Don't use a tether unless you use LATCH??? (advice from carseat tech)

[clynnr]

I am so confused. I went to our carseat appointment today to get DD's and the new baby's seat checked in our new vehicle. It took TWO HOURS, but that is another post, LOL.

I was talking to the tech about tether straps, and she said they had just learned in class today that you should only use the forward-facing tether strap if you ALSO use LATCH. If you use the seatbelt for installation, you should NOT use your tether strap, as they are designed to work together. She said the reasoning is that you want the carseat to move *with* the child.

That makes no sense to me. Tether straps have been around longer than LATCH, right? And I thought the whole point of a tether strap was to keep the top/back of the seat from flying forward? Why would you want the seat to go forward *with* your child?

This is a non-issue for me currently, as DD is still rear-facing (and will be for quite some time, at 22 pounds, LOL), but I was curious what the other techs had to say, and I'm sure mamas of forward-facers would like to know too!

Thanks!

[Irishmommy]

Nope. The tether strap is used as long as the child is forward facing and in the harness. Once the seat (if big enough) becomes a booster seat, and the car's belt is holding the child as well, then you stop using the tether.

[clynnr]

That's what I thought, but she was insistent that you could only use it *with* LATCH. I'm going to call them tomorrow to make sure they all have correct information (county social services).

[toddlermama16]

Yes, definately use the tether on a FF harnessed seat. I totally agree with IrishMommy. The tether gives the seat much more stability, and is totally fine to use with seatbelt or LATCH install. The only thing I can think of that your tech might have been thinking of, is that you should never use the LATCH and seatbelt install at the same time. Ever. Check out here for more info. It's a teriffic site for all the carseat info you could want, and it gives ways to contact excellent techs for more info, too.

Hope this helps,
Kelli

[MinnieMouse]

Hmmm your tech may be confusing using a tether rear facing w/ using it forward facing. The majority of seats that rear face on the market don't allow the use of tethers when rear facing, only forward facing. The theory that the rear facing seat should move with the crash and not be tied down. That is probably what they are remembering. (Britax seats allow the use of a tether rear facing and it's standard practice in Sweden and Australia to use it this way.)

Forward facing you should ALWAYS use a tether. All seats must meet or surpass NHTSA requirements with and without a tether. The tether reduces head excursion which is how far a child's head travels away from the back of the CAR'S seat in a head on collision. With a tether NHTSA allows up to 28", without it the minimum requirement is 32". A four inch difference but when you are talking about a well secured child who has the rest of their body held back in a 5pt harness...four inches is a lot!

So the take home message is that your tech was confused. If you can use the tether DO IT...and if you don't have a tether anchor available in that seating position...go to your car dealership and get them to install one (it should be FREE!).

HTH

[Llyra]

That's interesting, because the tech that checked our seat not long ago specifically told me that you SHOULD use the tether, whether you're using LATCH or the seatbelt. I am using the seatbelt, because my car doesn't have LATCH, and she recommended that I have a tether whoozit installed, if I plan to keep the car.

[Tofu the Geek]

Originally Posted by Irishmommy

Nope. The tether strap is used as long as the child is forward facing and in the harness. Once the seat (if big enough) becomes a booster seat, and the car's belt is holding the child as well, then you stop using the tether.

Actually in my car seat manual (the car seat turns into a high back booster), it specifically states that it is a good idea to use the tether even when it is being used a booster seat. So, I'd say if your manual says to use one, you should.

The extra bonus about using the tether when it's a booster seat, is that when you drop your child off somewhere), the seat isn't able to fly about the vehicle like it would if it was free. I know you are supposed to buckle in childless car/booster seats, but I am the only one who I have ever seen do that!

[eilonwy]

The tech was probably very confused. See, LATCH is an acronym for Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren. In other words, saying, "Use a tether if you're using LATCH" is kind of redundant; the tether is part of the LATCH system. If you're confused about that, it's easy to see how someone could misinterpret "Tethers are part of LATCH" to mean "Only tether your child if you're using LATCH." Make sense? It's a semantics thing.

[lasciate]

Considering that in Canada we are *required* to use tethers when forward-facing, she was a little off

[Irishmommy]

http://www.car-safety.org/latch.html

[Tofu the Geek]

Originally Posted by Irishmommy

http://www.car-safety.org/latch.html

Good link Irishmommy! It even explained why I can tether my booster seat!

Can I use top tethers or LATCH with my booster seat? Generally not. Most boosters are exempt, and will not even have LATCH. Some Century and Graco combination models do allow top tether use as a booster above 40 pounds. Please consult the owner's manual of your carseat and LATCH retrofit kit for details.

Mine is a Century combination model.

[WuWei]

Perhaps it depends on your brand of carseat and model of car. Here are installation photos of the tether use for rear and forward facing with the Britax carseats.

http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/isakswings/ratetherrf.html

Pat

[hipumpkins]

just wanted to let you know, that in my town, before DD was born our "Professional" car seat tech, from the police dept, put our seat in wrong and than a few years later I went back for the baby's seat to be inspected and it was the same guy and he put it in wrong again! so the techs do not always know what they are doing.