LOVE the Britax Decathlon!
My husband and I need to purchase a convertible carseat for our son as he was outgrowing his infant carseat. I did TONS of research into what seats were people's favorites, what different seats' weight/height capacities were, and what seats could fit into our small-ish fourdoor car (Chevy Malibu). I knew the Britax brand was known to be excellent, so narrowed my search to their different seat models. I came across a website that listed all the seats that would fit nicely in our car, and the Decathlon was one of them. So, I ordered one. Man! What a seat! It's like our son has his own little baby-lazy boy in the backseat:) It is SO comfortable for him. He finally has a nice view out of the window (compared to his infant seat). We first got the seat when we had to take a 6 hour car ride to my folks, and our son just loved it. He slept for probably 3 hours straight in the thing, it was so cozy. It fits great in my car, no need to have the front passenger seat too squished. Overall, I'm happy. I must say that I have no other experience with convertible carseats to compare it to, but I would definitely buy another Decathlon for our next kid. Ease of Installation My husband is deployed so I'm visiting our families and doing lots of in and out of people's cars. So, I've had to do a lot of installing and taking the car seat out of many different types of cars. The installation is easy once you get the hang of it. I use both the LATCH system and the lap belt for my rear facing installation. I do need to put a lot of my weight on the car seat while pulling the seat belt tight in order to get a good installation. Child's Comfort My son still loves this seat! Ease of Use The shoulder straps tend to get twisted, but not a huge deal. Durability Still holding strong a year later!
jakapalooza
Apo, AE