stayinhome3's Full Review: Britax Boulevard Convertible Car Seat - Onyx
WHY I PURCHASED THE BRITAX BOULEVARD:
My 4 1/2 yr old son was outgrowing his Evenflo Triumph, both by weight & height. I wasn't comfortable with him riding in a booster seat yet (even at 40 lbs he still seems so small), so I researched all the different carseats that have 5 point harnesses and can be used to 65 or 80 pounds. I ultimately decided on the Boulevard because it has Britax's True Side Impact Protection
(deep side wings with EPS foam), which was very important to me because we don't have side curtain airbags in our vehicle. We chose the Park Avenue pattern (stripes) and love it.
WEIGHT/HEIGHT REQUIREMENTS:
The Boulevard holds kids that are 5 to 65 pounds. It can be used rear-facing for babies from 5 to 33 pounds and forward facing for toddlers & older kids from 20 pounds to 65 pounds and up to 49" tall. It comes with a removable infant insert to make small babies fit comfortably.
INSTALLING IN VEHICLE: I have found the Boulevard to be very easy to install in all the vehicles I have tried it in (Ford, Toyota, and Mazda vehicles), but it is big and might not fit rear facing very well in smaller vehicles. I love the forward facing lock offs on the Boulevard (it also has rear facing lock offs but I haven't used them so can't comment on them). The lock offs take the place of a locking clip and make it so much easier to get a tight install in your car if you don't have automatic locking seatbelts. The Boulevard's size may make it difficult to fit in some vehicles, especially if you need to have 3 car seats across 1 seat. I have a Ford Windstar and in order to fit 3 across the back bench seat, I can only use a Cosco Scenera (skinny convertible) rear facing and a skinny Cosco Booster outboard with the Boulevard in the middle.
COMFORT: My son is SO comfy in his Boulevard. When he falls asleep, his head rests perfectly on the side head wings. My other 2 kids in their Triumphs fall asleep and their heads flop forward... the wings on the Boulevard solve this problem! The fabric is both very soft & very durable. It is so easy to clean, but feels like velvet!
OTHER FEATURES: I love the 'infinitely' adjustable headrest. There is a knob (a dial) on the side of the headrest and when you turn it, it adjusts both the headrest height and the harness height. No more adjusting the harness height the hard way (unhooking it from the back of the seat, threading it through the seat shell, then back through the seat shell, then hooking it back up - as on most car seats)! This makes it SO simple and might actually make it my favorite feature. The harnesses truly are tangle free. If you've ever used any other 5 pt harnessed car seats, you know that the straps can get twisted up very easily and you are constantly having to UNtangle them. With the Hugs system on the straps of the Britax seats, tangling is not a problem at all. The straps are also thicker than on other seats, which also helps keep them tangle free. There are nice velcro patches on the 'armrests' to hook the straps to so that the child can climb into the seat. Its so much easier than the other seats I've used where you have to dig down under the child and pull out the straps that they're sitting on! A small feature that I love is that the tether strap goes into a nice little pocket on the back of the seat when it is not in use. We don't have tethers in our vehicle and the straps on our other car seats are a hassle to deal with, we have to try to keep them contained so that they don't become a projectile in an accident, but Britax has taken care of this for us.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 280.00
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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