Daughter seems comfy
February 26, 2020
We moved from the Nuna Pipa lite to the advocate with ARB when Baby started to outgrow the pipa. We love how the fabric (cool flow) seems to keep her cool, but I'm not a big fan of how it catches crumbs (I don't recommend eating in the car seat at all). At 12mo she was 20# and 26inches - right around the 50 percentile for both. She has ample room to grow in the advocate, and also has the ability to stretch her arms and legs when buckled in proper (I've had it inspected by a CPST). However, the seat just doesn't seem that compact to me. I drive a corolla (I'm 5'3") and have about 2" between my seat and the britax. Husband (5'9") drives a civic and we struggle to install this seat in his car at all. Perhaps it's because we have the ARB, but the ARB is one of the reasons I chose this seat, so whoever sits in his passenger seat nearly has their knees to their chest. We have installed it ok in the Civic w/o the ARB, but then that defeats the purpose of getting the bar altogether. We keep the seat in my car (the corolla), and are still looking for a seat for his car. Also, I don't like that I can't adjust the recline when the seat is installed. The recline mechanism is at the foot of the seat, and when installed is flush with the seat of the car. As such, to adjust the recline, I have to remove baby, uninstall seat, then adjust recline, then reinstall seat, and reinsert baby. It's just a lot of work when trying to get the right position - I wish the recline mechanism was on the side as in the Rava. I've also noticed that despite the "click" when tightening the harness, there's still a bit of fabric left that needs tightening. I find myself checking the tightness of her harness at every ride, and find myself no longer relying on the "click" when buckling her in. Essentially negating another 'safety feature' this seat comes with; not that one shouldn't double check anyways, but a feature of this seat is to 'click' when the harness is tight enough. Not to mention that I'm concerned other caretakers will hear the click, and not check her harness, only to have it be way too loose - thus making what is supposed to be a safety-feature a 'danger-feature'.
I do recommend this seat despite my dislikes. I did A LOT of researching before purchasing this seat (I was contemplating the Rava, after seeing it in store, settled on the Britax), and feel like it has the most safety features for the price. The ARB, impact absorbing pads on the harness, cool-flow fabric, and ease of install all seem to provide the best safety features of the available seats for the US.
Pros
- Longevity; rear face to 40#
- The cool-flow fabric has been great for Texas heat
- Click-tight install is beyond simple
- Ample room inside the seat
- Impact absorbing pads on the harness
- Non-rethread harness
- Multiple positions for crotch buckle
- ARB is easy to install/uninstall
- The side of the seat acts as a buckle holder (easy to insert baby) - no digging harness out from under baby
Cons
- Cool-Flow fabric catches ALL the crubs
- I wish the recline mechanism was on the side
- Harness tightening mechanism clicks when harness is still loose
- Not very compact front-to-back with ARB installed
- No cupholder - can purchase one as an accessory (for the price, it should just come with the seat)