Britax Advocate CS Carseat Review

November 6, 2009 By Rachel

Car accidents are the number one cause of death for children. That is a frightening statistic for any parent. Carseats are essential in protecting children in the event of a car accident and while there are many safe car seats available, Britax car seats have long been known for their commitment to safety. We have consistently used Britax carseats for our own children over the years because we trust them to keep our children safe on the road. The new Advocate CS from Britax takes side impact protection to the next level with side impact cushion technology and can give parents some extra peace of mind.

True Side Impact Protection

The Advocate has a similar appearance to many of the previous Britax styles but has additional cushions on either side of the seat. The cushions are designed to reduce side impact crash energy by 50%. When you consider the fact that 1 in 4 car accidents is a side impact crash and that side impact crashes have higher fatality rates than front or rear crashes, that number is huge.

The side impact cushions that are on either side of the Advocate CS provide a crumple zone that is otherwise non-existent in a side impact protection. Front and rear impacts can use the hood and trunk of the car as a crush zone but the side of a car offers very little protection. The Britax True Side Impact Protection system includes far more than simply the side impact cushions. The head restraint protects the child’s head and prevents the neck and spine from being thrown around in a crash. The deep side walls of the seat protect the child’s body from the force of an impact and from broken glass and other loose objects that have potential to cause serious injury to a child during a car accident.

Comfort

One of the unexpected benefits of having a carseat with side impact protection is that the head restraint makes a wonderful pillow for sleeping kids. When we bought our first Britax with side impact protection I had reservations. I didn’t think the seat looked as comfortable as some of the more traditional seats but my husband insisted on the safest seat available. I was pleasantly surprised that rather than being a nuisance, the adjustable head restraint provided great support if a child fell asleep in the seat. I have never had one child complain about the head restraint, but rather, they complain if they ever have to ride in a seat without it because they don’t feel like they can comfortably put their head anywhere. The padding in the Britax Advocate CS is thick and plush and while it is soft, it feels firm enough to hold up to long term use.

Ease of Use

The 5 point harness on Britax seats have always impressed me. The straps themselves are wide and feel very secure but the buckles are what really sets them apart. I’ve tried the chest clips from several other car seat manufacturers and the Britax chest clip is by far the easiest I have used. The two sides are easy to match up and slide together and once you have aligned them they go straight in and latch securely while some others will slide in at an angle and have to be pulled out again in order to get the clips to snap together if you don’t match up the angle perfectly. The button on the 5 point harness is easy to push, but requires more pressure than a child is able to use so it prevents kids from getting out of their own car seats. My 6 year old can close all the buckles but cannot release them which I think is really the perfect balance.

Britax’s push-button lower latch connectors make it easy to install the Advocate CS without requiring you to contort into strange positions and scraping off the skin on your hands (yes, we’ve used car seats that have done that). The push-button works like a seatbelt and only opens when the button is being pushed so it’s really simple to make sure that the latch has been installed correctly. The straps can be loosened during installation to provide some extra wiggle room but are easily tightened afterwards to put the car seat into the correct position.

Advocate CS Specs

The Britax Advocate CS is a convertible car seat so it can be used rear facing for children that are 5-35 pounds, and forward facing up to 65 pounds. The Advocate itself weighs 21.9 pounds, making it a fairly heavy seat but it is well worth the weight when you consider all of the safety features that are built into it.

Enter to win

Busy Mommy Media is so excited to offer one of our readers the chance to win the new Britax Advocate CS convertible carseat and keep a child just a little bit safer. The winner can select their choice of fabrics (anything except Moonstone which is a Babies R Us exclusive). This giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada and will end on December 3, 2009.

Enter the giveaway by making a commenting on this post about why you believe carseats are important.

Please see our site’s Terms and Conditions for a complete list of our contest and giveaway rules.

In compliance with the new FTC Guild lines, please note that this is a sponsored post. I was given a Britax Advocate to test and review free of charge. However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.

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Timestamp: 2009-12-05 20:20:04 UTC

Congrats Idaho Jill!

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Britax Advocate CS Carseat Review

True Side Impact Protection

Comfort

Ease of Use

Advocate CS Specs

Enter to win

Additional Entries

Busy Christmas Giveaway Event

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