Essentials™ by Britax… Which Car Seat Is Best for You?

If you haven’t heard the news yet, Britax came out with a new line of car seats, the Essentials™ by Britax. As a long time fan of Brtiax, I am really excited about this new line!

The new line is the new everyday value brand of Britax but with all the safety that Britax is known for. This new Essentials™ by Britax line extends Britax safety technology to more families at a lower price point. I love that the lower price point for this Britax line, gives more families the ability to keep their kids safe in a trusted brand car seat.

There are two new Britax seats in the Essentials™ by Britax line, the Allegiance Convertible Car Seat and the Emblem Convertible Car Seat. Which I will go into more details in a bit, as we tested both seats to get the scoop to share with you.

Where to Buy Britax Essentials Carseats

If you are looking to purchase one of the Essentials™ by Britax carseats, you will be able to find them at Walmart, Target and buybuyBABY online and in some stores.

For the past few months I have been testing out both the the Allegiance Convertible Car Seat and the Emblem Convertible Car Seat to see which one we liked best. Both of them have excellent safety features and come in a variety of colors and patterns to pick from! So upon first glance both of the new Essentials™ by Britax convertible carseats are what I would want in a carseat for my children.

Installing Essentials™ by Britax

Both the Allegiance Convertible Car Seat and the Emblem Convertible Car Seat were easy to install. They both have lower anchors that are easy to lock into place and come undone with just the push of the red button. Plus they are easily stored in the back of the seat if you are not using it, which means you don’t end up with them smacking you in the leg when you are carrying the seat. That is kinda important to me, those anchors can sting when they hit you in the knee. If you are going to be installing the carseat with a seatbelt then you are good to go there too. Both of these seats have Built-in lock-offs make seat belt installation SUPER easy! Although both are easy to install, my personal preference is using the lower anchors.

Essentials™ by Britax Safety Features

Both the Allegiance Convertible Car Seat and the Emblem Convertible Car Seat have a 10-position harness, which is SUPER easy to adjust as your kiddo is growing. They also both have 3 position recline that easily adjusts for your childs comfort and the safest installation angle.

These carseats are both intended for long term use, which if you have been around a while you know that I am all about keeping kids in carseats as long as possible. Rear facing from 5-40 pounds and forward facing from 20-65 pounds. Both seats have a removable body pillow that ensures even small newborns fit snuggly in the seat, then once they have gotten bigger you simply remove that body pillow.

I recommend keeping kids rear facing as long as possible, even if they hit the 20 pound mark and the age 2 needed to be switch forward facing, keep them rear facing as long as possible. I like that long term rear facing is possible with both of these seats, that is something very important to me. We had no issues with leg room at all with either seat, which was something that was very important to me.

Both of these seats have SafeCell Impact Protection is a system of patented safety features that provide advanced protection.

Difference between Emblem and Allegiance Car Seat 

The difference in the two seats is that the The Emblem Convertible Car Seat has 2 layers of Side Impact Protection mean baby’s head and neck are secured by a foam-lined shell and quick-adjust head protection. The The Allegiance Convertible Car Seat has side Impact Protection means your baby is safely secured by a foam-lined shell.

If you have it in your budget to go with the Emblem Convertible Car Seat (which is not that big of a price difference), then I suggest going for that one. I personally like that extra layer of protection especially with a new born.

Cleaning Essentials™ by Britax Carseats

Now all of you moms are going to be just as excited as I am about this because we all know kids make disasters of their carseats. Both the Allegiance Convertible Car Seat and the Emblem Convertible Car Seat have covers that come off easily for cleaning! Yes, no more nasty crumbs stuck under the cover of the carseat! I can’t even begin to tell you how nice that was the time that Hannah threw up in the car! I took the cover off, washed it in the tub, let it dry and put it back on! I remember when McKenzie was little (she is now 13) and one of my biggest mom fears when it came to car rides when she was sick was that she would throw up. If she ever threw up in her seat back then I would have had to toss the seat because the cover didn’t come off.