Question Using only chest clip to secure child in child seat

Unregistered · Dec 19, 2012

I am a Child Seat Technician and a lady called me wanting information on what would happen if a child is secured in a child seat using only the chest clip, and not the harness buckle. When I asked why she explained that the father is allowing the child to use only the chest clip and not the harness buckle. He told the mom that the harness buckle is not necessary. Is there any info out there about not using the harness buckle. I did explain to mom what could potentially happen but she wanted some material to show the father.

rachelandtyke · Dec 19, 2012

I think I'd start by having them read the manual for their carseat and see what it says about properly buckling the child in. I know it doesn't have the reasons, but it does stress the importance of doing it properly. If they can't locate their manual, there are links to almost all of the car seat manuals online in this section of the site: http://www.car-seat.org/forumdisplay.php?f=61

The chest clip is merely a pre-crash positioner to keep the harness straps properly on the shoulders and is designed to break in a crash. They don't even use them in Europe, but have other designs which help to keep the harness straps in place.

Harness retainer clip

A plastic or fabric device that holds the shoulder straps of a harness in place on the child’s chest to achieve good pre-crash positioning. During a crash, the clip often is designed to either slide down the straps or separate if it has two parts. The harness clip should be placed at the level of the child’s armpits. For small babies, if there is not enough room above the buckle to position the clip at the armpits, a different CR should be used. The purpose of the clip is not to hold the child in the restraint, but to keep the shoulder straps in position, which is especially important if the harness is not adjusted snugly. Harness retainer clips are provided with most CR models in the US, but they are not permitted in Europe because of concerns about removing the child from the harness in an emergency.

from http://www.carseat.org/