Babies grow in the blink of a eye! It seems like yesterday that I was shopping for pregnancy clothes and now I’m putting away the bouncy seat and selling the 0-3 month clothes. Just yesterday, I needed to decide whether to buy size 2 or 3 diapers. Where does the time go? I don’t want to forget products that are absolute necessity so I try to stay on top of things by planning ahead. Since travel is as important as food and water in our lives, and Athena spends hours in the van happily playing with her toys and looking in the mirror, we figured that it’s never too early to think about a larger car seat. Britax is always busy working on new products with innovative safety, comfort, and ease-of-use features to meet the needs of both parents and children, making them the perfect choice for a car seat for Athena. We’re cheap when it comes to clothing and novelties, but when it comes to safety, we want the best. After countless hours of research, we decided that it doesn’t get any better than the Frontier 85! At the forefront in harness design, impact protection, and comfort, the Frontier 85 will be enjoyed by Athena for hours of travel and adventure.

Traveling in a vehicle can be stressful for new parents and children. Even if you are driving carefully and following all of the road rules, accidents still happen. The True Side Impact Protection of the Frontier 85 offers a head restraint creating an extra layer of energy-absorbing foam, keeping the head, neck and spine “in true” or aligned. The deep side walls are lined with energy-absorbing foam to distribute crash forces. They shield from vehicle intrusion and contain the head, neck, and body. The Energy-Absorbing Versa-Tether features a staged-release tether webbing to slow the forward movement, reducing the crash forces, and the two-point attachment minimizes forward rotation while anchoring the top of the seat. The reality is that I am going to worry about crashes and other vehicles and everything else in Athena’s life; it’s part of being a parent, but knowing that she is riding in a highly-rated, protective seat, brings some comfort to my car travels.

The Frontier 85 has the most versatile Five-Point Harness system. With the highest Five-Point Harness seat capacity, children can remain harnessed up to 85lbs. The Quick-Adjust, No-Rethread Harness repositions the harness shoulder height without disassembling the harness straps, and with 10 harness height positions and three buckle positions, it’s guaranteed to provide a comfortable, secure fit. The Harness-2-Booster even converts to a belt-positioning booster seat.

During long drives, we try to stop regularly and allow Athena to stretch often, but the comfort of a car seat is extremely important. We’ve already experienced slight neck problems as she prefers to tilt her head to the right. It was a concern for us and we considered eliminating car travel altogether until she was completely comfortable with resting her head in a straight line position. We now use a neck rest and do regular stretches with her, but as she grows, we want to continue watching her neck muscle development. The High Density Comfort Foam of the Frontier 85 provides an extra layer of padding and the Plush, Premium Cover is set with thick, underlying comfort foam to provide extra comfort and encourage proper positioning. With the proper support, like what the Frontier 85 offers, regular rest stops, and continued neck therapy exercises, we can still travel often.

I may love extreme sports and adventures, but when it comes to driving on the highway with my daughter in the vehicle, my cautious, nervous side is in control. There is nothing more important than Athena and I want to protect her as much as possible.  I know I can always count on Britax to make a high quality product with safety in mind.

Check out this great link to read about the Booster Evaluations for 2011. Britax Frontier 85 leads the way!