Britax has been on a roll lately with their convertible seat line, with the recent releases of the Advocate ClickTight, Boulevard ClickTight, and Marathon ClickTight, all of which I’ve reviewed and recommended. However, as great as the ClickTight line is, parents searching for cheaper alternatives that still carry the high quality side impact protection Britax has been focusing on for the last several years would do well to look into the Britax Advocate G4.1, Boulevard G4.1, and Marathon G4.1, which are all updates to the G4 convertible line that the ClickTight seats are derived from, such as the Britax Advocate G4. I picked up an Adocate G4.1 on sale from Amazon this weekend and set about to see what it had to offer.

2015 Britax Advocate G4.1 – Quick Review

The Britax Advocate G4.1 is the latest version of Britax’s highly popular Advocate convertible car seat, which Britax most recently released as the Advocate ClickTight, and which they previously released as the Advocate G4. As the name implies, the G4.1 is more of a refresh or an update to the Advocate G4 than an entirely new system within the seat, as is the case with the Advocate ClickTight.

Being a convertible car seat, you can use and install it both in rear-facing configurations to transport infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children, and as a forward-facing car seat to transport older, elementary-school aged children.

Along with the Boulevard G4.1, Marathon G4.1, Advocate ClickTight, Boulevard ClickTight, and Marathon ClickTight, it’s one of the newest convertible car seats available from Britax, and essentially offers many of the features of its ClickTight equivalent, particularly with respect to side impact protection, at a significantly lower price. Britax calls it innovative and one of its safest car seats yet. Does it deliver on its promises? Let’s dig into it together and find out!

Buy the Britax Advocate G4.1 on Sale at Amazon here.

Britax Advocate G4.1 Weight and Height Limits

Rear-facing: 5 to 40 pounds. There is a 49″ height limit for the child that’s based on the top of the shell, rather than to the top of the head wings, as is the case with the Advocate ClickTight. This means you’ll get more seat life out of the ClickTight version, but you still get a decent amount from the G4.1. The seated shoulder height of the child can range from 9″ at the low end to 16.75″ at the high end. The harness settings range from 8.5″ at the low end to 17.5″ at the high end.

Forward-facing: 20 to 65 pounds. The top harness height at 17.5″ is lower than that of the Advocate ClickTight, which means you won’t get as much time forward-facing either in this version of the Advocate as you would in the ClickTight version. The lowest available harness height is 8.5″ and you can raise it in 1″ increments. While forward-facing, your child’s seated shoulder height can range between 12″ and 16.75.”

While Britax states you can forward-face your child once s/he’s a year old and at least 20 pounds, this is still much too early to forward-face. Ideally, you’ll want to rear-face as long as possible, such as until 4 or even later if you can. Children who rear-face are less likely to suffer serious or fatal injuries in car collisions, and you’ll want to forward-face as long as possible in a harness before switching to a booster afterward.

Dimensions of the Britax Advocate G4.1

The seat is 20.5″ wide at its widest point, 26″ tall, and 21″ long front-to-back. Width-wise, it’s identical to the ClickTight version, which means you’re going to need to work for it if you want to achieve a 3 across installation with 3 of these seats, although it’s definitely possible. You can review the full 3 across guide to see which kinds of car seats are guaranteed to fit well in your car, minivan, SUV, or pickup truck. The G4.1 weighs 21.5 pounds, which isn’t nearly as much as the ClickTight version, which comes in at 30 pounds.

Using the Britax Advocate G4.1

Installation, rear-and forward-facing

Out of the box, the Advocate G4.1 is an impressive, and frankly, a bit of an intimidating seat. It’s large and hefty, even though it doesn’t weigh nearly as much as its ClickTight counterpart, and has a solid feel when you put it on the ground or when you get ready to install it. The frame is made from steel that’s designed to add stability to the seat and act like a metallic spine inside the car seat. This essentially means that the seat takes up some of the energy in a collision so it doesn’t go into your child. This kind of tech is sprinkled throughout the seat, since it’s the flagship model for Britax.

Installation is smooth and straightforward, whether you’re doing it with a LATCH installation or through a good old-fashioned seat belt setup. I prefer the seat belt setup for 3 across installations since it gives me much more space, but I like using LATCH when I’ve only got one or two seats to deal with since it takes much less effort to get a tight installation. The LATCH connectors are “Easy-on, easy-off” connectors, which means they’re even easier to connect and disconnect, and they also have the great feature of clicking audibly once they’re securely locked, which adds to peace of mind by letting you know the seat’s not going anywhere in a collision.

The base of the Advocate G4.1 is designed to absorb impacts in collisions by compressing, which means less crash energy goes into your child, which is a very good thing. The base is also designed to act a bit like an anti-rebound bar by reducing forward movement, which helps reduce the likelihood that your child will collide with the seat in front of him or her. These are the kinds of details that make Britax seats worth buying over those from just about any other manufacturer, with the exceptions of Clek and Diono, with seats like the Fllo, Foonf, Rainier, and Pacifica.

There are 3 recline positions available for the Advocate G4.1, and each is clearly marked with a level indicator to help you get the right rear- and forward-facing angles. The belt paths for rear- and forward-facing installations by seat belt and by LATCH are also indicated clearly, reducing the chances of an incorrect installation. Remember that when you’re forward-facing, you should always use a top tether for safety, even though it’s sadly not yet a legal requirement in the United States.

Harness, Fit, Safety

There’s a 10-position no-rethread harness in the Advocate G4.1 that makes it a snap to find the right harness height setting for your child. Remember that you’ll need the straps to be at or below your child’s shoulders when rear-facing and at or above them when forward-facing. There’s a 2-position buckle strap as well to help provide a comfortable and snug experience for your little ones.

And speaking of comfort, it’s a luxurious, padded seat. There’s padding practically everywhere–in the shoulder pads, in the buckle pad, in the cover, and in other locations. There’s also an infant positioning pillow available to help both keep your youngest ones comfortable while also helping them properly fit the harness at lower settings.

The harness itself includes impact-absorbing materials to increase the chances that the chest clip will stay in its right position were a crash to occur, and as with the frame and base, it’s designed to take some energy in a crash. There’s also an easy-buckle system that’s designed to keep straps and buckles away from your child so you can get him or her into the seat without fighting the straps along the way. I’ve got to admit that while I’ve always been skeptical of the system, it works quite well. The harness is your standard 5-point harness and it feels good against the fingers. The cover of the seat can be removed quickly and machine washed.

The shell of the Advocate G4.1 is the show-stopper, as far as I’m concerned, when looking over the seat. It’s thick and filled with energy-absorbing foam to keep your child shielded from the tremendous forces that occur in collisions. The wings and sides are also designed to keep your child shielded from debris while keeping the head and neck in secure positions during a collision. There are even external cushions, which are only present in the Advocate and Pinnacle 90 (i.e., the best booster seat on Earth), that are designed to not only reduce energy that would otherwise harm your child, but also protect nearby passengers (including other children) from these forces. That’s good design.

Buy the Britax Advocate G4.1 on Sale at Amazon here.

Why Buy the Britax Advocate G4.1?

When it comes to car seats, we buy them to protect our children, and when it comes to protecting our children, it’s best to start with the basics, which means rear-facing as long as possible. With the G4.1, you can rear-face your son or daughter until 40 pounds. Keep in mind that there are a number of other seats that will allow you to rear-face significantly longer by weight, but even if this seat isn’t at the top of that list, it’s still pretty good. What we want to do is to keep our children out of the line of fire, which means we aren’t going to turn them forward-acing at 1, or 2, or even 3. We hold off until 4 if possible, which is the norm in Sweden. It’s no coincidence that nearly no children die each year in car accidents in Sweden; they’re using best practices, and we can too.

Besides the fact that the Advocate G4.1 allows you to rear-face until 40 pounds, I love, love, love the various safety features built into the seat, as they show just how much attention Britax places on reducing injuries and fatalities in the children they protect–the children we love. The side impact protection in particular is my favorite, as side impact collisions are the most likely to be fatal among front-, side-, and rear-impact collisions, simply due to the lack of protective structures in vehicles between our most precious passengers and the outside world. Seats that can increase our childrens’ odds of walking away from crashes are worth buying.

More broadly, I’m also a fan of the fact that the seat is already approved by the FAA for aircraft travel, as well as of the fact that it’s more or less made locally in the United States and has a long product life.

In conclusion, to answer the question of whether the Advocate G4.1 can serve as a good ClickTight alternative to the Advocate ClickTight, I’d say yes, and yes in spades. It’s a quality convertible with great side impact protection. You can buy it here in Broadway and Silver Diamonds. Canadians can buy it here.

If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

Kiddy has been in the car seat industry for a number of years, and the Kiddy Evolution Pro, which is the topic of this review, has just raised the bar to become one of the best infant seats available today in the United States. It’s been sold in Europe for more than a year now, but it’s only just crossed the Atlantic to become available here in the US via Amazon.  This seat follows on the heels of the Kiddy Cruiserfix Pro, which I’ve reviewed here, and a number of high quality infant seats like the UPPABaby MESA, and is poised to become a strong competitor in the world of rear-facing car seats. When Kiddy notified me about the Evolution Pro, I put in my order on Amazon, and it arrived this weekend, which meant I had to test it out. What do I think?

I am impressed. Very impressed. Let’s find out why!

Kiddy Evolution Pro – What’s the big deal?

The Kiddy Evolution Pro has a number of features that simply aren’t available in any other infant car seat in the United States today. First of all, it’s the only infant car seat available in the United States with a 37″ height limit. The majority of infant car seats currently available top out at 30 inches, which means that despite the fact that some of them have higher weight limits, all of them are likely to be outgrown by height before they’re outgrown by weight. Thanks to the 37″ height limit, the 35 pound weight limit is far more likely to be reached by the average child. It also means that a child of average height would be able to rear-face until 3! This is simply unheard of in an infant seat.

Secondly, the Evolution Pro is the only infant seat in the US today that allows your child to sleep in a completely flat position when the seat is flat on the floor and not installed in a vehicle. We’ll talk about more details in a moment, but these are the two biggest reasons to pick up the Evolution Pro.

What kind of car seat is the Kiddy Evolution Pro? Broadly, the Evolution Pro is an infant car seat. That means it’s only designed to be used rear-facing when installed in a car. To forward-face, you’ll need a different kind of car seat, like a convertible or combination car seat. However, as long as you have the appropriate insert, you can use the Evolution Pro straight from the hospital to bring your baby home on his or her first car ride, and the Evolution Pro will be much lighter and easier to use than any convertible car seat that currently exists.

Buy the Kiddy Evolution Pro on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Kiddy Evolution Pro Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 3 to 35 pounds. It comes with a preemie insert that takes the minimum weight limit down to 3 pounds. The insert is essentially a headrest with body support and a crotch support to keep the child from slumping. Children can be up to 37″ tall (wow!), which blows away the competition from every single other infant seat currently on the US market. There is a 1″ height limit relative to the highest part of the seat shell ass well.

Legally in most states, children can forward face at 1, but as readers of The Car Crash Detective, you know that’s way too early, and I recommend extended-rear facing until at least 4, just as the Swedes do, in order to keep your little one as safe as possible. You’re going to need a convertible seat to continue to rear-face after your child outgrows the Evolution Pro, but there are plenty of great ones to choose from here.

Dimensions of the Kiddy Evolution Pro

The Kiddy Evolution Pro is around 18″ wide, 27″ high, and “26” tall. The seat itself weighs 11 pounds and the base adds another 9 pounds when you use it. The width of the Evolution Pro means that you shouldn’t have much trouble installing it in 3 across configurations in cars, trucks, minivans, or SUVs. If you’d like to learn more about which kinds of car seats are likely to work well in your vehicle or beside the Evolution Pro, you’ll want to have a look at the 3 across car seat guide I update here.

Using the Kiddy Evolution Pro

Installation

Out of the box, the Kiddy Evolution Pro is a gorgeous, gorgeous seat. It resembles an egg in its shape, with smooth curved lines and an appealing shell in a variety of colors. Structurally, it feels solid, with molded plastic and steel throughout the shell and substructure, while various plush fabrics are used in the canopy. The fabric seat cover only takes a few seconds to remove and is machine-washable. The canopy itself, or sun roof, as Kiddy calls it, is infinitely adjustable, and gives a good amount of shade. There’s also a rain and mosquito cover that helps keep kids dry and bug free.

The Evolution Pro is designed to offer secure installations, as are most infant seats, through the seat belt or through LATCH anchors. In general, I like the standard lap and shoulder belt installation, especially when I’m trying to figure out 3 across installations or working with older vehicles that didn’t necessarily come with LATCH anchors. However, when dealing with infant seats, I really like LATCH setups whenever I can use them simply because they let me attach the base and then attach and disconnect the infant seat without waking a sleeping baby.

Something neat about the Evolution Pro is that it allows for European belt-routing (behind the shell of the seat) in addition to traditional belt-routing (on top of the seat) when installing it with a seat belt and without the base. Euro-belt routing helps protect against rebound, so it’s nice to have that option when you don’t have the base handy.

Base, Harness, and Fit

kSomething I’m a fan of when it comes to installing through LATCH anchors is the “One-hand-secure system”, which is Kiddy’s terminology for what amounts to a really easy installation of the Evolution Pro base. I tried myself and was able to get a secure installation of the base in as little as 6 seconds after a few minutes of getting used to it, so 5 doesn’t seem far off the mark.

The Evolution Pro base looks beefy and feels solid and comes with 7 different adjustment angles to help you achieve the best recline for your baby as well as a highly visible position indicator. You can buy as many additional bases as you would like to in order to be able to move your Evolution Pro easily from one car to the next without needing to handle a baseless seat belt installation, which takes more time and is likely to rouse a sleeping baby. The process to install the base, as I noted above, is a quick one and the Evolution Pro clicks in and out of the base without any fuss.

The harness of the Evolution Pro is a no-rethread harness, which is always nice for speed in adjustability, and you have five different harness heights to choose from. Something else that’s unique about the Evolution Pro is that you get a 3-point harness instead of a 5-point one. It’s just as safe and is actually the default harness configuration in Europe. The reason why a 3-point harness is used is because it allows the Evolution Pro internal seat to lie flat when it’s not in the vehicle, which is the next point of discussion.

You can use the Evolution Pro to achieve a completely flat recline for a child when the seat isn’t installed in a vehicle! This is pretty incredible, as a flat position is what’s best for newborns, but it’s not possible in any other infant car seat currently on  the market. You can either lie the seat flat when using it on the ground or when using it in a stroller. There are safeguards built into the seat to keep people from being able to install it in a vehicle while the seat is flat. For example, the Pro will not click into its base unless the internal seat has been adjusted into a reclined position. Similarly, once the seat has been reclined into a flat position, tabs pop up to keep the belt path on the seat from being usable.

Besides that, just keep in mind that your harness straps must either be below your child’s shoulders or at her shoulders in order to use the seat. Thanks to the 37″ height limit, you’re going to be able to get a lot of time in the seat.

Fit wise, the Evolution Pro will fit regular-sized newborns as well as premature infants, which means it can be used, as is the case with every infant seat sold in the US, to take your baby home straight from the hospital.

Safety

Safety-wise, the Evolution Pro passes all applicable US safety tests, as well as the relevant European ones. European car seats are tested to higher standards than American ones, including with side impact and additional force tests that we could really use here to give us a better picture of how different car seats compare to each other.

Buy the Kiddy Evolution Pro on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Why Buy the Kiddy Evolution Pro?

There are several reasons why the Kiddy Evolution Pro is worth buying. The first and biggest one is that it’s officially the best infant seat for extended-rear facing in the United States, simply due to the height limit that blows away every other infant seat out there. According to CDC growth charts, a 50th percentile child by height won’t reach 37″ until age 3, at which point he or she would weigh 30 pounds if also 50th percentile by weight. This means that you could literally rear-face an average child in this infant seat until he or she turned 3! That’s as good as it gets for an infant seat right now.

The high weight limit of 35 pounds combined with the high height limit of 37″ makes this seat an excellent value for parents who are interested in continuing to rear-face for as long as possible. This is particularly important since the most important factor about car seats for children under around 4 or 5 is their ability to keep our children rear-facing as long as possible.

This means that you shouldn’t stop with the Kiddy Evolution Pro once your child eventually outgrows it, even though it’ll take longer for your child to do so. While 35 pounds and 37″ are great compared to what’s currently available in the infant seat market, it’s not going to get your kids to age 4, and that’s where I think we need to aim for when it comes to rear-facing. And if that’s your goal, you’ll want to look at convertible seats like the Advocate ClickTight, Marathon ClickTight, or Boulevard ClickTight, which are among the best convertibles that rear-face until 40 pounds, or the Fllo, Foonf, Rainier, or Pacifica, which all rear-face until 50 pounds.  These seats are, in my opinion, the safest convertible car seats young children can use.

Beyond the ability to practice extended-rear facing in an infant seat, I also like that the Evolution Pro allows you to fully recline an infant for sleeping while the seat is in a stroller or on the ground, as this is truly what’s best for babies at this age. Ideally, you don’t want them in car seats at all when you can help it, but when you can’t, if you can have them flat, that’s as good as it gets. Oh, and the Evolution Pro is approved for aircraft travel by the FAA.

There is no better infant seat available today in the United States than the Kiddy Evolution Pro. It’s raised the bar in what we should expect from an infant seat, and is officially the best infant seat I have ever reviewed. You can buy it here in Lavender, Walnut, Zebra, Hawaii, or Racing Black. Unfortunately, it’s not yet available in Canada, but a good Canadian infant seat I’d recommend is the KeyFit 30, available here.

If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

Britax has been releasing capable and highly developed car seats and strollers over a number of years, and I’ve been happy to either use or review many of them, such as the Advocate ClickTight, Marathon ClickTight, Boulevard Clicktight, Frontier ClickTight, Pinnacle ClickTight, Pioneer, Parkway SGL, and B-Safe. None of these seats have disappointed me, and I’ve also been a happy patron of their B-Agile Double Stroller.

When Britax let me know that the B-Safe 35 was on the way and would soon be available on Amazon, I was eager to put it through its paces, especially having just taken a look at the B-Safe 35 Elite, its high end twin. In short, I think it’s a great seat, even if it doesn’t have all of the features of the Elite. For details, read on!

2018 update: There have been no significant changes to the B-Safe 35 in the last couple of years with respect to its height and weight limits, although fabric options have changed slightly.

Britax B-Safe 35 – What’s the big deal?

As I noted in the Britax B-Safe 35 Elite review, Britax released refreshes to their long-running B-Safe infant seat, splitting it into two tracks: the regular Britax B-Safe 35, which has an upgraded 35 pound rear-facing weight limit and a number of additional safety features thrown in, and the Elite, which has even more safety features built in on top of the 35 pound weight limit. The safety features are designed to offer greater side impact protection while making the seat easier to install and use. We’ll take a closer look at them in a moment.

In terms of categorization, the Britax B-Safe 35 is an infant seat, which means it can only be used in a rear-facing configuration, and that you’ll need another seat when you’re ready to forward-face, such as a convertible or combination seat. However, the B-Safe 35 can be used directly from the hospital to carry your baby home as soon as s/he’s born, and will be a lot lighter and easier to use than even the lightest convertible seats. Overall, it’s a fitting alternative to the perennially popular Chicco KeyFit 30 infant seat.

Britax B-Safe 35 Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 4 to 35 pounds. Children should be 32″ tall or less, and the usual 1″ height limit relative to the top of the seat shell applies, in that children’s heads can’t be within 1″ of the top of the seat. The seated shoulder height of the child can range between 6.5″ and 11″. Children must be at least 1 to forward-face, but this is far too early, in my opinion. Personally, I recommend children should remain rear-facing at least until 4, which is also known as extended rear-facing.  The Swedes don’t forward-face until then, which is a big part of why they lose almost no young children each year to motor vehicle collisions.

Buy the Britax B-Safe 35 on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon.

Dimensions of the Britax B-Safe 35

The B-Safe 35 is 17.75″ wide, 25″ high, and 26.5″ tall. The seat itself weighs 10 pounds while the base weighs an additional 9 pounds when used. The shoulder width is 10″ and the seat back compartment height is 20.” The seat area itself is 13″ long and 8.75″ wide. There are 4 harness slot heights at 5″, 7″, 9″, and 11″, while there are two buckle straps at 4″ and 6″ in depth. The width of 17.75″ means that you’re going to have an easy time installing it in just about any SUV, truck, or car with 2 other car seats. For information about which kinds of seats are likely to work with the B-Safe, check out the 3 across car seat guide here.

Using the Britax B-Safe 35

Installation

Out of the box, I like the look of the Britax B-Safe 35. It’s made of plastic and steel, with a steel-reinforced substructure and plastic throughout most of the shell, along with the fabrics for the canopy. You can achieve a good installation through either LATCH anchors or through the seat belt. Something I like about the B-Safe 35 is the SafeCenter LATCH Installation system, which is Britax’s name for some center-pull straps in the base that you simply tighten in order to tighten the LATCH anchors. It works smoothly and takes the hassle out of an infant seat installation, so I’m a fan of it.

However, I’m always a fan of a basic seat belt installation, particularly when dealing with 3 across installations or with older vehicles that might not have LATCH anchors. Thanks to the seat belt lock offs, you can get a good tight installation without much effort. That said, when it comes to infant seats I prefer LATCH setups if you can get away with them because you simply LATCH the base and then connect and disconnect the infant seat as needed.

Base, Harness, and Fit

The B-Safe 35 base is solid and comes with a number of safety indicators. It is also compatible with the B-Safe 35 Elite. You can buy as many extra bases as you have additional vehicles in order to be able to seamlessly transfer your B-Safe 35 from one vehicle to the next without having to deal with a baseless seat belt installation, which is awkward and likely to wake a baby. You get a spring-based recline foot and two ball level indicators, one on each side, to ensure you find the proper level of recline for your infant. The base installation process was smooth and the car seat attaches and detaches smoothly from the base.

The B-Safe 35 harness is not as complex as that in the B-Safe 35 Elite. There are 4 harness positions rather than 6, and they are located at 5″, 7″, 9″, and 11″ at the highest harness height. It also does not have a no-rethread harness, even though it does have a nice easy-release harness button to make loosening the harness straps an easier affair. I’m a big fan of no-rethread harnesses since they make the process of harness adjustment so much less of a hassle than it otherwise can be, but Britax would naturally want you to upgrade to the B-Safe 35 Elite to get that feature. Fair enough. The harness isn’t that bad to rethread anyway. Always remember, of course, that you’ll need the harness straps to be below or at your child’s shoulders while rear-facing, which is the only position you can have for an infant seat.

In terms of fit, the B-Safe 35 is designed to fit newborns and preemies since it’s rated to a lower weight limit of 4 pounds, and I was happy to find that it fit my premature 5 pound doll as well a full term 8 pound doll. Since we’re never quite sure how big or small our infants are going to be until they’re born, it’s a very good thing to know that a car seat will fit most infant sizes before you actually need to try it.

B-Safe 35 Safety Features

Safety-wise, I like that Britax focuses on side-impact protection in the B-Safe 35, even if they don’t to the same extent as they do with the B-Safe 35 Elite. The base in both seats is the same Impact Absorbing Base, which is designed to compress so some amount of crash energy is absorbed before reaching your child. Britax also includes a steel frame that’s designed to stabilize impacts and a strong protective shell that’s also meant to protect your child from life-threatening forces in a collision.

Buy the Britax B-Safe 35 on Sale with Free Shpping at Amazon.

Why Buy the Britax B-Safe 35?

The Britax B-Safe 35 is worth buying for several reasons. The first, for me, is that it offers a significant boot in rear-facing ability than its predecessor simply due to the higher weight limit. As with the B-Safe 35 Elite, I’d have been even happier if Britax had increased the height limits along with the weight limits, but at least they’re aware of the benefits of increasing some of the limits, and perhaps a height limit boost is not far away.

The important thing to keep in mind when you’re dealing with car seats for children under 4 or 5 is that you want to rear-face as long as you possibly can. This simply means that you shouldn’t stop with the B-Safe 35 when your child outgrows it. Thirty five pounds is nice, but it’s not going to get your child up to age 4, and I personally believe we should be aiming that far when it comes to rear-facing. If you’re aiming that far, then you’ll want to look toward seats like the Advocate ClickTight, Marathon ClickTight, or Boulevard Clicktight. if you’re interested in keeping your car seat selections within the Britax line. On the other hand, if you’re willing to try other companies, there are car seats out there that will let you rear-face up to even 50 pounds, which are, in my opinion, the safest seats currently available for young children.

Besides the ability to rear-face longer, I also like the side impact technology built into the B-Safe 35, even if it isn’t quite as much as that built into the Elite. I’m also a fan of the fabrics and the ergonomics of the seat and the fact that it has stroller compatibility with a range of Britax strollers, such as the B-Agile Double. I’m also a fan of its local manufacture in the United States and the fact that you’re good to use it on an airplane due to its FAA aircraft approval.

I’m a fan of the Britax B-Safe 35, and you can buy it here in Black, Red, and Sandstone.

If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can shop here for Canadian purchases. Have a question or want to discuss best practices? Join us in the forums!

Britax is no stranger to the car seat world, and I’ve had the pleasure of using and reviewing a number of their car seats over the years, including the Advocate ClickTight, Marathon ClickTight, Boulevard Clicktight, Advocate G4, Frontier 90, Pinnacle 90, Pioneer 70, Parkway SGL, and B-Safe. All of these seats have been high quality devices, and I’ve been equally thrilled with their B-Agile Double Stroller. As a result, when Britax let me know that they were on the verge of releasing both an update to the B-Safe and a new B-Safe Elite, I couldn’t wait to take a look at an early version of it. You can pick up the B-Safe 35 Elite from Amazon here.

2018 update: Years later, the B-Safe 35 is still a great choice for parents looking for a safe and affordable infant seat. There have been no significant changes since its debut.

Britax B-Safe 35 Elite – What’s the big deal?

The B-Safe 35 Elite is an updated version of Britax’s popular B-Safe infant car seat. Britax is releasing two versions of the B-Safe; a regular, newer B-Safe 35, which features a 35 pound weight limit instead of the prior 30 pound weight limit and the B-Safe 35 Elite, which adds a number of safety technologies, including SafeCell Impact Protection, Side Impact Protection PLUS, and an Absorbing Base. What does that all mean? We’ll go over it down below in the “Using” section. However, a bit of background first…

The B-Safe 35 Elite is an infant car seat, which means it’s designed to be used rear-facing only, and that it can be the very first seat your baby uses right out of the hospital. Being an infant seat, you can’t use it to forward-face; you’ll either need a convertible seat or a combination seat for that. The advantage of infant seats is that they’re much, much lighter than convertible seats; the disadvantage is that you can’t use them as long.

B-Safe 35 Elite Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 4 to 35 pounds. Children should be shorter than 32″ in height and their heads must be at least 1″ below the top of the seat. The child can have a seated shoulder height between 6.5″ and 11.” Of course, you’ll want to rear-face your child until they reach the weight or height limits, and not forward-face them until then. Personally, I’d use the seat for as long as possible and then switch to a convertible seat like the Advocate ClickTight or Marathon ClickTIght or Boulevard ClickTight. Alternatively, I might just buy one of those from the start and call it a day. The main point is to learn from the Swedes, who have the lowest child crash fatality rates on Earth, and rear-face for as long possible.

Dimensions of the Britax B-Safe 35 Elite

The B-Safe 35 Elite is 17.75″ wide, 26.5″ deep, and 25″ high. The back of the seat is 20″ high and the seat area is 13″ deep and just under 9″ wide. The shoulder width is 10″ while the buckle strap depths are 4″ and 6.” There are 6 harness slots that range in height from 5.5″ to 11.” The seat itself weighs 11.5 pounds while the base weighs another 9 pounds. At 11.5 pounds, it’s definitely not the lightest infant seat out there, but it’s still lighter than any convertible seat, and it’s also narrow enough to work well in almost any car, truck, or SUV with 3 car seats.

Buy the B-Safe 35 Elite on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Installing and Using the Britax B-Safe 35 Elite

The Britax B-Safe 35 looks strong and sturdy out of the box and feels smooth and well designed. Installation is possible both through LATCH anchors and through a seat belt installation. One of the features of the Elite designed to make the installation process easier is SafeCenter LATCH Installation, which basically means you get a set of center-pull straps that make it simple to install your LATCH straps. There are also Easy-On / Easy-Off LATCH connectors that click when they’re correctly anchored to your vehicle and are released simply by pushing a button.

Of course, you can also install your B-Safe 35 Elite through a good old fashioned seat belt, especially if you happen to have a vehicle that doesn’t come with LATCH anchors or if you simply don’t want to use them. When you use the seat belt, you get built-in lock offs to reduce the effort needed to get a nice tight installation. I generally prefer using seat belt installations whenever I can help it, as that makes it easier to achieve 3 across installations. However, if you aren’t planning on setting up 2 adjacent car seats beside your B-Safe 35 Elite, I’d suggest going with the LATCH setup if you can just because it’s so darn easy.

Base, Harness and Fit

The base for the B-Safe 35 Elite looks sturdy and feels even sturdier. You can buy extra bases separately and install them in additional vehicles, which saves you from having to use a seat belt baseless installation if you want to use the B-Safe 35 Elite frequently in multiple vehicles. There is a spring-assisted recline foot and a pair of level indicators to help you get the right installation angle in your vehicle. I found both easy to use and had no complaints in the installation process.

The harness for the Elite is adjustable in 6 positions with heights at 5.5″, 6.5″, 8″, 8.75″, 10″, and 11.” The harness is described as a Quick-Adjust Harness, which means it’s basically a no-rethread harness. I love no-rethread harnesses because they take one more step out of the process of car seat adjustment, which results in safer children. You simply push a button and move the harness up or down as needed. Remember that when rear-facing, the harness straps should always be either at or below the child’s shoulders.

Fit-wise, the rating down to 4 pounds in weight indicates that the B-Safe 35 Elite can be expected to fit newborns and premature infants, which is always a relief since we never know exactly how large (or small) our babies will be until they arrive, no matter how many times we go through the pregnancy and delivery doors. I tested it with a full term 8 pound doll and a 5 pound doll and was able to achieve a good fit with both, especially with the additional head supports.

Safety and the Britax B-Safe 35 Elite

Safety-wise, I’m a big fan of the impact-absorbing base and steel frame, as when I’m driving with my little ones I want as much protection as I can afford. The head restraint is designed to absorb additional energy to help protect your baby’s head and neck, the two most vulnerable areas of the body. The side impact protection is something that only Britax and private companies can test, but given Britax’s track record in attention to side impact force mitigation, I’ll trust their results and analysis.

Buy the B-Safe 35 Elite on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Why Buy the Britax B-Safe 35 Elite?

I’m a fan of the Britax B-Safe 35 Elite for a number of reasons. First of all, I like that it features an increased level of rear-facing ability through higher weight limits than those found in the previous generation of the B-Safe. I wish the height limits had also been extended, but having the higher weight limit is a good first step.

What’s important is to keep rear-facing as long as possible, which means that the B-Safe 35 Elite should not be the only rear-facing car seat you buy if you choose it; 35 pounds won’t get children to age 4, which is where I believe we should be aiming for as parents when rear-facing. You’ll want to combine the B-Safe 35 Elite with a seat like the Advocate ClickTight, Marathon ClickTight, or Boulevard Clicktight if you’re looking to stay within the Britax family, or one of the other high weight convertible seats I’ve reviewed (here are the ones that allow rear-facing until 50 pounds).

Besides the rear-facing capabilities, I’m also a fan of the extensive side impact features built into the B-Safe 35 Elite, since side impact crashes, on average, are far more likely to be fatal to adults and children alike than front or rear-impacts. More broadly, I like the fact that the fabrics are comfortable, that the seat is compatible with a number of Britax strollers including the B-Agile Double, and that it’s made locally in the United States and approved for aircraft travel by the FAA.

I wholeheartedly recommend the Britax B-Safe 35 Elite, which you can buy here in Cactus Green, Cowmooflage, Domino, Red Pepper, and Vibe.

If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can shop here for Canadian purchases. Have a question or want to discuss best practices? Join us in the forums!

 

Recaro is a company with a long history of innovation in the racing industry, particularly with respect to racing car seats. Fortunately, they have also shown an interest in car seats for children, and have a growing line of car seats that make use of their racing technology. I’ve recently had the chance to review the Recaro Performance Coupe infant seat and Recaro ProRIDE convertible, and both of those seats impressed me. A friend ordered the Recaro Performance RIDE from Amazon after reading my ProRIDE review and lent it to me for a review so I could share my thoughts on it. In short? I think it’s a pretty good car seat.

2015 Recaro Performance RIDE – What’s the big deal?

As with the Recaro ProRIDE, several racing features present in Recaro adult car seats have been brought to the Recaro Performance RIDE, including the HERO harness technology and extensive side impact support. The side impact support is particularly exciting to me due to the degree to which side impact collisions threaten the lives of children and adults alike. A great number of the side collisions I’ve looked at involved forces that may have been survivable in frontal impacts, where vehicles offer more protection. That’s why I’m a fan of any car seat that makes side impact protection a priority, and the Recaro Performance RIDE is one of those seats.

More generally, the Recaro Performance RIDE is a convertible car seat, so you can use it forward-facing as well as rear-facing. This makes it and most other convertible car seats a better deal for most parents than infant car seats simply because they can be used directly from the hospital until around kindergarten or even later in some cases. Of course, infant car seats can also be worth looking into simply because they make it much easier to transport sleeping newborns and infants than convertible seats, which are too heavy and bulky to carry with you everywhere.

Buy the Recaro Performance RIDE on Sale at Amazon here.

Recaro Performance RIDE Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 5 to 40 pounds. There is a 49″ height limit for children as well as the standard 1″ rule relative to the top of the car seat shell. There is an internal shell height of 22.5″, which, while not nearly as good as that in a seat like the NextFit or Olympia, is certainly better than what you’ll find in any infant seat. Best practices indicates you’ll want to keep your child rear-facing for as long as possible, in order to increase his or her odds of surviving a collision.

Forward-facing: 20 to 65 pounds. The 49″ tall height restriction continues when forward-facing. This is unfortunate, as it means you aren’t going to have as much time forward-facing as you would in a seat like the NextFit or Olympia. In line with best practices, you’ll want to ignore the lower 20 pound requirement for forward-facing and aim to reach the 40 pound rear-facing limit, or as close as you can to it before you consider forward-facing, and then forward-face until you hit 65 pounds or until your child outgrows the seat by height.

Dimensions of the Recaro Performance RIDE

The Performance RIDE is 19 inches wide, 11 inches deep, and around 28 inches high, with an inch more at full head restraint extension and an inch less at minimal head restraint extension. Because it’s a decently narrow seat, you’re not going to have too much trouble fitting a 3 across car seat installation with it in most cars that are mid-sized or larger. It’s certainly wider than a seat like a Foonf or Fllo, though, so if 3 across is your priority, keep in mind that there are narrower seats out there. The eat weigh 20 pounds, which is rather typical for a convertible seat.

Buy the Recaro Performance RIDE on Sale at Amazon here.

 

Using the Recaro Performance RIDE

As with the ProRIDE, the Performance RIDE has a solid, sturdy feel to it. You feel safe when using it and strapping your child into it, and knowing Recaro has a history of designing seats to protect people traveling at more than 100 mph on race tracks helps ease the mind when merging onto an intersection in Chicago highway traffic. Installing the seat is straightforward whether you use a seat belt installation or a LATCH setup.

I prefer using seat belts simply because they make it much easier to achieve a 3 across installation in comparison to LATCH. When I use seat belts to install car seats, I also don’t have to worry about exceeding LATCH weight limits. That said, I sometimes go with LATCH to save time if I don’t have to install multiple car seats, and the LATCH system here works just fine and has a push-button system for adjustment.

I have a number of reasons to be pleased with the Performance RIDE, but perhaps the most significant for me is the rather detailed side impact protection system. According to Recaro, the system was designed to meet the strictest standards overseas where it was tested, and was specifically made to give greater levels of protection to the pelvis, the head, the torso, the neck, and the face, which they determined to be the five parts of the body most vulnerable in side impact collisions. There is plenty of EPS foam throughout the seat that helps cut down on the forces felt by children in collisions.

I’m also a huge fan of the HERO harness system, which is also present in the Performance Coupe infant seat by Recaro, but not present in the ProRIDE. As a result, I automatically prefer the Performance RIDE over the ProRIDE if you get the chance to choose between the two of them. The safety feature essentially places the shoulder pads around the child’s neck, shoulders, and head when the child is restrained, and in the process, make harness twisting less likely to occur and the chest clip more likely to stay in place when buckled. There is also the Safety Stripe System present, which, per Recaro, is a white stripe inspired by racing practices that you can see on the outside part of the included 5-point harness. When the stripe is present, parents know that the harness is properly positioned. In contrast, when the stripe is twisted, parents know that it means the harness is twisting and can take appropriate action to correct it. It’s details like this that make me prefer the Performance RIDE over the ProRIDE.

Additionally, the Performance RIDE features breathable fabrics for easy air venting so children sweat less while in the seat. My daughter indeed verified that she felt more comfortable in the Performance RIDE than she often does in other seats that lead to more sweating. The mesh fabric itself can be washed by machine and comes in a wide range of colors. As an aside, another difference between the Performance RIDE and the ProRIDE is that the Performance RIDE comes with a cup holder. It’s an arguably small difference, but it was significant enough for my friend to use as a reason to go with the Performance RIDE over the ProRIDE.

In terms of fitting children, I’d say the Performance RIDE does a decent job with larger infants and toddlers all the way to the preschool age, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to go all the way down to the 5 pound lower weight limit, simply because the harness straps are too high even when they’re in their lowest positions. To safely ride in a car seat while rear-facing,t he harness straps need to either be below the shoulders of the child or at the shoulders of the child, and that’s simply not going to happen in the Performance RIDE with a 5 pound baby. Again, however, you’ll likely be fine with a typical-sized newborn and up.

Why Buy the Recaro Performance RIDE?

I’m a fan of the Recaro Peformance RIDE for many of the same reasons I like the ProRIDE. It’s a safe car seat with a number of unique racing-inspired safety features designed to keep children properly restrained for several years. Remember that you’re going to want to use the seat as long as possible by maxing out your rear-facing time until 40 pounds or as close as you can get to it as possible. The biggest drawbacks are the harness straps, which can make fitting smaller newborns a challenge, as well as less than optimal leg-room when rear- and forward-facing. I’d also prefer it if the rear-facing weight and height limits were better, as there are many car seats capable of rear-facing until 50 pounds today. That said, this is one of the most solidly-constructed car seats I’ve seen with perhaps the greatest attention to side impact protection on the market.

I believe the Recaro Peformance RIDE is a great car seat and heartily recommend it. You can buy it here in Marine, Plum, Rose, Sapphire, Slate, Haze, Vibe, Knight, and Redd. Canadians can buy it here.

If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.