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

[lovetanisha]

This is good info, thanks for sharing. I find it too confusing, though so will make my hubby read, LOL.

[seattle_jilln]

Yes I did know this and it makes me
Insane that they don't publicize this information or make the limits easy to find.

[littlecindy]

i know, i had zero idea! i think it's probably exacerbated by the fact we are putting our kids in carseats for longer. when they designed the latch, the laws/recommendations were much less stringent.

[lakewoodbride]

I am totally confused by that article. So it's not safe to use the LATCH in my new Honda if I have a kid who weighs 40 pounds or more? (Sophia is 37)

[littlecindy]

yes, that's pretty much it. but then you have to look at your carseat, too, and go by whichever is lower. she lists a bunch of the most popular carseats after the list of car makes. so your car LATCH system might fail over 40 lbs and your carseat might fail over 49 lbs, so you go with 40.

for some reasons, suburus (both doug & my cars) have a lower limit of 48 lbs for the child & the seat (together) if you don't use a top tether. so adrian has already outgrown using LATCH without the top tether and annika will outgrow it by just 30 lbs in her roundabout.

[lilnhita]

Thank you for posting. I was completely clueless.

[eaglecow]

I'm confused, I think. If we use Latch and top tether, can we keep using harness? Parker is 6.5 yrs old but just a few weeks ago finally hit 40 pounds. I presumed I'd keep him harnessed for a while yet since he isn't bothered by it and can do it himself. He's in the Graco Nautlis.

[littlecindy]

yeah, this isn't really about harness vs. seatbelt when using a booster. it's about how long you can use the LATCH. you would want to check your carseat manual and your specific car(s), but generally you can only use LATCH until the carseat PLUS the kid weighs 65 lbs or less. on that link i posted, they say the nautilus seat weighs 26 lbs, so your child would have to weight 39 lbs. or less to keep using the LATCH. (and it's possible that your car has an even lower limit, like mine). so for you, it sounds like you should not be using the LATCH anymore and instead would have to use the seatbelt to attached the seat to the car and keep using the harness. then i would check your carseat manual and see if you are allowed to use the top tether when not using the LATCH.