Hello from the ABC Show in Las Vegas! Britax has a few, alright 6, upcoming changes for their new convertible seat line!
Our Full review can be found here!
The G4 Britax Convertibles will have:
- A new infant insert that’s required for infants up to 22 lbs. After the child reaches 22 lbs., the insert must be removed. It’s used for proper positioning for harness height and fits Romeo well.
- A new HUGS design without the tether through the back of the seat. The HUGS has a wavy design on the front that the chest clip “locks” into when the harness is properly tightened, making it difficult for children to push down. HUGS is still optional for rear-facing children, though Britax does recommend that they are left on all the time so parents don’t lose them. New HUGS will be on Blvd, Pavilion & Advocate models. Marathon will retain current (original) HUGS pads. Roundabout doesn’t have HUGS.
- On the inside of the cover, there’s a new label indicating maximum shoulder height for rear-facing children. This eliminates guesswork for parents for when their child has outgrown the seat rear-facing. When the child’s shoulders reach the line on the label, it’s time to turn the child forward (height-wise).
- All convertibles that once had a 70 lbs. weight limit will now have a 65 lbs. weight limit due to new FMVSS testing standards being introduced in 2014.
- Labels are now color-coded. Rear-facing labels are blue, forward-facing labels and lockoffs are green, booster labels are red.
- Britax is dropping the numbers from the names of their convertibles; so the Roundabout 55 will now be the Roundabout, the Marathon 70 will be the Marathon, etc. Plain Jane, you know. Makes it easy, as long as you stick with the new seats. Older seats will still be called by their names, like Marathon 70.
Babies R Us does have an exclusive called the Ultimate Comfort Series (UCS). Besides exclusive covers, these seats will have memory foam for ultimate comfort.
Buy Buy Baby will maintain their XE series as well, which includes a cup holder, a stuff bag, and an extended warranty. Buy Buy Baby also sells the Highway for Britax.
Canadians, great news for you! Because Britax has sold out of their current stock in Canada, you should be seeing these changes on their website coming this Friday.
For the rest of us down south, we can watch for the changes on the Britax website on November 8. Seats will be shipping around mid-late November.
New 2014 fashions will include Laguna (which is really teal, not blue; couldn’t capture true color), Pink Giraffe, Cub Pink & Kiwi
Which of the color/fabric options of the pavilion g4 is softest more comfortable ?
@Nwwoodsymom, I think the Laguna you see at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G34TIKU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00G34TIKU&linkCode=as2&tag=carseatblog-20&linkId=XCQ4WJSWK6DDGNLQ) is pretty representative of the color since they get their photos directly from Britax. The lighting in our pictures is less than ideal since it’s coming from 20′ above us.
I know I’m late, but I’m wondering about the Laguna color. I haven’t seen any in person. The websites show it to be a bright teal, but in pictures here and elsewhere on the web it looks washed out. I’ve scanned reviews but haven’t seen this addressed.
Just bought the pink giraffe print for my 2 sweet girls and have to say these pictures don’t give it justice the print is absolutely stunning in comparison to all the silver/black unisex colored seats out there. The feature of not re-threading the harness well I didn’t know such a feature existed! I didn’t know what I was missing but once you have this feature you will never go back!!!! Was able to buy my seat on Amazon this week using a Britax promotion going on right now over there to receive an additional 15% off already on sale price promo code Britax15
Yes, we were impressed by it.
Thanks, Heather… Do you think the jersey fabric of the Laguna color will hold up well?
@Amanda, I really can’t remember what the black part felt like. I’m assuming that’s what you’re talking about since the rest of it matches the seat. I do remember the teal portion feeling like jersey.
Really love the Laguna pattern, but read a few reviews that said the head part is “scratchy.” What is your opinion?
@Kristin, the new G4s are required to be tethered rear-facing in Canada. You may be interested in our review that covers it more here: https://carseatblog.com/25807/2014-britax-advocate-g4-review-usa-and-canada/ .