Britax Roundabout Car Seat Review

Left to my own devices, I would have chosen a different car seat. However, before I put much thought into that decision, my unborn baby was gifted with a Britax Roundabout through her father's work. I felt fortunate to have acquired a car seat from such a prestigious company, and was confident Britax's much-touted claims to superior quality would keep my precious cargo safe.

But claims aren't what keep children safe; constant, proper use of safety seats is. Proper use means a rock-solid installation and a tightly harnessed passenger. No matter what advances in safety seat technology are listed in the brochure, nothing is safe if it doesn't fit your car or your child. This means that although there is nothing wrong with the Roundabout, my little girl was only safe in it some of the time.

In the beginning, I loved my Roundabout. My petite one-year-old seemed to have plenty of room to grow, and rear-facing installation was possible in the back seat of my Toyota Corolla (albeit not without the front-passenger seat occupant's knees pressed against the dashboard).  When we only owned one car seat, transferring the Roundabout from one car to another was relatively simple because of it's light weight and unfussy installation method. Because of Britax's built-in lock off clips for vehicle belts, getting a tight fit seemed easy in almost any car. The "funky denim" cover was easy to launder and only looked better with wear and tear, just like a pair of jeans. The straps never twisted, and by never I mean I never experienced a twisted strap until I owned a different brand of seat. My daughter didn't know that other seats offered more of a cush ride, and as such, did not care that the Roundabout is practically unpadded. Two hundred dollars is a lot to pay for a car seat, but I didn't mind since I was not the one who paid. 

As I learned more about car seats, the Roundabout satisfied me less. When I decided to buy a second car seat so I could keep one installed all the time and not move it from car to car, I looked for very different things. I wanted Side Impact Protection, easier LATCH clips, an easier harness to buckle and adjust, and above all else, higher height and weight limits. The Roundabout is all over after the child reaches 40 pounds or 40 inches. A few growth charts I consulted, as well as a few four year olds I know, indicate most children will outgrow the seat by height before weight. That means that even if you are not concerned about keeping a child harnessed as long as possible, you might not be crazy about buying a bigger car seat for your tall and slim three and a half year old who is nowhere near ready for a belt-positioning booster. Another thing to consider is that no matter what your child's total height in inches, the car seat is outgrown if her shoulders are above the highest harness slot. Long-torsoed moms, take notice - have you handed your endomorphic genetics down to the next, relatively short-limbed generation? The worst case scenario for a Roundabout owner is a small-boned child (because she will take forever to get to forty pounds) with more of her length in her trunk than her limbs, and that is exactly my scenario. Isn't it starting to sound more and more as if the Roundabout will not last as long as it is needed? 

Other factors contributed to our discontent. As soon as we purchased our Recaro, a seat built with plenty of attention to the child's comfort, my daughter found the Britax's lack of padding completely torturous. The Recaro also showed me the light in regard to harness buckles that can click in one side at a time (as opposed to fumbling with a puzzle buckle and clicking both together at once) and nearly effortless LATCH clips. Attempts to install the seat with LATCH were met with broken fingernails and shockingly blue language. As my daughter grew taller, rethreading the harness straps to keep them at the proper position above her shoulders was such a bother, she sometimes sat for weeks with the harness at the wrong height. While the built-in lock offs for the vehicle belt made it seem easy to get a perfect installation every time, it soon occurred to me that I was entrusting my daughter's life to a rather flimsy plastic clamp.  

The Roundabout is a fine car seat if it fits your child. For ease of installation in small cars, particularly with the vehicle belt, I give it five stars. Unfortunately, there is more to a car seat than simply pulling every strap tight and buckling all the buckles. Since I've bought three car seats and retired this one during the last year,  everything I've learned about what is on the market convinces me that two bills for the lowest end Britax is an unwise investment. So many other seats take advantage of the latest technology and have higher height and weigh limits for less money. I bought a Safety First Apex for my mother to use, and would recommend that seat to anyone with a compatible car. If you can't possibly settle for a brand other than Britax, the money you don't spend right away on a Decathalon or Regeant is probably money you will only end up paying later. I would never choose a Roundabout in the future, and I urge anyone else in the market to consider something that will last longer, cost less money, or both.