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
Having a hard time getting a consistent answer. Is it mandatory or just a recommendation to have the new g4’s tethered when rear facing in Canada?
Super excited to check out this neat car seat. Love the colors!
@Jessie, which belt length are you talking about? The harness or LATCH? I’m going to assume harness because I’ve never had problems with the LATCH belt length. There was no mention of a change in harness length.
@Pixels, straight from Sarah Tilton.
Heather Watson, source please?
I have never, EVER heard of a vehicle manufacturer limiting the weight on an add-on child restraint installed with seat belt.
Do they change the belt length? It’s so short and tight for old seats
OK, official word from Britax is that they’re shipping within the next 7 days, so order up!
Wondering the same thing as Mamasyl. The Britax site still says “coming soon” and the only other place I can find it mentioned is Amazon (shipping on Jan 20, 2014). The Britax site does say that buybuy baby will have a special product bundle but their buybuybaby.com does not yet list it. I’m trying to decide whether to wait or to buy the older model.
@mamayl, I haven’t heard that they’ve pushed back the release date, but I’ll check. They’re supposed to be shipping as of late November, which is almost over for me, so . . . Give me a couple of days and check back.
Will these seats be available in the US before 2014? Amazon says January 20, 2014 – available for preorder, and pishposhbaby is doing preorders shipping mid-December they claim.
The prices on the G3 marathons dropped today on amazon. I am curious what the manufacturer dates are and how long the G4s are verified for vs the G3s – does it make sense to buy at the sale price not knowing how long I can use it, or order the G4 on sale for holidays.
Thoughts?
@Kristin, the rf weight limits will still be 40 lbs.
Are there RF weight limits? I know the previous generation was 40 lbs RF…is that going away with the new height indicator?
Thanks Heather!
I meant something similar to the SureLatch on Evenflo Symphony DLX and Snugli.
Thanks Heather!
I meant a latch similar to the SureLATCH on Evenflo Symphony DLX and Snugli.
@Sophie, the teal seat caught our attention not only because of the color, but also because the fabric was different–Kecia said it felt like my Lululemon pants (not that Kecia goes around feeling my pants, mind you). It’s a soft, almost jersey-like fabric. I personally hope they don’t change the LATCH system on the convertibles because I don’t think they can improve it. Do you mean weight limits or something else?
Are the new fabrics more breathable, or same sweat-inducing quality as before? Any improvement to the latch system?
Thanks!
Will all the new colors be available on all models? Like, if I wanted a Pavilion would it be available in any of the new colors?
@Toni, shipping will be mid-late November.
Do you have any info about when/if the new g4s will be available for sale? Amazon has the roundabout g4 on its site for presale, but none of the others are listed.
@Wendy, Britax is checking on the HUGS retrofit for us. As for the weight change being retroactive, that’s more complicated. It depends on the vehicle. The weight change isn’t retroactive on the carseats themselves, but owners must check their vehicle manuals or call the vehicle manufacturer to see what the weight limit is for the car seat.
New Parkway fashions are on the Britax website.
Cool updates on Britax though would also love taller shell. Any updates on Diono seats (other than the houndstooth)?
Looks good, LOVE this diamond plate pattern. I REALLY want this on a parkway.
Looks like some nice updates. I just wish there was just one seat with a taller shell. Bummer.
Any new fashions for the 2013 Parkway SGL?
Will the HUGS be retrofittable to older seats?
Is the weight limit change retroactive?
Sounds like some great changes! Now if they would just reinforce that headrest!