Britax Marathon - latch function

[sarahb]

We have a 15 month old boy, RF, 26 lbs, been in his seat since 3 months. The strap is starting to wear on the edges. On his oldest seat (used for 1 year) sometimes the latch doesn't come down all the way. The strap gets stuck in the spring. We're trying to remember to pull it straight up, but it is difficult.

We're wondering a few things...

Do we need to buy a new seat?

Would it make more sense to turn him around so we can pull straight down instead of at an angle?

The tension on the spring on his older seat is about 1/8th of an inch different than his newer seat. IE, when I pull the strap, I can push the latch down about 2/8ths vs 1/8th on the new seat.

When I called Britax, they asked for digital photos...it's hard to show, I took a mini video, but I'm not sure that would even qualify for new seat. We're out of the 1 year warranty period.

Thoughts?

Thanks

[Maedze]

To answer, the first question, no, turning a 16 month forward facing is not a solution to this problem.

To answer the second question, well, uh, I'm confused :o

Are you describing the LATCH straps that hook the seat to the anchors in the vehicle? Or are you describing the adjuster strap at the base of the seat that you pull to tighten the harness?

If it's the second, that strap will develop a little wearing on the edges. It's not a big deal unless actual fraying (not fuzzing) starts to occur.

To ease tightening the harness, you can remove the HUGS (rubber pads) on the chest as they are only required for forward facing not rear facing. Also, manually pull all the slack out of the hips and 'feed' the two harness straps out the back of the seat with one hand as you pull on the adjustor with the other.

To check for tightness, you shouldn't be able to pinch any slack horizontally at the shoulders. The harness will 'gape' at the abdomen and that's ok.

[sarahb]

Thanks for your response, I'm talking about the adjuster strap. Thanks for the tip on removing the HUGS.