Yikes! Latch misinformation or am I wrong?

Chris

New member
Help me out. I am in a facebook group that isn't about carseat, but they do occasionally come up. Many of the members are in Canada. The topic of latch came up as a mom was looking for a new seat for her 3.5 yr old. I mentioned that radians have superlatch and that is somehow is supposed to allow you to use latch past 40 lbs/car limits. As I am not very familiar with radians or superlatch I deferred to one member who is kind of considered the "go to" person for car seat info and she loves radians and always recommends them.

She said that the latch limit was 40lbs PER HOOK!!:eek: So 80 lbs per seat, which also matches up with Radians superlatch limits. She then said that considering that the seat weighs 29lbs, you could use latch for a child up to 50ish lbs for a total weight of seat and kid of 80lbs.

Is latch that different in Canada or is she waaay off on the 40lbs per latch hook? Just want to make sure that I have my info right before I say anything in the group, especially since it is a different country and I am not very familiar with superlatch.
 
ADS

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
No... No. LATCH is an overall system, so per-hook would make no sense - it's not like you can secure the child restraint with just one of them. ??? Whether or not you can use SL to 80lb depends on the DOM of your car, and then the mfg, and then whether you trust Diono to override your mfg. In any event, the limit is child weight ONLY, although FMVSS (in the US) will soon be changing on that front. (But even then, it's to 65lbs total, IIRC.)

That's not a complete answer, I'm on my phone, but hope it's enough to get you started.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
She's way off. Let's say you have a 2007 Honda. Honda states 40 pounds for a LATCH limit, weight of the child only. That's for both anchors together as you don't use one alone.

You come along with your SuperLATCH Diono which says that in a car made after September 1, 2005, you can use the lower anchors to the limits of the seat, so 80 pounds weight of the child (about 105 pounds weight of the child plus seat). As long as you're comfortable with that, and installing in a LATCH approved position, that's perfectly allowed by Diono. Honda says no. But Diono says you can disregard the car's limits. Parental decision.

Now, let's say it's a 2007 Toyota Camry. Toyota defers to the carseat for LATCH limits. Diono says 80 pounds with SuperLATCH. Toyota is fine with going to 80 pounds. So no problem at all there.

There was a LATCH standard change (FMVSS225) made on September 1, 2005, hence the date limit. Diono had said it was the lower connectors that would fail, not the anchors, so they made bigger and better anchors to withstand the weight. That's why they say it's ok to disregard what the car says. Because the lower anchors have to meet a certain standard, and with their anchors they'll hold. Parental decision.

Wendy
 

Chris

New member
Are latch anchors and weight limits the same in Canada then? Anyone know that?

Also, is there some amazing place where someone has compiled weight limits for latch by car manufacturer? It isn't too hard to find the limits for the car seats, but the info from car manufacturer's is ridiculous to try to get ahold of (except here of course ;))
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
LATCH limits are the same in US & Canada (although the term is UAS in Canada). Harnessed car seats, however, cannot go beyond 65lbs. So all Radians have a FF harness limit of 65lbs here.
 

Chris

New member
Harnessed car seats, however, cannot go beyond 65lbs. So all Radians have a FF harness limit of 65lbs here.

That is kind of crazy! Thanks for the Canada specific info. I will pass all of this on to the Mama's in my group.

(and maybe that latch manual would make a nice mother's day gift, :whistle:)
 

Chris

New member
Have I mentioned lately how much I love this site? This is where my inner car seat geek comes to get happy. :D
 

bubbaray

New member
Only the LOWER LATCH limits are the same in Canada. The upper LATCH limits do NOT apply to top tether anchors here. And technically we don't have LATCH, we have UAS. Not that that really matters.
 

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