Foonf and new latch guidelines

U

Unregistered

Guest
Hi, We currently have a Radian RXT, but need a second car seat for our other car. We were looking at getting another RXT or a Foonf (if we got the Foonf, we would put it in our primary car, a CR-V). The Foonf is 32 or 36 pounds, ff and rf, respectively. One of the great things about the Foonf is supposed to be the rigid LATCH ff installation. So my question is, if the seat is 32 pounds and my child is 33 pounds, then I wouldn't be able to use LATCH anymore? Is that correct? My son is only 26-27ish pounds now, and we intend to keep him rear-facing as long as we can, but I was just wondering. Thanks in advance for your help!
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Right now with your Honda it's 40 pounds weight of child alone. So right now you'd have more time. Next year that will change, and yes, it will eliminate LATCH from being usable to anyone who approaches the limits of the Foonf rear facing by height or weight.

Wendy
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
The labeling will begin in 2014. It's not required to be retroactive, and I doubt any manufacturers will issue a recall to make it retroactive.

However, a lot of CAR manufactures are changing their LATCH limits, and some of those do seem to be retroactive. So far Honda has stayed the same, but there's nothing to say they won't also change their limits to come into line with everything else, and that could be retroactive.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Honda will have to change next year. It may very well be retroactive. Everyone else who has made the change so far has made it retroactive.

Wendy
 

JCsMomma

New member
I'm sad about this. I have been considering a Foonf, but part of that is because of the forward facing technology. My DD2 is far from ready to FF, but it is a consideration when buying seats.

I saw a thread recently about the Foonf's crash testing results, and it sounded as though the FF numbers were encouraging. Do we know if those numbers are equal using either a seat belt or the rigid LATCH? I have no idea if that is just an ease of use feature or if it actually is a safety feature?
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
I don't think any of us have an idea. If we say it got a 40 and under 100 is passing, does that mean it's better than a seat that has a 90?

In my personal experience with a Clek Ozzi, unless you have lower anchors that are pretty visible, the rigid LATCH is really hard to deal with. Imagine digging for a lower anchor, but not being able to move the connector.

Wendy
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
Honda will have to change next year. It may very well be retroactive. Everyone else who has made the change so far has made it retroactive.

Wendy

My understanding is that the new government regulation applies only to the car seats, not the vehicles. A vehicle could still have a LATCH limit of 48 lbs, regardless, or 80 lbs, or anything they want.

Similarly, Honda could stay at 40 lbs. If a seat has a 45-lb child limit, you'd still have to defer to Honda's 40-lb limit. Similarly, if a seat has a 30-lb limit, you have to stop at 30 lbs regardless.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Thanks for the info everyone! I guess what I'm thinking is that the car seat and the car will not change next year, just the regulations applying to the two. So technically, it's not safe now to have a 33+pound child FF in a 32-pound Foonf installed with LATCH in any car.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Right.

I emailed a friend (and the writer of the LATCH manual) and she confirmed what Jennie said. It's just a carseat change though most cars are hopping on board in an attempt to make it easier. But they're not required to.

Wendy
 

mommyx4

New member
Ok. Now i a totally confused. I called Clek recently and inquired about this. I told the woman I have a 2011 Suburban. She told me I could continue to use latch until my daughter gets to 48 lbs. Is that wrong?
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Yes, though I don't know that she'd know that. Chevy changed to 65 pounds combined weight, retroactively. So it's 65-36, 29 pounds child's weight for rear facing. And 65-32, 33 pounds for forward facing.

If Chevy hadn't changed, or if you had a car with a 48 pound limit, or if the car didn't state a limit or deferred, then 48 pounds would be fine.

Wendy
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
The manual states to discontinue using latch when the child weighs 40lbs. Will they re-write the manual?

I'd go by the manual over a customer service rep. So whatever that says.

And yes, THAT weight is child's weight only. I'm sure they're not aware of every car's limit, but they should say to check with your car as well to see if the limit is lower.

Wendy
 

MamanMag

New member
So is it combined weight ( carseat and child) or just child's weight?

From what I understand, Clek allows you to use the LATCH until the child reaches 40# BUT your car does not allow it. As it has been said before your Chevy has a LATCH limit of 65# combined weight. So with your Chevy you won't be able to use the LATCH passed 29# (child's weight only) rear-facing and 33# (child's weight only) forward-facing. You have to go with the lower limit, in this case your car's. I hope this clarifies it :)
 

jubgulia

Active member
They said the seat passes testing as-is with LATCH up to the full weight limit. Is it the car manufacturers covering their butts for liability on their LATCH anchors or what? Who is deciding this stuff and are they suddenly finding failures? Why is the reasoning for all of this so secretive?
 
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