Top Tether Strap

[melann]

How tight should the top tether strap be? I have it so tight that the car seat does not budge. Is that too tight? Should there be some movement of the top of the car seat? I am sure this is a FAQ but I could not find it in your FAQ Section. Thank you in advance for your help.

Melissa

[papooses]

As long as the carseat is correctly/securely installed at the base 1st (either with seatbelt or LATCH & according to both vehicle + carseat manuals), then it's OK if the top tether is very tight . . . however, it doesn't need to be tight: it only needs to have the excess slack removed.

If the tether is so tight that it's effecting the seatbelt or LATCH installation then it's way too tight.

[melann]

Thank you. I think I remember a tech telling me once that there should be some movement of the top of the car seat. Othewise, your child takes all of the force rather than the car seat absorbing some of the force. Physics is not my area of expertise so I am uncertain. Does this sound reasonable or is my recollection of this poor?

[joolsplus3]

No, there shouldn't be some movement (well, you should never 'strive' for there to be movement at the top of your seat, a little is ok, but it's not a safety feature)... the belts will stretch plenty to help with 'ride down time' so that too much force doesn't go into the child, what's most important is that the seat is as firmly coupled to the car as possible so that there's not an increase in head movement, which would be an increase in injury risk. Like Tiffany said, it doesn't need to be super duper tight, but take the slack out of it.

[melann]

Excellent! Thank you so much! I have another question that is somewhat unrelated to this but I will post it as a different question. :)