In HBB - is it ok if seatbelt does not retract smoothly?

Scooby · Oct 2, 2017

We just bought a Britax Parkway HBB. When we had just a backless booster there my 6.5 year old could buckle himself no problem and when unbuckling, the seatbelt retracted all the way. Now that we put in a HBB (so he could sleep safer) the seatbelt is difficult to pull across to buckle and more concerning to me is that the seatbelt does not retract very far when he unbuckles. I want to be sure that the seatbelt will still work properly in the event of a crash and that the belt guides are not somehow impeding the belt from functioning properly. Thoughts?

Also, does the belt need to be retracted all the way before rebuckling or can we start off from wherever it had ended up?

rachelandtyke · Oct 2, 2017

What vehicle and seating position? Is it possible to try him in a different spot in the vehicle to see if the belt retracts better there?

aeormsby · Oct 2, 2017

The biggest concern I had when we had this issue was that if the kiddo moves around at all the slack is not going to retract leaving the belt loose on them in the car.

I agree with checking other seating positions. Also try raising the headrest to see if that might help (as long as it doesn't compromise the belt fit). In the end, some boosters just don't work with certain vehicles due to the belt geometry. We went through several in our truck before we found one that worked well.