Britax Boulevard CS Car Seat

Although for the first 10 months or so I used a dedicated Graco SnugRide infant car seat, our son has outgrown it and it was time to switch to a larger model. Fortunately, Britax Boulevard 70 CS convertible car seat can be used in both front and rear-facing positions (latter until 40 lbs) and I bought it.

Construction



This car seat is build like a tank, which makes it quite heavy, but also very sturdy and reassuring. Its has integrated metal parts and very sturdy LATCH connectors, which are also much easier to attach/detach than those of the Graco SnugRide.

The seat has sturdy posts for the seat belt as well as a pouch on the back for convenience of storing the unused portion of the Versa-Tether (a.k.a. webbing) the attaches the back of the seat to the car in rear-facing position and reduces impact forces.

The height of the headrest adjusts using a rotary knob, which is convenient. The only issue I see is that the manual is permanently attached to the seat with a rather thick cord, so even though it is impossible to loose it, it is very difficult to read it even before the seat is installed, let alone after.

Usage

The use of the seat required reading the manual since I didn't know how to install it in the car, adjust it and its straps.

The seat supports both the seat belt and the LATCH installation. I installed it using the LATCH in our 2007 Honda Accord, first in the center position, the moved it to the position behind the driver, since it impaired backward visibility for the driver somewhat while being in the middle. It was installed in rear-facing position with webbing attached as well. Later, I moved it back to the middle rear position, front-facing.

The LATCH installation was easy once I read the manual. Adjusting the 5-point harness was a little more challenging. The front of the seat touches the seat back of the car's seat, so pulling on the adjustment belt to tighten the harness produces a lot of resistance. And I am afraid to pull hard enough to make the "click and safe" mechanism click. Still, the seat seems comfortable and the harness tight enough.

Transferring this seat from car to car would not be very difficult, but I have another car seat in my 2004 Infiniti G35 (Japanese Aprica Marshmallow Bed model).

As mentioned above, the seat is sturdy, well-made and features easily-cleaned materials. The latches and straps are very sturdy and the 5-point harness has a very strong buckle as well as another buckle for chest area. There are belt shoulder pads as well as chest pads. There is also a pad on the crotch area.

The buckle requires a lot of force to latch but I don't have to worry that I don't pinch my child while latching because there is a pad under it.

Safety

The seat is obviously supposed to be safe. Britax conducts crash tests of their seats and is considered one of the safest brands.

Value

Although the seat is not cheap, it should last a long time since it is convertible (front/rear-facing). In fact, we rotated it to face forward once our son was 24 lbs since he was becoming too tall for rear-facing installation, plus he wanted to see where we were going.

It is important to note that when he was 23 lbs, he still could fit in this Britax inrear-facing position, whereas my other seat (Aprica Marshmallow Bed) required to be rotated to front-facing position at 22 lbs (which is less safe). And this Britax  theoretically should let you use it up to 40 lbs in rear-facing position, but it depends if your child isn't too tall for it.

Pros: Sturdy, safe, good connectors, not very expensive.
Cons: Heavy.

Conclusion

This Britax Boulevard 70 CS is a sturdy and safe seat with convenient connectors and attractive design. I am glad I bought it and highly recommend it.