Arriving in stores this month, Britax®, is introducing their newest child safety seat — the Parkway® SG belt positioning booster with the SecureGuard™ Seat Belt Anchor. The SecureGuard — also known as an anti-submarining clip — helps prevent the child from sliding under the lap belt (or submarining) during a collision, reducing the risk of abdominal injury. The Parkway SG easily converts to a backless booster while maintaining the SecureGuard feature, and fits children from 18.1 kilograms (40 pounds) and 96.5 cm (38 inches) up to 54.4 kilograms (120 pounds) and 160 cm (63 inches).

“The Parkway SG was designed with safety features that provide greater protection for children who have outgrown harnessed child safety seats,” said Sebastiaan Selders, product manager at Britax. “The SecureGuard clip and its strap connect the seat base to the lap-belt portion of the vehicle’s lap-shoulder belt between the child’s legs to effectively create a four-point harness. This additional point of contact stops the child from sliding under the lap portion of a vehicle’s seat belt.”

The advanced safety features of the Parkway SG also help absorb energy in a crash, offering maximum safety to children. When used with the seat back, the Parkway SG provides Britax True Side Impact Protection® — a combination of deep side walls and head wings made from energy-absorbent material and an adjustable head restraint — which transfers energy away from the child during a side impact crash.

Approximately one in four of all motor vehicle crashes that involve children occur from the side, and these crashes result in a significantly higher injury rate than front or rear crashes, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. True Side Impact Protection, combined with the SecureGuard, helps to ensure that children are properly positioned in the event of a collision, reducing the risk of life-threatening injuries.

“For safety’s sake, it’s very important that when parents shop for booster seats, they continue to seek out features designed specifically to help protect children from both frontal and side impact crash forces,” said Laura Jana, M.D., pediatrician, child passenger safety technician and mother of three. “Parents should also look for seats with features that help keep children properly positioned in the seat. In the case of booster seat use, correct lap-shoulder belt positioning — with the shoulder belt crossing over the shoulder (not the neck) and the lap belt sitting low across the hips — can significantly minimize the risk of internal organ and/or spine injuries in the event of a crash.”

In addition to the aforementioned features, this booster offers a number of comfort and ease-of-use features that help keep children content and ensure that caregivers use the seat correctly. These include :

• supportive high-density comfort foam that cushions the child and helps him stay properly positioned in his seat
• armrests and retractable cup holders that can hold the child’s beverage
• a quick-adjust mechanism easily adjusts the head restraint
• color-coded vehicle belt guides help caregivers correctly position the vehicle seat belt
• the seat is also designed for three-across seating in many mid- and small-sized vehicles

The Parkway SG meets and exceeds all standards of compliance currently mandated for such substances as phthalates and lead content. It will be available in two fashions at independent and mass retailers in August 2009. Its suggested retail price is $139.99.

We like their seats because they are not only comfortable, but they exceed most of their competition in forward-facing weight capacity.

Even though we have only had our Boulevard CS for a short time, there are already many things that we love about it.

Installation: This seat installs the same as Britax’s other seats, with either the LATCH cables located under the seat, the lap/shoulder belt or just the lap belt. From start to finish – it took my husband less than five minutes to put this seat in.

Getting started: Out of the box, this seat is ready to go. Before we installed the seat into my SUV, I had my toddler get in for a fitting.

I normally do this before we put the seat in the vehicle because there is usually an adjustment that you need to do on the backside of the seat to adjust the harness and once it is installed you no longer have access to this area.

This seat features 2 headrest adjustment knobs (one on each side) that allow parents to adjust a harness yoke on the back of the seat. Gone are the days of feeding the harness through a panel of slots. These adjustment knobs were sent from heaven. They are not only easy to use, but they allow parents the ability to be precise when adjusting the harness.

Safety Features: The biggest feature on this seat is the Click & Safe™ (CS) feature. It is an audible aide that helps determine when the harness is secure by clicking when the harness straps are snug.

The True Side Impact Protection™ with deep side walls and head support provides advanced protection in side impact collisions. During a crash, TSIP distributes crash forces, shields the child from vehicle intrusion, contains the child’s head and body, and “trues” the head to minimize lateral head, neck & spine movement.

Size: Britax car seats are known for their bigger, more robust size and this seat is no different. While it appeared to be much bigger than our Marathon, it turns out that they are virtually the same size, with a small differences.

The Boulevard CS is 2.5lbs heavier.

The additional weight is probably due to the body pillow, side impact protected headrest and the mechanism that controls the feeding harness. Three things that are worth the 2lbs!

Britax’s car seats will cost you more, but they are worth every penny.

The fabrics are soft and classy, with fun custom covers offered for kids who want a seat with a bit of personality.

Because my son is so small, he will probably fit into this seat until it is time for him to sit independently with no harness. A normal child would more than likely fit until they were probably 5 or older.

For more information, please visit Britax.com

This year the company is launching 3 new products:

This seat falls into the ‘Highest Five-Point Harness Seat Category’, allowing children to remain in a five-point harness for up to 80 pounds or in booster mode up to approximately 100 pounds.

It was created for children aged 2 and up because of it’s straight up and down design. Children under the age of 2 are not developed enough to sit in this position safely.

The Frontier’s True Side Impact Protection distributes crash forces, shields from vehicle intrusion, contains the head and body, and minimizes side-to-side head movement.

Bonus – Britax has added 2 Retractable Cup Holders for convenient drink and snack storage.

2. Boulevard CS (available now in Canada and U.S.)

True Side Impact Protection, which distributes crash forces, shields your child from from vehicle intrusion, contains the head and body, and minimizes side-to-side head movement.

The CS stands for the Click & Safe™, a snug harness indicator that gives an audible affirmation to moms and dads that the harness is snug around the baby by clicking when the harness straps are appropriately tightened.

It has a quick-adjust headrest and harness that re-positions head support and harness height effortlessly without having to re-thread the straps.

Suitable for infants weighing 5lbs – 35lbs rear facing and toddlers 20lbs to 65lbs forward facing.

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3. Advocate CS (available 2009)This seat features two plastic cushions on the side of the seat that called ‘Side Impact Cushion Technology’.

These patented exterior energy-management cushions compress upon impact to protect both the child and adjacent passengers in the event of a side impact crash. This compression provides an increased level of side impact protection.

DISCLAIMER – weights listed in this post are for U.S. markets only. When released in Canada the seat’s capacity may be changed by Canadian Government.

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For the Fashionable Mommy, Britax is now offering a couple of Couture designs. It is not known whether these fashions will be available in Canada, but the U.S. should see them soon!

 

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