Britax Won my Heart with the Frontier 85

rebeca  Monday, May 17, 2010

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I have to admit, I haven’t always been the biggest fan of Britax. I always thought they were overpriced and just a tad bulky for my tastes. Boy have I learned a lot in the last year! You see, we are currently on our fifth car seat for my 2 year old son…and I now consider myself well educated on the topic. Being a bit on the tall side, he outgrew his infant carrier when he was just 7 months old. My hormones hadn’t shifted back into balance yet and I found myself back at the store looking for a new car seat. And, for some reason, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Somehow, I missed the memo about convertible car seats, and I felt blindsided.

Considering that we needed two seats (one for each car), and we were still paying off the large hospital bill, I was on a bargain hunt. This was also at a time when I bought everything at Babies R Us…not realizing I was paying a good 25% more than many discount web outlets. We bought a very basic $70 convertible seat from Evenflo and figured we’d be good for a few more years. Wrong! Around his second birthday, we went through a car seat safety clinic and realized that my son was already too tall for the seat. The only seat they had that would fit our car was from Safety First, but was still a bit small for him. They installed it and gave us instructions to purchase a larger seat ASAP.

There I was again, looking for a new car seat. At that point I was cursing the cheap Evenflo seat we bought in the first place, thinking if I had just invested in a quality seat, we wouldn’t be in this situation. After all, most Britax seats have about five thousand slots for the shoulder harness, which would accommodate taller children. The cheapo seat I bought only had three.

After doing much research, I decided to go with a booster/harness seat that could grow with my son. I was not going to make the same mistake twice and I wanted something that was going to last. I narrowed it down to the Britax Frontier and the Graco Nautilus. The major difference was the Graco had a removable back to convert one additional time into a standard booster. But honestly, what I saw was the $100 price difference. So, once again, I opted for the cheaper seat. I really like the Nautilus. It was so easy to use, fit wonderfully in my car and looked super comfy. The biggest problem…right after I bought it, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety came out with a report naming the best and worst booster seats. Of course the Britax Frontier was a “best bet” and although they didn’t name the Graco Nautilus specifically, they noted that 3-in-1 boosters tend to be the worst performing. Dangit…I should have bought the Britax.

You can see why I was especially excited when Britax told me they had a new Frontier coming out, and offered to send me one to review. I knew I should have purchased this seat in the first place, so I was really stoked to give it a test drive.

We’ve been using it a little over a month and I have to say that Britax took out all the stops when they made this seat. I keep showing it to all my mom friends so they can see how cool it is. I especially like the sleek design that allows easy access for my son to climb in and out of the seat on his own. (A necessity now that I’m pregnant!) The arm rests of the Nautilus made that a more difficult task.

The Frontier 85 harness can be used for children age 2 and above who weigh 25-85 pounds and measure 30-57 inches. The booster/seatbelt positioner can be use for children who weigh 40-120 pounds and measure 24-65 inches. Plus, it won’t expire for 9 years. So, in fact, this will be the last car seat you will ever need. I encourage you to watch the video demonstration of the seat to truly get an accurate picture of how awesome it is. But, if you’re crunched on time, here’s what you can expect with The Frontier 85:­

• Tangle free, 5-Point Harness with 10 harness height positions (up to 20″) and three buckle positions for a snug and secure fit as your child grows
• Plush, premium cover set with thick, underlying comfort foam provides extra comfort, encouraging your child to stay in the proper position
• Integrated armrests
• Two integrated cup holders, designed to fit common beverages such as 20 oz reusable water bottles (and sippie cups)
• HUGS™ (Harness Ultra Guard System) reduces forward head movement and cushions the chest in the event of impact
• Color-coded vehicle belt guides indicate the path and positioning of the vehicle seat belt
• Durable and washable cover in mature fashions for growing children
• Energy-absorbing foam liner (EPS) absorbs and distributes crash forces
• Premium, push-button lower LATCH Connectors for a quick, simple, and tight installation
• Harness-2-Booster converts to a belt-positioning booster seat
• When it’s in the seatbelt positioner mode, it can be used with SecureGuard, which prevents the child from sliding under the lap-belt portion of the safety belt during impact, therefore minimizing the risk of abdominal injury (The SecureGuared accessory is sold separately, but still very cool!)
• No Re-thread harness adjustment, allowing you to adjust the harness height without re-threading the harness straps
• Energy-Absorbing Base deforms in the event of a crash to absorb impact forces

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