long seat belt vs. short seat belt installs

[aisraeltax]

i dont want to derail other threads w/ this Q and i know others that are newer here also have Q's re: this issue.

can someone either explain this or post some links? ill go back and look at similar threads that may pop up due to this post but i for one have no idea what it means (other than one is long and one is short)...

[MomToEliEm]

If you take a look at this post, it shows pictures of the britax regent installed with both long and short belt path installs.

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?p=408230

It is just how the seatbelt is routed through the carseat. Short belt path just has a the seatbelt running through the back of the seat. Long belt path has the seatbelt threaded over and through the seat.

[Jeanum]

There are Regent installation videos online at http://www.carseatsite.com/videos.htm#regent%20videos showing long belt path and short belt path methods to help illustrate the differences.

[aisraeltax]

thanks

[Defrost]

Just for clarification (for those who may read this thread but not post), you can ONLY use the long-belt-path method of installation on the Britax Regent. You cannot use it on any other carseat (except maybe the Britax Frontier, but I'm not really up-to-date on that manual and it's a newly available carseat).

[BookMama]

You cannot use it on any other carseat (except maybe the Britax Frontier, but I'm not really up-to-date on that manual and it's a newly available carseat).

Good idea on the clarification.

FYI, Britax announced yesterday that they ARE allowing a LBP install on the Frontier. :thumbsup:

[CaseyRN]

Could someone explain the benefits of LBP vs SBP? I will say that LBP looks very strange to me! (especially using a seatbelt!)

[Defrost]

Could someone explain the benefits of LBP vs SBP? I will say that LBP looks very strange to me! (especially using a seatbelt!)

It's not so much about the benefits - carseat manufacturer's don't release their crash-test results, so we don't really know what the safety benefits are. We just follow their instructions, and with the Regent, they require one belt path for kids of a certain weight, and the other belt path for kids over that weight. All we know as far as "why" is "because they said so."

As for ease-of-install, however, the long belt path is typically much easier to get a tight fit in most vehicles. Seat belts that make most carseats difficult to install often are easy to install using the long belt path.

When the Husky (or was it the one before that?) first came out, it required the long belt path for all installs. Then after it became known that not all vehicles had a long enough seat belt for the long belt path, they said to use the short belt path if the seat belt wasn't long enough. Further testing of the Regent found that it performed better with one belt path or the other, depending on the child's weight, and the requirements changed again.

However, most carseats are not designed to use the long belt path. Because the seat belt routes over the sides, they must be reinforced to withstand crash forces, and most carseats don't have that reinforcement. Personally, I think this is unfortunate, as being able to use the long belt path would solve a lot of installation problems, but on the other hand it adds another level of confusion, so I can see why most carseat manufacturers don't use it.

[CaseyRN]

thanks!