Britax Safe-n-Sound Meridian AHR Tilt and Adjust

Four Years of Use and Still Going Strong! – In two weeks time my son will turn 4. He is still using this car seat, and has done since the age of 3 months old. When pregnant, the car seat was one of the items that I researched thoroughly. I wanted a seat that had a high safety rating, but also would last longer than the newborn/baby stage. This car seat was the best purchase we could… Read more

have ever made for our son. The quality, durability and ease of use is above average. The seat was used rear facing for 14 months, then forward facing and continues to forward face currently. All material is removable, making it easy to clean/throw in the washing machine.

My son has always been comfortable, and I feel that he has also been safe and secure when traveling in the car. Installation was easy, as well as removal, we have had no problems putting it in and out of the car.

The only negative I could say about this seat is that it is very big. Not too much of a problem now, but when rear facing, the front passenger lacked in legroom as the seat had to be pulled forward to enable the car seat to safely be installed. We have a 2012 Holden Cruze SRI.

From my experience, I wouldn't recommend anything else!

Not recommended. Can't stand this seat! – While the seat looks comfortable and safe the negatives outweigh the positives and it was not worth the money invested. The straps are near impossible to tighten, even my husband has trouble tightening them in rear and forward facing position. We have resorted to pulling the straps tighter from the back of the seat then pulling the strap to… Read more

tighten and it's still a battle.

When you use the tilt and adjust feature (which is good in theory) the headrest moves up, but the straps are still in the same position so the straps end up coming from below the child's shoulders, instead of above. It isn't a good design and isn't safe. Also the head rest ends up being higher than it should so your child's head isn't resting in the right spot or isn't supported if they fall asleep.

The seat isn't that easy to install trying to get the belts to clip into the plastic latches is a pain and in ff mode the plastic teeth that hold the seatbelt is starting to chew at my seatbelt, which can't be good!

The fabric doesn't breathe in summer leaving bub sweaty and hot. Babies grow out if the newborn insert very fast even though the are supposed to stay in while rear facing we had to remove ours earlier so bub was comfy.

We ended up replacing this car seat and getting a new one which my now two year old is much more comfortable in and it doesn't take forever to strap him in safely. The seat is now in my husbands car for occasional use only.

Very disappointed after spending so much money on a car seat I expected more. Looks great, fabric washes well, tilt and adjust feature, was recommended by the sales lady as the safest in the shop. Near impossible to tighten straps, bad design of the permanent position of the straps despite the headrest moving up, sweaty fabric, uncomfortable for a tall baby, not worth the close to $500 spent on it!

A Bit Hit and Miss – I bought this car seat for my son as a newborn and still using it presently and he is almost one. My husband is almost 7ft tall and it is no surprise to us that our son is also on the tall side, averaging weight and height to that of a 2yo. We still have the seat in the rear-facing position (as per the law) and I must admit, I have found the… Read more ·  3

seat to be problematic at times. It has done it's job so far but not without causing me great frustration on occasion.

The following are things that have (and still do!) happen to me fairly frequently - 1/ the tightening straps seem prone to tangle behind the seat, 2/ when the straps do tighten, often one side is much loser than the other and you have to unclip and start over 3/ no matter how careful I am with the straps, they always seem to 'lock' when trying to tighten 4/ the straps fall down on either side of his shoulders (read below for my solution to this). Other than this, the seat is a good size and I was very impressed with the safety rating via the CREP report (reason we purchased it).

I'm in the process of purchasing a seat for my mother's car and have to admit, I think I'll be purchasing a different model as this would drive her nuts!

For those of you who already have this seat, I would strongly recommend you purchase a 'Houdini Strap'. I purchased one of these about two months ago and it has completely solved the issue of the straps falling down and provided me with peace of mind when travelling as I know for sure that should I need to stop suddenly, he is held securely in the seat. I picked them up for less than $20 at Baby Bunting but I'm sure you could also find them online. CREPS safety rating and size of the seat. Straps are very annoying and fiddly - I purchased a Houdini Strap to stop the car seat straps slipping off his shoulders

Best seat ever – I'm not sure why all the negative press on this seat, we have had it for five years and its absolutely brilliant, would not recommend anything else, we have three of them (twins plus young one) would buy another one tomorrow if I needed to. Adjusts well, straps are fine and washes well every time.

never had any problems – My girl is still in this now and she is 4. I love the tilt and adjust straps esp in winter. So easy to get the right tension in the harness by moving the head rest up or down slightly. Very handy when some mornings she wears a big padded jacket and some not. The strap adjustment that sits in front of them is a little on the stiff side. I am not looking forward to moving her to a booster seat.

Good Seats. Never had any problems – We bought two of these seats in early 2011 for my twin sons - they were then six months old and ready to move out of the baby capsules. They are now about to turn four and move up to a booster. In the whole time we have owned the seats they have worked perfectly, with no problems at all. All adjustments worked fine. They have been covered in food,… Read more

they have been vomited on and soiled in all the usual ways toddlers do those things but the covers have been washed multiple times and still look new. We bought them because they had the highest safety rating at the time and am now very happy to give them to my sister who has just had her first baby. So no problems and no regrets.

Great seat but very hard to adjust when in car – We bought the seat for the high safety rating, and have found it has been very difficult to adjust shoulder straps Features are great, and head rest easy to adjust but the inability to adjust the shoulder straps with ease to ensure my child is secure and not going to be thrown out of the seat has left me pursuing an alternative seat and several hundred dollars out of pocket

Cover and material falling apart is acceptable to them – After not even 3 years of use my car seat is falling apart. It has been washed only 3 times according to the instructions, and the headrest and back support sections have become detached, and the velour is coming off in clumps all over everything including my child. I've contacted Britax who have decided that this is considered normal wear and… Read more

tear, and apparently it ok for my child to be sitting in a seat with just plastic behind his back and clumps of velour all over him! Their solution to this well known problem is that I purchase another cover for $180. You have got to be kidding that you can't even expect a product intended for up to four years of use to last way less than three, and they think that's completely acceptable. Fail, absolute fail. What a joke! They can forget my future business with another child on the way and my current one needing a new seat in the next year.

Straps Are Impossible To Tighten – Cannot tighten the products straps. Looks great, but it's far from functional. When our Meridian was in rearwards facing we used to be able to pull the straps from behind the seat, and then pull the slack through (not ideal, but an easy workaround). Now that we've switched to forward facing, I have to give it all my effort to pull through, my… Read more

wife simply cannot manage... in fact, in trying to tighten it, my wife accidentally loosened the car seat belt lock, making the child seat loose. Very unsafe. I guess there's no quick fix, so we'll just have to call Customer Care next week.

To be perfectly honest, for a $500 car seat, with this problem clearly being prevalent and going back years (judging by the feedback on this forum) I'm very disappointed that this issue hasn't been resolved by Britax. What will it take this company to properly address the issue?

Discontinued for good reason – Easy to install, Hard to use especially to adjust the strap with the tilt and adjust feature being the main reason why this I think this product has now been discontinued.. SAFETY is PARAMOUNT. if you have the strength of ten men then this seat will be fine when strapping your precious bundle of joy in on every trip. Bubs is comfortable in true… Read more

Safe and Sound style they usually have this down pat.

Cleaning is easy once you are able to figure out how to remove the belts to release it from the seat fabric.

I can’t tighten the harness- impossible – I like the seat and my baby looks comfortable but I can’t tighten the harness straps. It feels loose and I can fit my entire hand in. It’s ok when the baby is out of the seat but when he is in it we are using all our force to make it secure. Is there a way to fix this or make it easier to tighten. I can’t work it out.

Great – We purchased 2 of these seats, one for each of our cars for our eldest child when number 2 came along. Great padding, super comfy and great safety features. We loved that they are a little bigger than most seats as it meant it would last longer. These seats are still going 5 years on and still look new.

Not a good strap design – I actually agree with this. It was fine when my boy was little but now at 3.5 it is a nightmare to strap him him as the shoulder strap exit points are permanently fixed down too low so the strap has to go up over his shoulder before coming down to be clipped in. This means it is pulling down on his shoulders which I can tell is very uncomfortable.… Read more

He also easily pulls the head rest down by accident nearly every time he hops in which makes it too low and I can't adjust it back whilst his weight is in it so have to ask him to get out again which is really frustrating. I am going to swap with my mums cheaper second hand car seat as it is infinitely easier to manage even though this car seat cost us 10 x price.

Do not buy this seat! – I'm somewhat relieved to see that others have had similar experience with this seat. I have had problems with the adjustment of the harness, it is impossible to tighten and they continually are twisted. While the head support is easy to adjust, it then makes it impossible for the the shoulder straps to be in the correct position. I was unable to… Read more

contact the shop where we bought it from as they went into receivership. One of the most expensive items we bought and definately the most regretted.

I wouldn't waste your money – We have now bought two of these car seats one in 2011 and the second in 2012 and they are a waste of money. The harness dosen't work correctly, the fabric has starting to come away and the company customer service is horrible. We called the company about the harness and they advised we need to take it back to the store where we bought it. I… Read more

called baby bunting and they are charging us $40 a seat to inspected them even with our receipts

There are other 4 star safety seats on the market and I have now bought a different brand I would recommend people do the same

A major annoyance! – Massive cost for a seat that's cause me issues since the start. I've already had the belts and side lock in belt clasps replaced and it's still almost impossible to tighten and the new claps don't lock in the seat belt at all. Britax's response was it doesn't change the safety of the seat if they don't work. Why did I pay extra for the feature… Read more

then? Belts get caught all the time on the car's belt when tightening too. The head rest slips down on mine all the time too. My boy is 2 now and has been in forward for 12 months and at least twice a week I have to adjust the head rest again as it's slipped down putting the seat belt below his shoulders. It's at max height now and head is sitting way low in it but I have to have it there as that's the level his shoulders are at. He's average height and only 2 so I don't know what I'll do as he grows. I'm super annoyed with this seat. With the head rest all the way up you can't see out the back if the car either. It seams like all the features just don't work that well. Don't buy it. Baby insert, easy to take cover off to clean Bad design on adjustable headrest, car seat belts get caught on actual car's seat belt when tightening. Expensive, annoying,

Impossible to adjust straps Don't buy – This seat cost a small fortune - but is so frustrating and time consuming to adjust the straps. The tilt back it good but other than that waste of money. I now am so annoyed with it I am going to have to replace it, and these things don't come cheap tilt back bad adjusting system,

I wish I didn't buy it – I bought this seat for my son (now 3yo) when he grew out of the capsule. It seemed fine while rear facing and he was smaller but now that he has grown the straps are absolutely hopeless and dangerous. I wish I could take it back. As you cannot adjust the shoulder straps entry point they actually enter the chair around half way down his back so he… Read more

easily slips out or they just fall off. I have put it in the 2nd car to ensure he is not in it very often. The buckle has also stopped working properly and you have to enter both buckles at exactly the same time to get them to lock in. I have never written a review for any children's products (or any products!) before but I really want to let parents know about this as I feel it is very dangerous and a total waste of money.

Very unsafe

Love this car seat – This car seat isn't perfect but it is safe and comfortable and is one of the best ones on the market. My 12mo is still on the rear ward facing mode and is also long in the body and we don't seem to be having the issues that everyone is complaining about. I don't think the head falling forward is isolated to this car seat which is why there is a… Read more

whole business of head cushions on the market. And I understand that the line on the seat is not the sole reason you would move to forward facing as there is a age restriction so again a poor complaint. All car seats have this. I do agree that the belt tightening strap is hard to pull. But I don't need to loosen the belt every time he uses it anyway so this is a small issue. Anyone's annoyance is the straps twisting. But I very glad we choose this car seat and would happily recommend. Price, crash testing results, popularity, comfort for baby Belt tightening strap hard to pull

DO NOT BUY – I am unhappy with this car seat, the straps fall off my sons shoulders all time and if he falls asleep in the car his head would fall in the little side grove very unsafe. I took it back to where i bought it from and asked them to show me what I was doing wrong coz I thought it was the way I was putting him in, I got the baby buntings assistant… Read more

to put my son in the car and show me how i should do it. on the way home he fell asleep and fell forward into that little groove again. Also it is supposed to last till they are older my child is only 11months and I can not seem to adjust it to a larger size. I will be getting something else as soon as I can. It is the only thing I have bought for my baby that I wish I had not. Honestly DO NOT BUY THE LAST THING YOU NEED AS A NEW MUM IS MORE STRESS. And I dont care how many safety standards it meets in my opinion it should be taken off the market.

unsafe and expensive

Do. Not. Buy. This. Seat – I echo the thoughts of the many other parents who have posted on this site. This car seat is an extreme and expensive disappointment. My 12 month old child is long in the body and therefore in order to have the shoulder straps at the correct height, the head support is too far up, offering him no head protection at all. When he naps in the car,… Read more

my son's head falls forward and to the side, completely clearing the head rest, leaving his head entirely exposed. I called Britax customer service and again, what a disappointment. I was given their standard safety spiel about their crash lab testing, and told that my child's head does not need to fit entirely in the head support area - it would still do the job. According to the Britax customer service rep, even if my son was to fall asleep with his head forward and under the line of the head rest, it would still protect him in a side collision. Wow. What spin doctoring. And to add to the safety issue that I have with this car seat, the "adjustable" straps require superhero strength to adjust. Do. Not. Buy. This. Seat.

head support non existent, adjustable straps too hard to adjust, and hot unbreathable fabric

Scope for Improvement – Like others that have contributed to this thread, the harness on our Meridian AHR baby seat is difficult to tighten once our baby is sitting in the seat. When the seat was in the rear-facing position, we had a work-around that involved pulling the straps behind the seat. Now that our baby needs to sit forward-facing, we are without a work-around. … Read more

After speaking with Britax customer service, we took the seat to the retailer we purchased from and they confirmed we had installed the seat correctly. Both Britax and the retailer were unwilling to repair, replace or refund our purchase without a lengthy and inconvenient assessment of the faulty product. Having the seat assessed involved us driving to the other side of Sydney, or accepting a tardy courier process from Britax. A loan seat was offered by the retailer, but it was inferior with respect to quality and safety features. We ultimately accepted the tardy courier and the loan seat after a protracted negotiation with the retailer and with Britax to ensure the loan product had equivalent safety features. - I'm talking 2 hrs at the retail counter, 45 mins on the phone to Britax.

More should have been done to promptly resolve the fault with a product of this value.

My wife and I agree with comments others have posted with respect to the Meridian AHR being poorly suited to babies who are long in the body. The design of this seat needs review, and the after sales service from Britax has plenty of scope for improvement.

If ease of use is an important consideration in your pre-purchase research, keep looking - particularly if you have a long baby. Our Meridian AHR did not perform. We expect more for $437.95.

We will pursue this matter to a complete resolution with Britax, but we felt compelled to make our experience known for the benefit of others looking for the right car-seat solution. I felt our child was safe when she was strapped into the seat properly. Expensive. Hard to use and install. Poorly suited to 'long' children. Poor warranty service.

Tightening the harness strap – I was told that the Meridian AHR was the best around, so we purchased the seat. Our toddler is now 17 months old and is forward facing. I am having issues with tightening the strap, which has been causing me back pains for the last month. I too have had to tighten the strap from behind the seat, which is a very tight squeeze.Tightening the strap,… Read more

isn't a strap forward pull, you have to put a lot of muscle power to tighten the strap which you end up twisting your back (causing pain). Even after all this effort, there is still some slack with the harness... Would I recommend this car seat to anyone? No.

Tightening the strap

Warning not so Safe-N-Sound – Purchased the Meridian car seat from my local Bubs store as this was the seat most suitable for my needs and recommended.. My baby is just over five months old and am really unhappy with the product especially considering the price I paid. Reward-facing mode my babies head keeps falling forward or to the side as when you try and adjust the straps… Read more

to suit a baby who is long in the body the head rest moves with the straps therefore my baby dosn't have the correct head support hence his head tilting forward or even to the side below the head rest. I have spoken with my local store who contacted the maker and they weren't very helpful at all. Also note that my model states whilst baby is in rearward-facing mode the inserts are recommended to stay., The manual states that if your babies straps are 25mm below there shoulders that they should be moved into forward facing however my baby isn't legal aloud to as he isn't 6 months old. Design really needs to be looked e.g head support not linked to the straps so you can adjust the straps seperatelly especially when you have a long baby.

Cost,not safe and not suitable for babies who are long in the body!!!!!! Design needs reviewing.

Meridian SICT loose straps and hard to tighten (rear facing) – I purchased this product in Oct 2013 for my 5mth old son based on the fact it was new and had been noted as the 'safest car seat around'. The quality of finishing’s are great however this doesn't outweigh the issues - I have had immense trouble tightening the straps to an appropriate level. The 'easy tighten strap' is not very easy and doesn't… Read more

take up enough slack, leaving a lot of room for my son to get his hands through the harness. I end up having to reach behind the unit and pull the harness straps tighter, then pull the slack up with the 'easy tighten strap' - a work around for now, but how is that going to work when forward facing?! The retail store I purchased it from also installed it, and they too have been baffled as to what is causing the issue. Really disappointed and frustrated! After speaking with manufacturer, they are aware of this issue.... Quality finishings, looks comfortable poor tightening system, poor

straps slip off – i purhcased this car seat for my daughter as it was the most expensive one in the store and the one that looked the most comfortable and safe with the cushion padding around it. i like the whole car seat it is great comfortable but one thing that i dislike is the straps everytime i put my 6 month old in it the straps seem to slide off her shoulders which is very very frustrating. its safe cushiony and comfortable the straps are very frustrating

The Best car seat!! – Absolutley love this car seat, lots of soft padding to keep new born comfy, sun shade hood is great and easy to click on and off, easy to clean and easy to use and install.my son has been in it from new born till 3yrs, about to go to the next car seat as he is very tall and outgrown it but its now ready for the next bub. i have reconmended to everyone. :) easy tilt and adjust install a little fiddlely

Perfect! – We love this carseat! Bought one in 2011 for our first and just bought a new one for our next baby coming soon. I love the new seat covers they are far better than the 2011 ones, this carseat is perfect as we love traveling and I don't have to worry about my girls head being uncomfortable. My girl loves that she can even see out the car window… Read more

perfectly :) definitely an amazing carseat! Reliable, Love the new 2012 carseat covers - nice and soft for bubs , easy to clean 2011 covers aren't as good as the newer ones - not much soft support for the back

Safe-n-Sound Maxi Rider AHR seat belt tightening issues.. on two seats – Hi we purchased two of these recently for our 2.5 year old, both my wife and I struggle to get the harness tight enough to stop our son getting his arms free. I've removed and check under the seats and there is clearance between car seat and underside of AHR so nothing to impinge the harness movement. On both it is simply to tight to pull to… Read more

tighten. Easy to install, adjust height and the tilt means our son is comfortable in it. Can't tighten the belts with child in the seat.. how did this pass the safety tests...

Nice Seat – Have used this for nearly 2 years now; from rear facing for a very small baby (2.7kg) to forward facing for a small toddler (11kg) . Easy to take off the covers to clean. It was easy to follow the installation & use instructions. I like the tilt functions. When compared to other simpler model Safe'n'Sound we bought at the same time for the second… Read more

car; the Meridian is easier to adjust for height, but the shoulder straps are difficult to keep in place. I didn't know about CREP's ratings when I bought this seat. I will be looking at other seats for baby number 2. Looks good. Expensive. Despite lots of fiddling, the shoulder straps never seem to be at the right height & slip off shoulder.

Fabulous, Convenient seat – A really fantastic seat for us, my daughter fits comfortably (almost 2.. she's been in it since birth. I love the tilt and adjust system, however i've found that the head rest can slide down a bit.. as in i'll put her in it, then sometimes i'll have to pull the head rest up (when i'm sure it was fine the last time i took her out of it..) and… Read more ·  3

the straps are constantly twisted.

Its a great seat overall, i really do love it, my daughter sits very comfortably in it, and its very easy to clean, and to transfer to other cars. I love how easy the seat is to adjust to different height, and its stylish and easy to clean The straps twist easily and the headrest will slip down occassionally, but never when the bub is in it, just seems to be after she has been taken out

Safe n Sound Meridian vs Mother Choice Carrera – We had 2 cars and needed 2 seats. The Meridian was put in the 'main' car. We went down to one car and the Carrera was put into storage. We are now back to 2 vehicles and it's been brought out of retirement. To be honest the 22 month old far prefers the Carrera. It is in the newer vehicle and on long distances she seems a lot more comfortable in… Read more

the Carrera. The Meridian annoys me as the headrest doesn't stay where it should (position 4 in frontfacing) and I have to adjust every time. We got the Meridian as thought safety wise more $$$ was the best option but to be honest - after pulling both seats apart for washing and adjusting I don't see any safety concerns unless the Carrera seat completely disintegrates in an accident and the straps come loose - which doesn't look likely. But I've reached the conclusion that it is like strollers and mothers want to be seen with the right 'brand'.

The Meridian had it over the Carrera in the rear facing stage. The Carrera didn't have enough padding, the insert was a bit flimsy and baby didn't look snuggly buggly.

We are about to have another addition to the family and need another 2 seats. I think we will be heading down the path of 2 seats for the price of 1 Meridian. Rear Facing it was great! Headrest keeps dropping. Don't think the extra $$$ equal more safety.

Excellent car seat – We bought the Safe-N-Sound Meridian AHR Tilt & Adjust as after researching the CREP ratings online we found this car seat had the highest ratings as both rearward and forward facing and we felt the safety factor far outweighed the cost of the seat. In saying that do shop around as we only paid $429 from Baby Bunting when we purchased around a year… Read more

ago but they were priced up to the full RRP of $599 depending where you looked.

We've had our bub in the Meridian from birth as didn't want to use a capsule and she was fine despite being a tiny baby. The Meridian is very cushy and is now 8 months old and has always been very comfortable in it both sleeping and awake. I also love the mess liner with pockets and pockets on the side of the seat itself, great to pop bits and pieces like rusks, sippy cup and some small toys in to keep them contained and within reach ready for use in the car. Being quite fussy I was also happy that its probably what I would consider to be the most attractive car seat on the market (we purchased the praline version as it colour coordinated with our pram, yes nuts I know!). Great safety rating, comfortable for baby, attractive looking, useful pockets, easy to clean

You can't put a price on safety – Love this seat! So easy to put baby in and move between cars. I didn't think it was expensive as it was 1 thing I didn't mind spending money on for extra safety. Straps and head rest are all easily adjusted a and bub falls asleep in it very easily. Also easy to wash. Highly recomend Easy to use and move between cars, easy to clean, voted safest car seat last year.

straps keep twisting!! – Very disappointed. Ud think the $500 price tag they'd get the straps right. Very frustrating & uncomfortable for my 15 month old son. Also the padding has no attachment so it keeps sliding. We ended up pulling the padding out as it was too annoying to work with. Surely buttons would help keep it in place! Has anyone else had these problems. All these 5 star ratings are mind boggling. head protection straps