Keeping your child safe while you're on the road is one of your most important priorities as a parent, so ensure her car seat is installed properly. According to the Georgia Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs, a properly installed car seat can help prevent injury to a small child with up to 71 percent effectiveness.
Check for Incompatible Belts
The Britax Marathon is incompatible with certain types of vehicle belts, so make sure you're not using one of them before you install the car seat. Seat belts with anchors that attach to a sliding or moving door are not compatible with this car seat. You should also avoid installing the car seat with any type of sliding, motorized or automatic seat belt. Lap-shoulder belts that have separate retractors for both the lap and shoulder part are also not compatible with this car seat. Avoid installing the car seat with seat belts that have only an emergency lock retractor.
Use Only Forward-Facing Seats
Some cars come equipped with seats that can turn or with seats that permanently face backwards. The Britax Marathon should only be used with forward-facing seats in order to properly protect children from injuries. When installing the car seat, make sure to choose a seat that is forward facing at all times.
Check the Buckle
After installing the seat by using a seat belt through the lower buckle slots, check to make sure that the seat belt buckle has fully cleared the car seat and is not touching any part of the Britax Marathon base. Failure to do so may result in seat instability. If you can't get the buckle to sit in the right position, try another seat or uninstall the seat and make adjustments to the buckle in order to get it positioned correctly.
Turn the Seat to Use the Latch
You may have trouble installing the seat using the latch system because of the angle of the car seat. In this case, turn the Marathon toward you so the seat is facing the side of the car and install the first latch. Once the first latch is in place, the car seat should be properly aligned, allowing you to install the second latch. If you continue to have trouble, loosen the latch straps so you have plenty of slack in order to install them to the seat base. Once they're both latched, make sure to tighten the latch straps in order to secure the base to the seat of the car so it doesn't move excessively.
