Is it possible to overtighten the harness?

ilo · Jun 4, 2010

I have seen it sometimes mentioned how some don't adjust the straps when taking the child out and putting them back in from the carseat. I wonder if I keep the harness too tight as there is absolutely no way I could put DD back in her carseat with out loosening the harness? It is very hard to get her out too if I would not loosen the straps.

And the ppl mentioning this are those I'm sure know to tighten the harness enough. Do you think our harness is too tight? We basically pull it as tight as it gets so in Boulevard it requires us to pull several times and take some of the slack from the belly area by lifting it while tightening the harness. I never understood the finger fitting under the harness rule as I can always put finger under the harness no matter how tight it is.

MomToEliEm · Jun 4, 2010

Here is a good post talking about harness tightness and how to know if it is too loose or too tight.
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=49030

Maybe read over it to see where your harness tightness falls. I hardly ever adjust the regent harness when my daughter gets in the seat. It isn't overly tight, though I can't pinch the harness so I know it is tight enough.

crunchierthanthou · Jun 4, 2010

Yes, in fact FMVSS 213 says carseat manuals have to address this. The required wording is basically make it snug so it lies straight, but not so much it cuts into them or makes them slouch.

here it is from the GN manual -

Snugly adjust the belts provided with this child restraint around your child. A snug strap should not allow any slack. It lies in a relatively straight line without sagging. It does not press on the child’s flesh or push the child’s body into an unnatural position.

I used to squeeze ds in without loosening each time. I found it was easiest to do the crotch buckle first. Now he likes to buckle himself, but has to have it loose in order to do that. I also loosen/retighten with dd. If anything, just to make it easier to get her out. I used to think that parents who did that each time we weird, but my preference has changed.

wendytthomas · Jun 4, 2010

A lot of times with a continuous harness (which your Boulevard does not have) you can remove a child without loosening the harness because you simply use the give in the harness that's there.

It's not really possible in a Boulevard to over tighten. Since you tug tug tug and it locks to the next click (as I visualize it in my mind), if you are getting so snug that you can't get it to the next click, it won't lock that far.

Wendy

Is it possible to overtighten the harness?

ilo

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