Britax USA Advocate ClickTight Convertible Car Seat, Tahoe

I admit that I may have gone overboard on convertible car seat research. I learned so much as a new mom. We had initially purchased a Graco infant car seat. We loved it. But when our little guy outgrew the infant seat, I wanted to find a car seat that he could sit in for years to come. We compared the Britax Advocate, the Britax Marathon, and the Graco equivalent. While they are all good seats, and very safe, the Advocate stood out to us for a number of reasons. First, the additional padding over the Marathon gives a nervous mom like me a lot of peace of mind. Yes, it costs extra, but our son will likely be sitting in these seat for many many years to come. So the extra few dollars is really nothing over the long run. Second, we love that our little guy can sit facing backwards for so long. Studies have shown that the longer you can keep your kids facing backwards, the better. Our son is so used to it from his former seat that he doesn't complain. We also have installed in the center seat a shatter-proof mirror so we can make faces at him and he feels more included in the conversation. Third, when he does eventually face forward, this car seat will grow with him until he's 65 pounds. So while the seat is relatively expensive, when you think about the safety over the long haul, it was a no brainer for us.We went with the Advocate over the Graco because of some websites comparing chemicals used on the seats informed us that Britax has a much smaller chemical footprint. Is that likely a huge deal? Probably not. But I thought about how long our son will be sitting in this seat and decided on the Britax.Additionally, the video installation guides on Youtube have been a godsend. We watched the video twice and easily installed the ClickTight system. While not super intuitive, it's very easy with instructions. And the base is much sturdier than our former infant car seat.The seat itself is really surprisingly comfortable for our little guy. He seems much happier in this "big boy" seat than in his infant seat. While it is a little less convenient to have a seat stuck in one car, there really is no other option at this stage. We find it very smooth to get him in and out of the seat, and somehow he complains less about being put in his seat when we're all getting in the car, rather than having to wait buckled in in the house before we get to the car.

I originally purchased this car seat because every blog I read raved about the safety features. As a parent you want the safest seat but hope you never have to find out it actually lives up to the hype. Well two weeks ago while driving my 23 month old son to get ice cream we were hit by a distracted driver who ran a red light going 50 mph. The impact was on the passenger side of the vehicle, the side my son was sitting on. It was a very serious accident resulting in serious injuries for both me & the driver that hit us. This is every mother's nightmare. Despite my own injuries I rushed out of the car to immediately check my little boy. To my surprise & relief my son was completely unharmed. I'm not exaggerating he didn't even cry, it was like he didn't even realize the car was hit. He was completely fine, no bruises, no head injury, nothing. I firmly believe the car seat saved him. After the accident we were advised by our insurance company and lawyer that out of abundance of caution we should replace the car seat. While it didn't look damaged in anyway we didn't want to take any chances especially since our insurance covered the cost of replacing it. I made sure to buy the exact same seat. The level of protection it provided went well beyond my expectations and I would never consider buying anything else.Many other reviews say it's difficult to install. Yes, the first time it isn't as easy as they say but once you get the hang of it it's a breeze.

The shoulder straps seem to be much shorter than other car seats I've used with my other kids. My son is 14 months and in the 50 percentile for size (average size) and it is extremely challenging to get the harness on because of their length. I thought maybe it was just being pinched somewhere so I uninstalled it and checked. However, it wasn't and the tightness is due to the undersized harness.Not sure what I am going to do when he gets bigger!!?!

I spent an absurd amount of time researching which car seat was the safest. Unfortunately there is not clear cut report on how they all measure up to each other. There is bits and pieces here and there on car seat comparisons but much of that is opinion based. I already had one britax advocate clicktight and realized quickly that switching that between cars all the time would be to much so we decided to buy another convertible car seat. We originally decided on Graco forever for our second seat. After we installed the Graco we quickly realized it was a lesser quality and much more difficult to secure appropriately. No matter what we did it was moving much more then one inch along the belt path. There was no additional lock off like the britax, it was lighter then the britax, and it had less side impact protection then the britax. Needless to say we returned the Graco and got a second britax advocate. At the end of the day I would spend every penny I have to keep my child safe and if an extra 100 dollars gives him a little more protection in the car I will pay it.

I love love love this car seat. I can't say enough good things about it! It's so easy to install. The straps don't get lost behind my son when we out him in the seat. It's super soft and has LOTS of padding. I was so hesitant about which car seat to buy and went back and forth between the britax clicktight and recaro advocate. We're so glad we chose britax. I have had the car seat 4 months and we've already been sick all over it and had to wash all the pieces. It was so easy to out. Ack together, I didn't even need the instruction manual. We don't have any complaints.