Is the Britax Advocate ClickTight Car Seat A Game Changer or a Gadget?

When you're a parent, the safety of your kids is your number one concern. The amount of sleep you will get combined with the amount of caffeine left in the house is usually your secondary concern. Maybe I will tackle the caffeine concern in another post but for now let's talk about the safety of your kids.

It's amazing any of us, who are 35 and older, ever survived our childhood. Between lap belts and that 80's junk food, we all should have died. Thankfully, childhood safety has come a long way. For the last few months, I have had the opportunity to try out the Britax Advocate ClickTight car seat. Have I ever told you that car seats have been one of my least favorite parts about having kids? It's true. Installing them in the car. Installing kids in the seats. For the last 8 years it has been a thorn in my side.

So when Britax agreed to let me try out their flagship car seat, telling me it would help my kids be safe and make my life easier, I happily obliged.

The first thing I noticed was how padded the seat is. It is made with SafeCell Impact protection and features "Britax's highest level of protection." I seriously think this is the most padded car seat I have ever felt. The only issue with all this padding is the size of the car seat. It is Britax's largest in their current line. If you are hoping to fit this in a smaller sedan, you should know it will take up a good amount of space. However, if you are using it in a minivan or SUV the size will be fine.

Of course installing a car seat can many times feel like attempting a gymnastic feat rather than installing a safety device. I can't tell you how many times I've found myself climbing on top of a car seat trying to ratchet it down as much as is humanly possible. After the first time figuring out how to use the Britax ClickTight system, I honestly wondered why this hasn't been thought of before. It took a couple minutes to understand it, but it is a simple process that will no longer require me to test my acrobatic skills while crawling on top of a car seat. The video below shows the process.

Another feature I like are the ease of which adjustments are made. I have used car seats that felt like you had to disassemble the entire thing before adjusting the height of the straps. With the advocate it is a simple procedure to just raise the straps to the height you need.

One drawback that I have found is how heavy the seat is to move. You might not have to remove it all the time, but when you do you should be prepared to put some muscle in. the Advocate weighs 30 lbs, so it is surprisingly heavy. I guess if you are going to put a ton of padding in for safety, it's going to weigh a bit more.

The only problem I experienced was reinstalling the cover after I washed it. The spots came out easily, but I didn't really pay attention to where things went when I took the cover off. It took awhile to install the bottom/side pad again. I'm sure the next time it will be easier, but watch what you are doing, it will save you precious minutes when putting it all back together.

Overall, this might be my favorite car seat I have owned. It gets tremendous user ratings, is one of the safest on the market, and is a breeze to install. It will cost you more, but can fit a child up to 65 lbs. My youngest is big for his age and we were pleasantly surprised by how well this fit him. He has plenty of leg room. It seems as though it is much more legroom than his older seat. It's like he's now sitting in first class compared to coach. If you want a safe, comfortable seat, and can pay a little more, try the Britax Advocate ClickTight. You won't regret it. This retails for around $335 from Amazon and is available from local retailers as well.

Disclosure: This product was provided to me by Britax for the purpose of this review. I have received no compensation and the opinions expressed are strictly my own.