Primo Viaggio infant seat uses the LATCH system and I don't find it to be any easier or faster to get a great, secure fit than the beautifully simple-to use clips that the Britax has had for years and years.

Britax really made an A+ seat, it is one of the easiest I have ever seen to get installed properly in a wide range of vehicles. If you are in need of a convertible carseat and are swapping vehichles frequently this is a good choice. In less than 30 seconds I can get this seat installed so tightly YOU CAN NOT MOVE IT AT ALL! I have used this seat in a subcompact car, three different makes of mini-vans and two pick-up trucks (we use a lot of rental cars on vacation). It fits a wide range of vehicles well.

This is one of the few baby products that I recommend to all my friends and family WITHOUT ANY hesitation or consideration for cost, individual body types and vehicle makes....This is as UNIVERSAL a product as possible! In the last 4 years I have failed to find a single flaw with this seat. It may cost a little more that other convertible seats but it is VERY VERY WORTH the extra 20-30 bucks in the long run. I understand Britax has a newer convertible model that appears similar to the Roundabout but it actually covers an even greater weight range- I believe it is called the "wizard" ??? If I were in need of a new seat I would definately look into that one...but I'm so happy with the old Roundabout that it just isn't necessary for me :) THIS IS A SAFE BET FOR YOUR PRECIOUS CARGO!

Consumer Reports rated the roundabout carseat the best in class.......however, it pays to shop around. I bought mine at www.babycatalog.com for $159 + free S & H.

This is the best car seat. I've been through a lot between 3 of my own kids and nannying others. This is so easy to install. It's rated above any others in crash test and in recalls. The straps do not twist -- by this I mean that at the shoulders or in the fastening clips the straps are too thick to get twisted round and round like the others seats do. I was always struggling to get the straps evened out and facing the right direction in our infant seat. The only reason I didn't buy this seat sooner is that I got an awesome deal on the stoller/car seat combo and it came with a 2nd base so I waited until baby was 10 months before I just had to go out and get the Britax. The belly pad is great not only for the hot days but also if you have a plump little pot bellied baby (like my little buddah) it's nice to know you're not near to pinching him or her.
If I had to come up with a negative it would be the instruction manual being strapped to the seat but that could be a plus too if you need to see how to put it in an airplane or need to remember how to set it for rear facing at a later date. Who knows where those instruction manuals go after the baby is born :)
Although it's high priced, if you think about getting roughly 4 years of use out of it then really it's nothing...I'll spend more on Starbucks in the next year!
Good luck to the shoppers out there compairing. I haven't found one better.

My Daughter & I were in a head-on collision September 20th, 2004.
She fared it all just fine. Her Pediatrician checked her thoroughly from limb to limb and head to toe & confirmed what I already knew , that she was completely fine physically. I did not fare quite as well & wish I could have been harnessed in such a safe & comfortable car seat as her Britax Marathon.
I, as many of you, gasped at the price initially...now , I'd HIGHLY reccommend Britax products to you. They had a recent recall with the adjsuting belt & SWIFTLY sent out the new one. ***MAKE certain you mail in ALL registration cards with ALL products you purchase, ESPECIALLY baby items.***
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****To the gal from September who had sticky buckles...Britax reccomends washing the buckles & latches thoroughly with warm water as food & drinks often get spilled in them & cause the problem you complain of. <http://www.britaxusa.com> . ***Please check there as well as Amazon.com's listing of recalls & suggestions.***
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My car insurance company states that I must purchase a New car seat as the one I own has now been in an auto wreck ( They cover the cost thankfully; HOWEVER, I'd pay the price again to keep her equally as safe as she was this past Monday!!!!)
She used to hate being, "Trapped" in her old car seat ( a cheaper brand & model & far less comfortable) as she stated
****she never complained about her Britax....more often than not, climbing into it willingly & freely. She was always VERY comfortable & I felt equally as comfortable knowing she was in the safest possible seat as I researched them for a couple of months before choosing the Britax Marathon...I used to use a special device *( Called " Mighty-Tite Car Seat Belt Tightener by, Sunshine Kids)*...we loved that device {{( I Highly reccomend it if you are using another brand of car seat it was only about $20.00 when we purchased it years ago though the price may have changed it is well worth the cost..READ the instructions thoroughly before installing of course & it will work quite well to keep your child's seat still!!)}} before we discovered the Britax seats) to hold the car's seat belt in place until I bought the Britax which comes equipped with it's own device to secure the shoulder strap & thus the car seat. I can attest 100% to the safety & Honorability of the Britax brand!!!!
*** I am looking into another Britax as it spared my petite 4-year old from any harm ... she was well harnessed with the 5-point & well cushioned & sustained no impact from the blow other than a bit of natural fear as any of us would!
*** Obviously, I thank the Lord Above for protecting us as well I thank \Britax company/ for protecting my daughter as promised in their literature when I purchased this seat initially a year and a half or so ago. Britax offers such a vast range of weight allowance that your investment will last years as well as protect your child for that duration!!!

Good Luck in your search...your child's safety is of utmost importance & I hope this helped your decision somehow!

~A Grateful & Blessed Mother in the USA~

Let me start off by saying that I am diligent about using Consumer Reports as a guide to buying products that are supposed to keep my baby safe as well as product reviews to make my decisions. When I was pregnant, the Marathon was rated high on CR top 10 list and I registered and received it as a shower gift. It dropped on the list due to problems with tilting so I took it back figuring I had plenty of time to get one after she was born. Well, I have a baby in the 95% for height and weight and she outgrew her infant car seat (Graco Snugride which I loved and miss :-( at 4 months - and that was pushing it. So I went through the CR list. The Evenflo Titan was #1, but there were so many bad reviews on the strap length and it not fitting well for bigger babies, that I skipped it. Then I borrowed my sisters Cosco Elite (#5 on CR) and the straps constantly twisted and my daughter hated it - to be fair it was 2 years old. I then bought the Evenflo Triumph and it was a nightmare. Installing it wasn't terrible, but kind of a pain. The straps are odd to secure and was already tight on her. (I won't go into detail, but you can see my reviews on the Triumph for additional info). Then, I got the Roundabout (#2 on CR). A breeze to install. They have clamps for the latch instead of clips which make it so easy plus you can tighten it from each side. The straps are simple to use therefore you know its correct and secure. My daughter sits in it without a peep and seems to be very comfortable. I will always get Britax FIRST from now on.

Almost neurotic about choosing baby gear, I researched and found, as others did, the top three models: The Britax Roundabout, Evenflo Triumph 5 and the Graco Comfort Sport. Weary of the marketers willing to exploit safety conscience parents like myself, we tried the Triumph seat and returned it when we realized that the tightening mechanism has a flaw where the straps can potentially become uneven (and don't even ask about how poor Evenflo's customer service was).

The manufactures stated the only way to fix this problem was to return it for an exchange. So, we gave away our new Triumph, we forked over the dough for the Britax, and have loved our seat ever since.

We learned the same lesson twice when we purchased the Graco Comfort Sport for less to use as a second car seat. Same problem that came down to the design. Our second seat return only confirms that this seat is well worth the money- save yourself the hassle of any others! Take it from someone who has unwillingly tested the top three rated seats!

I bought the Britax Roundabout after much research and have been well satisfied with my purchase. The carseat was so easy to install that I spent less than 10 minutes in my car (a lovely thing as it was below zero at the time) and experienced zero frustration during the process. This was not the case two weeks later when I tried to install a Graco ComfortSport in my mother's car for when she watches my 10-month old son. That was a terrible, frustrating, interminable experience, not helped by an amazingly poorly written instruction manual. The instructions for the Britax were coherent, complete and the answers to any questions I had were very easy to find. With the Graco car seat, the manual would say something like "Adjust the seat to the recline position" without telling me how to move the part that adjusted the angle the car seat was resting at. The Graco seat also required some fairly impressive brute force to adjust that part when I figured it out. And as a single parent, I provide all the brute force and I normally do just fine. :)

What really sold me on the Britax carseat was the ease of use with my son. I find it very easy to get him in and out of the seat. The straps move easily to loosen or tighten (not the case with the ComfortSport), the buckle is very secure yet I am able to press the release button and undo it one-handed. Someone mentionned that their kid could unbuckle the seat themselves; my son definitely won't be able to do so for a long time (the buckle isn't that easy!) but I'll certainly be on the lookout.

When rear-facing, as it is for me now, the release button to loosen the straps is also perfectly accessible due to the design of the Britax seat. With the Graco car seat, the strap release button ended up pressed into the back seat of my car. To install it so that I could reach the button, I would have had to have the car seat dangerously reclined back with more towels (above and beyond the one I needed to use anyway). Unacceptable.

Lastly, I know it's a twenty-five cent touch, but I love the velcro that holds the straps to the side so that when you put your kid in, you don't have to dig the straps out from under his or her butt. Anything that saves me three seconds of aggravation makes my day brighter.

When I bought the Britax seat, I wondered if I'd just wasted my money. I wondered if I would regret spending $200 on a car seat when there were other reputable manufacturers retailing seats for so much less. And I have to say, that after struggling with the Graco ComfortSport (which my mother is returning to the store tomorrow), I feel like I got a bargain. The instruction manual alone is worth the extra money for its clarity.

I spent hours researching convertible car seats for our son, and the Britax Roundabout was a clear winner in many categories. If you check out www.consumerreports.com, you can (for a small fee) look up crash test ratings for many different convertible car seats. The Roundabout actually rated higher than the Britax Marathon (which is more expensive!), and scored excellently in categories such as side-impact protection and ease of use. I strongly urge parents to research car seats before they just go out and buy one that is cheap and that matches their car's interior (I have friends that have actually done this). This is your child's safety you're buying -- $200 is really not much when you put it in those terms. Britax car seats have a great track record of being very safe, durable and easy to install and operate. I can honestly say I will never buy another brand.
Also, one reviewer described the seat as being a teddy bear and a car seat in one -- that is so true! It really is so plush and comfy-looking. My husband has remarked that he would love a giant chair with the same material and design. Our 9 month old sleeps comfortably in it, and he truly seems more content in this seat than the last one we had (a Graco model).
So anyway, you may initally balk at the price of this model, but it really is worth the extra money. I would have paid even more just because of the stellar safety ratings. Hope this helps!

This item sounded great in the reviews, but we'll have to return this right away because the shoulder width is so narrow - noticeably narrower than in other convertible car seats. My 14-month old daughter (who is always in the 95% for ht. and wt. but doesn't have particularly wide shoulders) fits in it now, but this isn't going to fit her all the way till age 4 when she moves to a booster. For this price, I don't want to be replacing this in a year. Apparently the Britax Marathon is supposed to be wider in the shoulder, and supposed to fit up to 65 lbs, but Amazon doesn't carry this item.

Another problem - all these Britax car seat covers (according to the Britax web site) aren't supposed to be machine washed, just hand washed, and frankly, if my child throws up/leaks/spills in the car seat and it needs washing, I don't particularly want to be doing that by hand, especially at this price.