car seats

[nathaliehanna]

i just had my carseat done my the state police tech. he actually recommended not using the latch systme in my car but rather the seatbelt. I am all about installing carseat safely. and even though the owners manual was clear and i could have done it safely i was still paranoid. my dad (who is extremely active in the fire service) insisted upon it.

Why did he not want to use LATCH? Is your child above 40 pounds (in which case LATCH isn't allowed*)? Was he a carseat technician? I ask because the majority of police and firemen are not, and no carseat tech I know would recommend not using LATCH since it is just as safe as the seatbelt if installed correctly.

What did your dad insist upon? I'm curious...seatbelt use? If so, why? Why is he hesitant on the LATCH?

And if your seat is forward facing, it's tethered, right? Lots of people forget that step.

*Unless your car and carseat manuals state that 48 pounds is the LATCH cut off. Though most are only 40 pounds.

[lena241]

Just to confirm, my carseat owners manual also states not to use both the seat belt and latch system. We have choosen the latch system for my daughters seat. I have my husband tighten it, every few months. That seat doesnt budge an inch. its almost like it is part of the car itself.

We have done the AAA carseat safety test and have passed the test, in the past. I cant wait for the next one to come to my area.

[firebabe]

Actually my child is not born yet. he recommended using not using the latch system bacause we could not get it tight enough. He actually got the seat installed properly with the seatbelt and im fine with that. It turns out my car was recalled due to the latch sytem not meeting regulations. and yes the officer who installed the seat was a tech. Becareful about promoting the latch system, certain vechiles dont have them and others have been recalled. I didnt know about the recall until recently so it is too late to have it fixed and the seatbelt is fine. I have also heard of cases of certain vechiles not having the proper requirments and parents use the latch system and the seat is now installed wrong. I do know that most police officers and firefighters are not techs. I am a firefighter after all. The tech actually comes to our firehouse once a year to do inspections for the day, so i know who he is personally
my dad insisted i get my seat installed by the tech. we both have seen the effects of improperly installed carseats (and one time is way way to many) and he is way more anal then I am when it comes to child seats

[nathaliehanna]

he recommended using not using the latch system bacause we could not get it tight enough.

I see - that makes perfect sense then. I thought he didn't recommend it because he didn't trust LATCH or something.

Becareful about promoting the latch system, certain vechiles dont have them and others have been recalled.

I have never heard of a LATCH recall on a car. I'll have to ask my carseat tech board about that to see if they are aware of that too.

I realize that lots of older cars don't have LATCH, and actually, I don't promote LATCH over seatbelt anyway because LATCH only goes to 40 pounds, and then a seatbelt MUST be used. So I recommend that people use the seatbelt install, because if they can't install their seat with the belt after 40 pounds, then there's no point even owning the seat because they won't be able to use it once LATCH is no longer usable.

Regardless of seatbelt or LATCH installation, though, the top tether still needs to be used when forward facing (for anyone reading - not directed at you, firebabe.)

[firebabe]

http://autorepair.about.com/library/...calls-465b.htm gives info on recalled cars do to latch sytem