Britax Registry Rewards - Free Boulevard 70 Car Seat

Good to know!


Can you list which products you used as the five?

B-Ready stroller, chaperone car seat, chaperone base, carrier and sun shades.

I would like to get in on this as well and I already have 3 of the 5 just like you....but I purchased the b-ready in march 2011. It has a manufactured date of July 2010. When was your stroller and car seat made?

Also...did you submit the entire label with all the info including the manufactured date, or did you just cut out just the UPC?

My manufacture date was in 2010 too and I sent the entire label.

B-Ready stroller, chaperone car seat, chaperone base, carrier and sun shades.

So was I, and your notion that the frame of the Radian somehow transfers crash forces differently than that of a Britax just isn't correct. There is nothing inherently different in the energy absorption capabilities of the Britax compared to the Radian, or any other car seat for that matter, EXCEPT for the new Foonf with its honeycomb construction and crumple zones. That will actually make a difference in how the crash forces are absorbed and distributed.

It would be great to see if others can use older UPCs, my car seat has a March 2012 date, but the stroller was much earlier. Wonder how they can tell...

Well, as a CPST I can assure you that it doesn't work that way. Physics says that in a crash once the vehicle hits something, everything inside the vehicle continues moving at the same rate of speed as the vehicle. This is when all the loose crap in your car becomes a projectile. Especially the CD's and DVD's that have now become deadly ninja throwing stars! The car seat moves forward until it reaches the end of the stretch built into the seatbelt webbing that is holding it in. This is as designed. It's also why seat belts are a ONE TIME USE ONLY ITEM! After ANY crash where airbags are deployed, and seat belts that were in use, to hold people or a car seat, should be replaced by your insurance company! All car seats in use at the time should be replaced as well.

Now your child begins to move in the direction of the crash at the same speed, albeit slowed down by the crash force absorption of the seatbelt. Now it's time for the seat belt webbing in the 5-point harness to do its work, and again... it's a one time use only item. The car seat itself is also absorbing the crash forces as well. This is why a rear facing car seat is SO much safer than a forward facing car seat. Instead of transferring all of those crash forces to your child, the car seat itself absorbs the crash forces, and that is why your child is 500% safer rear facing than they are forward facing.

Look, I like Britax car seats, and I've owned three of them, but I also own other car seats as well. There is no special Britax Bubble that protects your child better just because of who made the seat. Britax seats install correctly REALLY easily, and since 9 out of 10 car seats are installed incorrectly, this can make a HUGE difference. But they also have some other problems. Not huge and insurmountable ones, but they're still there. The convertibles just don't work for newborns. The bottom slots are just too high until a child is around 6-12 months old, depending upon their torso height. For preemies, this can stretch out further because of the difference between their real and adjusted ages.

As a prior owner of a Boulevard, or BV as we call them, I can tell you that the side impact wings are REALLY confining and will cause your child to outgrow their car seat faster. I'm not a fan of the BV. I live in the Deep South, and I'm not a fan of the heavy plush velour that they use in most of their car seats. It's just really hot. My kid complains about it regularly. I need to find a Britax cover that's really breathable for my kids current Frontier 85 (FR85) to replace the Cowmoo that I have now. It's horribly cute, but it's also really hot.

I hope that helps explain things a bit better, and helps dispel a little of the Britax myth that is out there. Good products, and a good company, but not the be all, end all of car seats. That would be Clek, IMHO. The new Foonf convertible that is almost ready to be released to the market is going to be REVOLUTIONARY design wise, materials wise, and safety wise. We're talking honeycombed magnesium alloy construction with crumple zones! I'm stoked!

Britax makes some mesh fabric covers, as does Sunshine Kids (Now Diono) for their Radians. I had a Cowmoo cover on my son's Frontier 85 and just swapped that out with someone for a Redrock cover which is a mesh cover. My son loves it, and is SO much cooler in that seat than he was before. He was always complaining that it made him sweat. The Radian XTSL that I have in the other car also has a mesh fabric cover and he really likes that one as well. It's just a HUGE difference!

Ok, now you saw me talking about using a different cover than the one my seat came with. I swapped it for ANOTHER Britax cover for the EXACT SAME SEAT! Aftermarket replacement car seat covers are EXTREMELY BAD AND DANGEROUS! Do not EVER use an aftermarket cover! I don't care if your sweet dear old aunt Trudy who is an awesome seamstress made you one that matches the curtains in your sweet baby's room, using such a cover turns your child into a crash test dummy! Don't be tempted! Don't think it won't happen to you! Don't make me have to come back to this thread and use even MORE capital letters and exclamation points! So, if you own seat model XYZ made by manufacturer ABC, then you can use a different pattern/color cover from seat model XYZ made by manufacturer ABC. You CANNOT use a cover from seat model LMN made by manufacturer ABC. Same model and same manufacturer ONLY!

I hope that helps answer your question.