carseat / LATCH PSA

[littlecindy]

has anyone else heard about this? the LATCH system might not be safe for toddlers and preschoolers due to the combined weight of the child and the carseat itself? in my car, for example, the child plus seat needs to be less than 48 lbs (unless you use the top tether) and the seats can weight up to like 23 lbs, so a kid could easily outgrow that

Comments

[fsb2005]

I switched Katie's to a seatbelt install a few months ago. It's funny, I think people think that LATCH is more safe, but it seems like seatbelt might be more safe, as long as you can get a tight install.

Carseat stuff drives me crazy -- so complicated and a lot depends on what car you have and what seat you have. Like recently I had decided I was going to switch Katie to booster mode rather than harnessed because tlew12778 had mentioned that some people think it's safer when forward-facing because there is less head excursion with a seatbelt (in Europe/Sweden/somewhere-that-seems-smarter-than-us they keep them rear-facing a lot longer). But then as I started to do it I re-read the manual for the Radian and it said you couldn't use it in booster mode until the child is 50lbs, and I weighed Katie and she's like 47lbs. Despite the fact that in general they say a child is physically ready for a booster at 40lbs.

So anyway, carseats are annoying!

[elaine77]

"some people think it's safer when forward-facing because there is less head excursion with a seatbelt"

I had never heard that -- care to explain a little more? I generally find all of this stuff really, really confusing!! I have two boys in Frontiers with the 5-point and neither one is even 40 pounds yet -- but I'm curious about the head/neck theory with the 5-point, if you have a chance to elaborate. Thanks.

[fsb2005]

I know so little about this, but the idea is that a seatbelt has a lot more give than a harness, so it allows the body and neck to move forward before stopping, whereas a harness is more rigid and holds back the chest so that only the head and neck move forward. Sorry for the morbidness, but someone threw out the term "internal decapitation" to describe what can happen when only the head and neck go forward in an accident.

Of course, if the kid isn't mature enough to sit in a seatbelt and leans all over the car, takes the shoulder strap off, and isn't in the proper position during an accident, then a booster isn't as safe as a harness.

Also you kind of have to stick with the 40lb limit here because that's what the manufacturer's require.

I guess in Europe kids stay rear-facing and harnessed until 4 or 5, and then switch to a forward facing booster (that is latched into the car with "rigid latch," whatever that means) -- they are never harnessed forward-facing at all.

[littlecindy]

yeah, i think that's the same principle behind not using the lower latch anchors on the booster seats as well. the seatbelt allows for some movement of the child and you want the booster seat to move with your child.

[elaine77]

Yikes. This stuff makes me so anxious already, now this to worry about? :(

Maybe the answer is to (slightly) loosen the straps on the 5-point harness? I tend to tighten them like CRAZY thinking that's a good thing but maybe a little bit looser would be better? Ugh. I honestly don't know.

[fsb2005]

Somehow loose straps don't seem safer to me -- the child would just fall forward then quickly stop. I think with a seatbelt the key is that the belt is slowly slowing you down a bit. But maybe a reason to do a seatbelt install rather than LATCH?

[littlecindy]

do you use the latch and top tethers with your booster? if you do, then the top tether is meant to reduce the head excursion. so i would say that if your boys plus the weight of their seat is under the limit (65 lbs for the frontier, if tethered, and the frontiers weigh 20-23 lbs - but check the limit for your car as well), then i would use the latch and top tether and not worry about the harness increasing head excursion. i think it's more important when you can't latch and top tether that the seatbelt may be safer than the harness.

[littlecindy]

ok, i am spending way too much time on this today, LOL, but did you know that they generally don't test carseats in crashes at speeds over 30-35 mph?!?

http://www.childrenscolorado.org/wellness/info/news/54744.aspx

[littlecindy]

i suppose seatbelts are safer because they have been used for decades to keep 200 lb adults in the car. whereas the latch design hasn't improved that much yet. i wonder if car makers will make the latch stronger now? it is sooo complicated. and quite frustrating that something like the LATCH system which was supposed to make things simpler for us parents is making it harder!

[seattle_jilln]

I also think the latch limits are based more on what they've bothered to test up to rather than an actual failure of the latch harnesses above 40 pounds. It's attached to the cars frame for gods sake. It has to be strong.

[littlecindy]

i don't think it's the hooks connected to the cars, so much as the attachers that are on the carseats. the limits vary by car and by carseat. hello, confusing!

[seattle_jilln]

Yeah and that's why I think it's about what they've tested to more than a failure. Because if the car has a limit, that's on the car hooks. But if its the seat with the limit, that's about the straps. I know that Toyota defers to the seat limits. And our seat is 48. Then there's confusion about if that's the seat plus kid or just the kid. This whole issues led me crazy. Why isn't it easily found in the manual and printed on the side of the sets??? I actually had to email someone at one if the car seat sites to have them
Look in the latch manual for guidance.