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.

This is so heavy that I could not put it into my car. Latching the thing was over-complicated.

Just received this carseat yesterday and have used it twice, but I already think that I'm going to love this carseat. It is definitely substantial and heavy - a true "tank" of a carseat - and though I feel a little silly getting such a tank, I do not regret getting the seat with some of the most side impact protection and highest ratings (both safety and otherwise) that I could find. I hope to never test out the safety features of this seat, but it looks very solid and reviews stating that this carseat saved kids' lives sold me.My biggest concern as I was ordering this seat is whether or not it would fit in my car. I own a 2nd generation (2008) Toyota Prius (Touring package, if that makes a difference). I had seen one review or question on here that this seat DOES fit into a Prius, and one that it does NOT. Here's my experience: the carseat DOES fit, fully reclined, behind the driver's seat in my Prius. My husband and I can both push the driver's seat back as far as we normally like, so it does not impede our driving at all.However, there's a possibly big caveat to this: my husband and I are both small-to-average height: I'm 5'3.5" and my husband is 5'8". While neither of us have any issue with how far back we can push the driver's seat with this carseat installed, we don't think that this would be the case for a driver who is much taller than my husband (5'8") and/or who likes to have their seat pushed back all the way when they drive. (My husband, as the taller of the two of us, obviously has the greater potential to be hindered by the position of the car seat; he has no problems, but also admits that he likes to drive closer to the steering wheel than others might.)On a bit of a side note, we also do think that we could still fit two people in the backseat, even with this seat installed. However, the person sitting in the middle seat would need to be very petite (girth-wise, especially) and need to comfortable being VERY friendly with both the baby and the person sitting on the passenger-side of the backseat.So, considering this, we are very happy with how the carseat fits into the car. It also seems to be constructed very well and with high-quality materials. The installation was very simple as is putting my daughter into/taking her out of the seat. (Granted, there's more stuff on the straps and buckle than we're used to - we're moving on from a Chicco Keyfit 30, which we also love - so it's taking a bit longer than usual to get her in/out.) I'm not wild about the color selections for this carseat, but the blue is true to color in the photo.

We bought this for our 10 month old when he outgrew his last car seat. While I have no doubt it will function properly if a crash occurs, I can tell you that the 'extra' click tight feature is worthless in my opinion. If you live in a cold weather and find that it isn't easy taking your childs coat off before putting them in the seat, the click tight feature is worthless. Also, I must say this seat is a pain to move between vehicles. Save your money and just buy the advocate plan seat, ditch the click tight as it's not worth it in my opinion.Also, the previous paragraph's comments w ere moderated (not allowed) on Britax's website so be cautious of reviews you read on that site.

This is probably the 10th Britax car seat I've purchased and I really dislike the gray material that they've used to cover the seat belt part and keep it from flopping around. Their previous material was much better on the older generation that we have. This material is constantly riding up over the red button and driving me absolutely crazy. That being said, the car seat is very cushy, solid and safe-feeling. It's easy to install and I was shocked that when rear facing it doesn't have a tether like the older ones did.