Britax Expressway came to us in a Roundabout way...
Written: Jul 29 '02 (Updated Jan 15 '03)
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Pros: Comfort, ISOFIT LATCH, HUGS, and oh yes... SAFETY!
Cons: None!
The Bottom Line: Britax Expressway for a safe and comfortable ride for your toddler (forward facing).
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| marytara's Full Review: Britax Expressway Convertible Car Seat |
As parents we don't pause for even a minute about going out of our way to ensure that our children our safe. It doesn't matter whether its inexpensive outlet covers or toilet locks or a carseat that costs well over a hundred dollars if its in the interest of safety for our children. In the case of carseats, its money spent that we hope never has to get put to the test.
It came to us in a Roundabout Way
This past month the unthinkable happened while driving to the store to purchase some everyday items - diaper and juice, actually. My Subaru Outback was rear-ended by a Lincoln Towncar at an intersection and my son was in the vehicle riding in his Britax Roundabout in the forward facing position. When the car struck mine it made a horrible racket and my 18 month old son let out a blood curdling scream like I had never heard before. Panic! I didn't care if I was ok, hurt, bleeding or not but I wanted to make sure that my son was ok. Aside from crying madly he appeared ok, but I needed to get him checked out.
Off to the ER, we went. If you are ever in an accident with your child in a carseat, there are a few things you need to know. First, don't remove them from their carseat. No matter how tempting it is to want to comfort them and hold them, keep them in their seat. The EMTs removed the carseat from my vehicle and kept Alex inside it at all times. They carried him directly into the ER still in the seat.
One of the EMTs was a very reassuring young gentleman in his early twenties. As you can imagine, I was very upset at the time and he was very comforting to me. An X-ray revealed my son's head and neck were not injured and that he was unharmed, just scared. I had a case of whiplash and was mostly just shaken up. I was just thanking my lucky stars that my son was ok. The technician said to me that my son getting through an accident of this type unharmed could be attributed to our Britax seat. Britax carseats not only meet the standards set for seats in the US, they exceed them and also meet the stricter standards that are adhered to in Europe.
A job well done, but now I'm calling in the reinforcements!
If an experience like this doesn't sell you for life on a particular brand of carseats, I am not sure what will.
Because of being involved in a motor vehicle accident we needed to replace our Britax Roundabout seat. Even though on the surface it appeared unharmed, once in an accident you will want to replace your carseat. Structural damage could have happened to the seat which could prevent it doing its job in the future. So.. off we went in search of a seat.
I searched high and low on the internet, emailed with carseat technicians like Ali78, Caviller and UlrikeDG and off to the store we went armed with our info. While the Roundabout served us well, we no longer needed the rear-facing capability so our top picks for a suitable replacement was either the Britax King or the Britax Expressway, or if neither of those worked out we'd stick with the our "old standby" the Britax Roundabout. While Britax is currently releasing a whole new line of seats we couldn't wait them to hit the shelves and had to go with what was available in their current line.
The story of Alexander-Bear and the 3 Carseats
Sold on Britax, after locating which store carried the full line of Britax seats in my area we headed there as a family.
Confident that Britax seats exceeded my safety requirements it would come to down to finding the seat that fit best in my vehicle and also fit our son the best. When purchasing your toddler convertible, forward-facing, or booster type seat- I highly recommend bringing your child along to try it out. When we got to the store, the associate got down the 3 seats for us (Roundabout, Expressway, and King) and we gave our son the chance to sit in all of them.
First, we tried the Britax Roundabout . This was the exact same seat that we were needing to replace. I knew it would install well in our vehicle, it would be safe, and my son would be comfortable. The price was just under $200, but since insurance would be reimbursing this the cost was a non-issue. However, part of the reason for the higher price is that this seat is a convertible seat. We'd be paying extra for the rear-facing capability which is something that with a 28 pound eighteen month old, we simply did not need.
So, on to the forward-facing only seats. Next, we tried out Britax King. This is a heavier seat that is best known for its very unique means of installation in which the whole seat actually lifts up so that the safety belts can be threaded through. My son sat in this light yellow and blue plaid seat and we fastened the 5 point-harness around him. It was "ok", and definitely a possibility. The seat just didn't look as comfy as our Roundabout was. Though, a bonus was that this seat was on sale for $120. However, I wasn't keen on the fabric, and no additional covers are available for purchase.
Last, but not least, we tried out the Britax Expressway. The shell and frame of this seat looks identical to the Roundabout but this is a forward-facing only seat and has a few extra features making it unique. Because its forward-facing only it sells for around $170, which is slightly cheaper than the Roundabout. My son sat down in the Britax Expressway and I buckled the 5 point-harness system with HUGS around him. It was perfect! The Britax Expressway was just right!
Features of the Britax Expressway
The Britax Expressway is a forward-facing only carseat for children over the age of 1 year old and 20 and 40 pounds. If your child is under the age of 1 and below 20 pounds check out one of the other seats from Britax, like the Roundabout.
The Britax Expressway is built with the same shell as the Britax Roundabout so it looks quite similar. Ours is in one of their new shell colors and the actual plastic seat itself is off-white in color.
Like the Roundabout, the Expressway scores high for both comfort and safety. The seat itself is specially padded with Comfort Foam and EPS Foam. EPS foam is the same type of foam that is used in things like bike and motorcycle helmets to help absorb impact and protect your child.
This seat is equipped with a five-point harness which is safer than seats which use an overhead shield. Using a 5-point harness greatly reduces your child from getting a head injury - they had found that with an overhead shield children's heads were bobbing forward and hitting the shield in the case of an accident. The straps on this seat can be adjusted between 3 levels to ensure the best fit for your child.
The front of the harness secures with a black plastic Chest-Clip which easily clips the 2 sides together and can't be undone by children (easily). The harness buckle is a 2 piece Puzzle buckle which is requires each zig-zag side to be put together and then clipped into the buckle receptacle as one unit. Because our son had learned how to undo the buckle on his Roundabout we had received a FREE buckle cover for just the cost of shipping from the Britax website. This buckle cover also fits well on the Britax Expressway and may be worth looking into if you have a little houdini.
The harness is equipped with HUGS. HUGS stands for Harness Ultra Guard System. This system not only ensures a safe fit for the harness but also helps make the straps more comfortable as well. The nylon straps are protected and threaded through rectangular shaped rubber pads. These pads are both cushiony but they also keep the straps from getting twisted or from sliding. There are also special fabric pieces (made of a velour type material) that are almost like little shoulder pads that velcro around the top of the harness and protect the harness from cutting into your child around the shoulder and neck area.
Additionally this 5-point harness is fitted out with a One Pull Harness Adjuster Strap which makes getting a secure and proper fit for each ride easy to accomplish. This is super convenient for times when you child may or may not be wearing different amounts of clothing. To loosten the harness there are 2 plastic pull rings to grab and give the harness a bit of slack.
The seat padding on the Britax Expressway is also quite comfy and made with a cotton covering so that it is machine washable. In addition to the seat padding there is also a Belly Pad. The belly pad is a circular piece of padded fabric that sits around the base of the seatbelt connector. It protects your child from every having to touch a piece of hot metal or plastic, or getting pinched in any way by the buckle. Our seat came with a covering called Spring Breeze. This pattern is a blue, white and tan plaid and is the plaid pattern that is encorporated with Denim on the Cool Blues pattern, which is what our Roundabout had. Britax offers a variety of seat covers for the both the Expressway and Roundabout which can be purchased via their website. Some of the covers are quite fun and fashionable, like Cowmooflage, Big Cats, Denim, etc. I picked up an additional cover and belly pad set called Puppies. The Puppies fabric is navy blue with little puppies of various breeds outlined in white. The cost of a new cover and Belly Pad was about $40 and was my "splurge" item since insurance was reimbursing the cost of the actual seat, and I wanted to get something fun for my little boy (and me!).
Last but not least, the Expressway has a recline feature which is easy to use. If your child falls asleep in the car, you can simply pull on the handle which is in the base of the seat and move it to a slightly reclined position. My son falls alseep in this seat in the "awake" position just fine, but for an extended car trip the recline is nice.
Installation
A big portion of knowing you have the "right" seat is one that fits properly in your vehicle. Many municipalities like fire departments and ambulance stations will check your car seat for you or have days where they provide routine car seat checks. If you call around within your local area you should be able to locate someone who is a Child Passenger Safety Technician to make sure that your seat is installed properly. You can have the safest seat in the world but if its in your car improperly then it is dangerous. Many baby equipment stores nowadays have a certified carseat tech on hand as well, it doesn't hurt to ask for someone to check and see that your seat is in right. The seat should not budge.
To install a Britax Expressway you have 2 choices.
1)If your car is equipped with LATCH anchor bars you can use the ISOFIT LATCH system. LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children. All new cars have the LATCH anchor bars imbedded in the rear vehicle seat, but this is a new feature that only started to get introduced in some vehicles from the 2000 and 2001 models going forward. The ISOFIT LATCH system is a harness that is attached to the back of the carseat which is made of black nylon webbing. At the end of each strap there are grippers that reach in secure to the anchors in your seat, sort of like pliers. To release the grips there are red release triggers, much like a seatbelt.
2)If your car doesn't have LATCH like my Subaru Outback, you will have to install the seat using vehicle safety belts. The seat can be installed with either a lap-belt only or a Shoulder-Lap-belt-combo. It installs just as a Britax Roundabout would be installed in the forward facing mode. Simply thread the seat belt through the clearly labeled slats and then tighten up the lock-off which takes up the slack in your belt. Use of something like a mighty tite is not something that Child Passenger Safety Technicians approve of. If the seatbelt is not able to be tightened enough, the seat is not safe.
The final step in installing the seat is securing the Versa-Tether. This is an anchor strap which attaches to a non-moving part of your vehicles frame. You will need to consult your owner's manual for your vehicle or check with your dealer if you are not sure where to connect the tether. In some cases, you might even need to have a tether bolt installed. The tether is an absolute must-complete step in the installation process as it stabilizes your seat. Insist on it!
Overall
After almost a month of using this seat on more than a daily basis I can say that I love it just as much as our Roundabout. Not only does the Britax Expressway meet our forward facing needs, it provides Britax safety, great features and style. I highly recommend checking into the Britax Expressway if you are in the market for a carseat. I only hope that you don't have to go through the experience that I did prior to purchasing it.
For More info about this seat and other Britax Products
Britax Website: http://www.britaxusa.com/
To talk to Car Seat Techs and get great advice
Carseat Safety Ez-board: http://www.car-seat.org
To Read My Britax Roundabout Review:
http://www.epinions.com/content_16234483332
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 170
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
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marytara
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Member: MT
Location: Jersey Shore
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