Latch Anchors Q with side by side carseats

[Auti]

We are pg with baby #2 due in about a week. I bought a Radian 80 because we want to put the babies side by side in the car and have an extra seat in the back without it being a waster of space in the middle.

So I installed our new carseat today and was just playing around and realized that the middle seat does not have it's own bottom anchors. Our DS was in the middle before and our car does have the top tether so I know that we can have a middle seat using LATCH. (It's a 07 Toy Highlander).

I've been reading up on it and it seems that on the one side that I have the Radian already installed that I shouldn't also put the one side of the infant seat on the same row. Is this correct, just got that info from doing random google searchs? What should we do? Am I going to have to resort to putting the new one on the side as well. I know I can use the seat belt but I worry about it not being as good of a support. Do you think the seatbelt is just as good as the LATCh. I just say that because it seems whenever we were traveling and in another car that didn't have latch the carseat wasn't as secure as I would have wanted. I saw a picture of someone who had some kind of attachment that clicks into the seatbelt and then you hook the latch up to that. http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=55311 You need to scroll down a bit to see the pic. Should I look for that piece? I tried doing a google search and don't really know where I can buy that.

Sorry if this is so jumbled I just want both my babies to be as safe as possible!

Please help! Any advice or info will be greatly appreciated!!!

Much thanks!

Auti

[Gypsy]

Toyota forbids the use of LATCH in the center position when there are only LATCH anchors for the outboard positions. Vehicles are required to have 2 full sets of LATCH and 3 top tethers - that's why there is a tether in the center, but no lower anchors.

How old is your other child? how much does he weigh? is he rear or forward facing?

LATCH and the seatbelt are equally safe, so don't worry about using the seatbelt to install - LATCH has a weight limit anyways, in Toyota's it's 40 pounds, so if your son is over 40 pounds you MUST install his seat with the seatbelt anyways.

If the second picture here is what you are talking about http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=535715&postcount=6

That's an alternate TOP TETHER option, it's not the first choice, but it's acceptable to use when top tethers aren't present in the car.

Lower anchors can never be retrofitted or added to your car, and you already have 3 top tethers so you have everything your car is able to have right now.

[sunnymw]

...and FWIW, I've always been able to get better installs with seat belts anyway ;) There's just some tricks to it :D

[Defrost]

LATCH is not safer than a seatbelt install, it's just supposed to be easier.

Do you know how to lock the seatbelts in your car? When installing a carseat with a seat belt, it has to be locked in some way (the emergency lock that happens in a crash when an adult is using the seat belt isn't sufficient for a carseat.)

In almost all newer cars, you lock the seat belt by pulling it ALLLLL the way out, as far as you can, and then it will "switch" to locking mode, and only retract - after you've let it slide back in, you can't pull it out anymore. You should be able to get your carseat just as tight this way as you do with LATCH, although that varies depending on the vehicle and the carseat in question.

:thumbsup: for researching and figuring out the best way to keep your babies safe!

[Jeanum]

LATCH and the seatbelt are equally safe, so don't worry about using the seatbelt to install - LATCH has a weight limit anyways, in Toyota's it's 40 pounds, so if your son is over 40 pounds you MUST install his seat with the seatbelt anyways.



Nodding in agreement with all of the above with one clarification: Toyota doesn't specify a lower LATCH anchor installation weight limit and defers to the LATCH installation weight limit stated in the specific child restraint's instruction manual. :)

[LISmama810]

Besides agreeing with what the others have said (you can't use LATCH in the center; the seatbelt is perfectly safe), I wanted to suggest that if your older child is forward-facing, you put his seat in the center and the baby on the side. We generally like to see the "least-protected" child (in this case, one who's forward-facing vs. rear-facing) in the most-protected (center) position.

Sorry if that was already mentioned and I missed it.

[Unregistered]

Thanks everyone! It's so weird I swear my Toyota's user manual has pictures of a car seat being installed via Latch in the middle seat. I'll have to look at it again but I'd bet money on it. Oh well, I'll just use the seatbelt in the middle!