Cole's new car seat came today. We were in the market for a second car seat as he is almost at the height limit for the standard convertible seat. If we had been smart when we purchased our convertibles, we would have bought the Britax marathon instead of the Roundabout. However, Tate is using both our Roundabouts, still rear-facing, so we would have needed a new seat for Cole anyhow. Anywho, the new seat came today after 3 weeks of waiting for Target to do free shipping on baby gear. We purchased a Sunshine Kids Radian 80. I was very hesitant to stray from the Britax brand. I love our Roundabouts. They install easy. The straps tighten easy, and they have a fun cow print! What's not to love? I purchased a Britax Frontier earlier this year. The thing is a monster. It's huge. Installation wasn't quick, but it wasn't horrible. However, the problem with the seat was Honda's. Most vehicles have the belt latch located where the seat back and the seat bottom meet. Honda puts there's in the seat bottom. Not a problem, except when installing a car seat. The Frontier is so huge that installing it with latch isn't easy so I tried the belt, only because of our belt latch location, that too didn't get the seat as tight as I would like it to be. I chose the Radian 80 because it's a much narrower profile. I wasn't impressed when I pulled it out of the box. It's not nearly as padded and comfy looking as the frontier. However, after I installed it, I decided it's staying. It installs about the same as the Frontier, only since it is narrower I can install it with the belt or with latch and both ways keep the seat snug.
In short, if I didn't drive a Honda, I'd stick with the Britax, purely for comfort reasons. I know there are other car seats on the market that are a whole lot cheaper, but both Britax and Sunshine Kids are the highest rated and keep kids in a 5 point harness longer. If it keeps my kids safer longer, it's worth every penny.
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