Checking Our List Finale: Britax Frontier 85 Car Seat {Review & Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, Amie!}

Although I've been known to try to save a dollar here or there when I'm out shopping for children's items (particularly at garage sales), there is one area that I have never even considered purchasing anything less than the very, very best: my kids' safety.

No matter how careful of a driver I might be, there is no way for me to fully eliminate the possibility of us being in a car accident any time that we head out on the road. Knowing that I would never be able to live with myself if something happened to my kids that could have been prevented had I just spent a little extra money, I began researching to find the top name in high quality and safe car seats before Big Sister E was even born.

Time and time again, it seemed that every book, website or mom confirmed the same thing: that title belonged to Britax. With their commitment to providing children a safe and secure ride with their easy to install, simple to use and continually-tested car seats, there just isn't any other that can compare.

Speaking from years of experience, I can say that I'm continually impressed with the great lengths that Britax goes to in order to ensure that their car seats (and strollers) are both comfortable and extremely safe. So, when their newest release, the Frontier 85, showed up, I knew that it would demonstrate nothing less than excellence.

Heck, even their boxes are comfortable to sit on!

Does it seem like there are more and more car seat choices every time you go to the store? It does to me. Infant seats, convertible seats, booster seats with backs or booster seats without... I get a little overwhelmed just looking down the car seat aisle. Is Big Sister E old enough? Tall enough? Heavy enough? Not to mention will she easily accept the transition from one seat to a completely different one?

The Britax Frontier 85 is the solution to all of my worries and makes it extremely easy to make one purchase and then be done. This Combination Harness-2-Booster can be used in its forward-facing, 5-point harness mode when a child turns two and weighs at least 25 pounds all the way up to 85 pounds (and is between 30" and 57" tall). It then converts to a belt-positioning booster and can accommodate a child from 40 pounds all the way to 120 pounds and 5'5" tall!

I mentioned this was the last car seat you would need to purchase, right?

With an increased harness height, cup holders, armrests, three seat buckle positions and so much more, checking out the features of the Frontier 85 is like running through a list of all the things that a mom could ask for:


Pretty nice, isn't it? I'm really trying to come up with something that the Frontier 85 doesn't have... but I'm drawing a blank.

As much as Big Sister E loves those cup holders, armrests and just how cushioned the entire seat is, it doesn't compare to how thrilled I am with all of the safety features and how long we will be able to use this car seat.

Starting with the True Side Impact Protection in the seat as well as in the adjustable head restraint that distributes the force of a crash and will protect her head, neck and entire body in position to reduce injury as much as possible. Then there is the EPS Foam Liner and Energy-Absorbing Base, both designed to absorb even more force and impact, and the Versa-Tether and Harness Ultra Guard System to resist any forward movement.

So, as far as safety is concerned, Britax has definitely proven itself to me once again. As opposed to just being effective in certain types of crashes, I know that Big Sister E is going to be as safe as possible from 360° no matter what happens on the road.

And then there's the convenience. My husband barely glanced at the Frontier 85 before having it clicked in and installed in minutes. The Premium Lower LATCH Connectors and push-button system make putting this in or taking it out simple enough for anyone to do it.

But that's nothing compared to the adaptability; the range of height and weight limits for the Frontier 85 really are amazing. Whereas most convertible car seats go up to around 40 pounds, this seat allows a child to remain harnessed all the way up to 85 pounds... and then swapped into a belt-positioning booster seat for children to 120 pounds.

Plus, even though I'm only 5'4" I somehow have ended up with tall children, so the 10 harness-height positions have ensured that Big Sister E won't ever have to hunch over or feel scrunched down by straps or padding anywhere on this seat. I like being able to adjust the head restraint with one hand using the lever on the back and I really like not having to disassemble and re-thread the entire harness.

To top it all off, if you're concerned that there are too many numbers or instructions that might need to be remembered to have this correctly installed and adjusted for your child, Britax makes it easy by laying it all out on both sides of the seat itself:

What more could there be? The Britax Frontier 85 is the complete package for a child over two years old and this car seat has managed to fit in comfort, convenience, adaptability and safety into one stylish package. With seven great fabric options to choose from, this is seat that you'll use and enjoy for years to come... in fact, with such an age, weight and height range, the Frontier 85 has an expiration date of nine years instead of the traditional six.

Considering a certain someone around here just turned two, Little Sister B didn't even want to wait for me to lower the headrest to her height before excitedly showing how comfortable she would be in a Frontier 85 as well...

Retailing for $279.99, the Britax Frontier 85 would be more than just a holiday gift for your family, it would be an investment in what matters most: your children or your grandchildren. Now that's what the holidays are all about.

Thanks to the wonderful generosity of Britax, one person will have the gift that keeps on giving for a long time to come, because...

One lucky person will win a Frontier 85 Combination Harness-2-Booster from Britax!

To enter to win: Visit Britax and tell me which of their amazing products is your favorite INCLUDING the fabric option you like best for it.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

1 Extra Entry if you head over to A Mom's Balancing Act and enter to win a Britax B-SCENE stroller! ARV $399.99!
1 Extra Entry (per method) if you follow Britax on Twitter and/or become a fan on Facebook.
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the Holiday Gift Guide giveaways (Checking Our List giveaways ONLY) running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

Checking Our List Finale: WIN a Britax Frontier 85 Harness-2-Booster Seat (ARV $280)! #thxmailcarrier http://bit.ly/gCgO96 #giveaway #win

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email or become a fan on Facebook.
3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries if you have our Checking Our List {Holiday Gift Guide 2010} button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier and Britax. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on January 14th at 11:59pm CST. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only.

A big thank you to Britax for providing a Frontier 85 for me to review as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.