Re: LATCH vs. No Latch in a Booster.

Re: LATCH vs. No Latch in a Booster.

Hello. My almost 8-yo son just hit 70 pounds and, while I think I could continue to use his Evenflo Symphony 65 (e3/DLX) since the specs state that its max weight is 100 lbs and the height is 57" in booster mode, my husband keeps telling me "it's time" for a backless booster—that the current seat looks like a toddler seat. I keep telling him the highback boosters are safer, but he thinks I'm being overprotective and our son will be embarrassed to keep using the seat the bigger he gets. Right now the 5-point harness straps are still on our Evenflo seat - we just use the seat belt instead. But, yes, the straps do make the chair look "babyish". Still, I'd rather him be as safe as possible. As a compromise, I thought I'd replace the Evenflo Symphony with a "big kid" highback booster (the kind that never had a 5-point harness) as that would provide better protection than a backless booster.

I was just about to order the Evenflo Amp High Back Booster Seat, which got BEST BET ratings from Consumer Reports and the Institute for Highway Safety; however, it doesn't have the LATCH system. This made me wonder why, so I Googled "Is a booster with LATCH safer than a booster without?" and found your thread. After reading the earlier posts, now I'm wondering if I should even be using LATCH with the seat in booster mode. I saw an earlier comment that LATCH is only supposed to be used up to 40 lbs. Is that true??

It seems like that using LATCH would be safer than just hooking the booster on with a seat belt, so I'm really confused ... what is the safest choice?

Thank you.

Re: LATCH vs. No Latch in a Booster.

The main benefit of having LATCH on a booster is that it keeps the seat from becoming a projectile if it's unoccupied in a crash. We don't have a lot of information on whether or not it provides any safety benefit beyond that. (If you don't have a LATCHable booster, we recommend having the kid buckle the belt over the empty seat so it doesn't fly around.)

LATCH does have a weight limit, but that's irrelevant for boosters since the anchors are only holding the weight of the seat, not holding the weight of the child.

Re: LATCH vs. No Latch in a Booster.

treehugr said:

Hello. My almost 8-yo son just hit 70 pounds and, while I think I could continue to use his Evenflo Symphony 65 (e3/DLX) since the specs state that its max weight is 100 lbs and the height is 57" in booster mode, my husband keeps telling me "it's time" for a backless booster—that the current seat looks like a toddler seat. I keep telling him the highback boosters are safer, but he thinks I'm being overprotective and our son will be embarrassed to keep using the seat the bigger he gets. Right now the 5-point harness straps are still on our Evenflo seat - we just use the seat belt instead. But, yes, the straps do make the chair look "babyish". Still, I'd rather him be as safe as possible. As a compromise, I thought I'd replace the Evenflo Symphony with a "big kid" highback booster (the kind that never had a 5-point harness) as that would provide better protection than a backless booster.

I was just about to order the Evenflo Amp High Back Booster Seat, which got BEST BET ratings from Consumer Reports and the Institute for Highway Safety; however, it doesn't have the LATCH system. This made me wonder why, so I Googled "Is a booster with LATCH safer than a booster without?" and found your thread. After reading the earlier posts, now I'm wondering if I should even be using LATCH with the seat in booster mode. I saw an earlier comment that LATCH is only supposed to be used up to 40 lbs. Is that true??

It seems like that using LATCH would be safer than just hooking the booster on with a seat belt, so I'm really confused ... what is the safest choice?

Thank you.

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I think the other person already answered your question about the LATCH. I just wanted to say I feel your pain about husband and seats. Our oldest will be 10 on August 31st. He is about 60lbs. and in a backless booster when we ride in hubby's truck which isn't often. In my van he is still in his Graco Nautilus in highback booster mode. He'll stay in that until he grows out of it height-wise. He's been in a backless booster in my van before and doesn't stay sitting how he should. Our 9yo DD is about 53lbs. and in the same seat setup. Our 7yo DS is about 52lbs. and still in his Kids Embrace 5-point harness seat. If your DH insists on moving him out of his current seat I'd definitely go with a highback booster instead of a backless booster if you can help it.

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Re: LATCH vs. No Latch in a Booster.

As far as HBB v NBB, there's not a lot of data. HBB do give newer booster riders a sense of security sometimes, and may offer some side impact protection, and can often help the shoulder belt have a better fit until kids torsos are tall enough. A NBB with a 'clip' to help the shoulder belt fit is fine, but can be a PITA for daily use. So I'd say if your dh is set on a no back, perhaps try one with an without the back on. If the shoulder belt fit is good, that might make you more comfortable to at least let dh choose that in his car. If it's not good shoulder belt fit in a no back, that's good ammunition to be firm with dh that you're going with a HBB for now, and will reevaluate when your ds grows.

There are both HBB and NBB that come equipped with lower anchors (LATCH).

And I wanted to add that when you're talking about heavy combination seats in booster mode (like a Britax Frontier) or a heavy dedicated booster (like a Clek Oobr) my personal, non-scientific opinion is that having the seat affixed to lower anchors is safer because the heavy seat won't then push against the child in a crash. There's no data on this, it's just my opinion. I'd rather use a $50 Turbobooster unlatched than a Clek Oobr unlatched, for my own kid.

Sixteen frontal impact sled tests were conducted at 24.8 ± 0.3 g and 50.1 ± 0.2 kph. A production vehicle seat buck was attached to the sled. Four high-back boosters or combination seats in high-back booster mode and two backless booster models were tested. Each booster model was installed two different ways: using the LATCH system ("LATCH" installation) and without using the LATCH system ("non-LATCH" installation). All installations used a 3-point seat belt with retractor in emergency locking mode (ELR) to restrain a Hybrid III 6-year-old anthropomorphic test device (ATD). The retractor, belt webbing, buckle, vehicle seat cushion, and booster were replaced after each test. Some conditions were tested twice to establish repeatability. ATD and booster responses were compared between LATCH and non-LATCH tests.

Results: Using LATCH reduced the forward movement of the booster itself by 32.3% to 71.5% compared to non-LATCH installations. Differences in most other metrics were small and often within the range of normal test-to-test variation. Forward movements of the ATD head and heel were similar between LATCH and non-LATCH tests (typically less than 10% difference). HIC36 values trended slightly higher for LATCH installations compared to non-LATCH installations (0.8% to 17.2%). Chest resultant accelerations were typically 7.3% to 21.2% higher for LATCH installations, except for one booster for which it was lower with LATCH. Chest deflections trended higher for LATCH installations compared to non-LATCH installations for the backless boosters (6.9% to 14.1%). For high-back boosters, chest deflection was similar between installation conditions (less than 5% difference). Shoulder belt loads showed the greatest reductions when LATCH installations included a top tether (12.9% to 20.8%). Instances of the ATD submarining under the lap belt were not observed in these tests.

Conclusions: Overall, the differences in kinematics and injury metrics were small between boosters installed using LATCH vs. non-LATCH.

Jessi (Scientific Study) said:

Conclusions: Overall, the differences in kinematics and injury metrics were small between boosters installed using LATCH vs. non-LATCH.

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Thank you- this is a newer study that was not available back in 2017 when this topic was discussed.