Noah is almost 4 and 40 lbs so he is outgrowing the car seat I have now. Ava has also maxed out the weight limit on her car seat so I have been looking into a new car seat for Noah. Ava will get Noah's old seat. I was VERY surprised to discover that once a child reaches a certain weight that the LATCH system can no longer be used. The weight limit is specific to the vehicle. You can look here: http://www.saferidenews.com/pdfs/pg_126_max_wt_07.pdf and find your specific make. Most are about 40 -48 pounds. What a shock! So that means that you have to use the seat belt once the child reaches that weight. I am very disappointed to find this out. I feel that LATCH is SO MUCH more secure that the seat belt. My car seats don't move at all with LATCH. I am a car seat safety fanatic and plan to keep Noah in a 5 point harness for much longer- mainly due to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ
Please watch- you won't regret it. So, my question then is if I don't trust the seat belt, what good does it do for me to put my son in a $250 5 point harness car seat that is only secured with a seat belt? Please note also that the back tether has a weight limit too. Does anyone have any insight to this? I don't know if maybe the car manufacturers have just not tested past a certain weight limit or what. This is a major flaw that I think car manufacturers need to address in the future. If anyone know more about this please comment. I don't know what to do!
***Since posting this I have done some more research & found a great car seat safety website that will answer probably any & all questions you may have related to car seats. It's http://www.thecarseatlady.com
and the link for the more specific question of LATCH weight limits is http://www.saferidenews.com/html/LATCH_P49.htm
Sorry I don't know how to link into the blog. I guess you'll just have to copy & paste :)
I have not talked it over with the hubby yet but after reading this I still plan to keep Noah in a 5 point harness longer- I do not feel he is ready to stay positioned correctly with a booster & lap belt. So we will use the seat belt to restrain the car seat AND use the top tether as well. Now my question is do I need to buy a car seat up to 65 lbs or 80lbs? Will he be less squirmy at 65 lbs? I am assuming that is around 6- 6 1/2 years old?? I don't really have many friends with older children so if anyone does or knows I would appreciate your help!!!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Things I Didn't Know about LATCH
at 1:56 PM
Labels: car seat safety
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We didn't have LATCH until we just got our new car a couple of months ago, so I've been using the seatbelt for most of Evelyne's life. Once I figured-out that my seatbelt needed a locking clip, I was able to get it just as tight as it is now with LATCH. It's a little more annoying, but as long as you're not planning-on taking the seat out and doing it on a regular basis, it's not that big of a deal. I was seriously sitting IN the seat jamming my knee down on it to get it as tight as possible. If your belt is still loose for some reason, you might want to try a locking clip because that thing did NOT move! Also, if it were me buying a new seat at this point, I'd just go ahead and get the 80-lb. one. If you're gonna spend the money, why not, I'd rather have it just in case than wish I had later, ya know? I think it's the Regent and the Radian that go up to 80? I don't *think* they're much more money than a 65-lb. I think 65-lb. is usually around age 5-6, and I would think kids are still way too squirmy to be properly positioned in a booster at that age, so I would probably spring for it. Good luck!!!!! Way to keep your kids safe!!! =) Oh, and thanks for the info. about the LATCH weight limits, I didn't know that, I need to check mine!
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