LATCH or belt?

Are your car seats installed with LATCH or the seat belt?

  • All are installed with LATCH

    Votes: 26 22.6%
  • All are installed with the seat belt

    Votes: 42 36.5%
  • Some are installed with LATCH, some with the seat belt.

    Votes: 46 40.0%
  • Clicky box

    Votes: 1 0.9%

  • Total voters
    115
U

Unregistered1

Guest
Which are your seats installed with? You can share why if you want. Poll coming.
 
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all together ooky

New member
Nautilus and Scenera with seatbelt in 2000 Olds Alero (No LATCH).
Frontier and Marathon with LATCH in 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan. I'll be switching the Frontier to a seatbelt install soon (Gwen is 42lbs right now).
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Seatbelts: my seats are in the center and neither car allows center LATCH, and she's over 48#.

ETA: tethered in both cars.
 
Last edited:

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
Latch for most of my boosters. Was using latch sometimes for the other seats. Moving the seat belt now, due to weight.
 

Maedze

New member
I messed up your poll with clicky box :evil grin:

In ONE car all seats are installed with LATCH. In the OTHER car all are installed with seatbelt.

In the car ONE there are three seats installed with LATCH and a booster. Which is not installed, just buckled in :whistle:

However, four pounds from now, we'll have two seats installed with LATCH, and one installed with seatbelt. Chaching.
 

Blondie87

New member
I install my outboard seats with latch, and my middle seats with seatbelt, since I don't have latch in the middle.
 

Maggie

New member
Both seats (Nauti and EFTA) are installed with the seatbelt.

I have latch in both positions, but my van (Pontiac Montana) is a PITA to get to the LATCH anchors. Not only are they super deep in the seat, but they seem really thick and I have a hard time even getting the LATCH clips around them.
 

CandCfam

New member
Taylor just went on a growing binge. 3 weeks ago I switched her MA from LATCH to seat belt install due to weight. Just this week I checked her shoulders and she's max'd the height on the MA (7 months younger than when McKenzie outgrew hers), so she's going to be in a Parkway booster until the Monterey's I ordered come in, and then she'll be in a lower anchored Monterey, as will McKenzie, in the vehicle they are in most often.

2nd vehicle will have a Compass & Parkway booster in it.
 

Guest

New member
Recaro with LATCH. Blvd with belt. I'd do LATCH for the Blvd, but there's no center LATCH in that car. :(
 

strollerfreak

Senior Community Member
Some LATCH, Some Seatbelt...though had you asked this last week it would have been All Seatbelt...

5 kids, 2 LATCH spots...yup All LATCH just ain't gonna happen. :p

FWIW, it's the SS1 that is in with LATCH...it replaced the SIV which was in with the seatbelt because it doesn't even have LATCH...LOL!!
 

melniemi

New member
I have 5 seats installed in my van right now and only 2 sets of latch. So, 2 boosters with seatbelts, 1 ffing ma w/seatbelt and top tether, 1 regent w/latch, 1 rfing ma w/latch and tethered rfing.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Outboard with LATCH (including rear-facing tether on the RF seat), center with seatbelt and tether (no LATCH available for that one, obviously.) Though after picking up my 2 year old after my 4 year old, my 2 year old hasn't been weighed lately, we may need to see how much she weighs and soon see about either switching their positions in the car or installing her seat with the belt... I don't want her to hit 48 lbs. without me knowing it! I also need to check for SafeStop purposes. Dratted kids breaking my scale... I'll see if I can get her to stand on the scale at my mom's house, right now she is obcessed with measurements, so that may work.
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
I generally prefer to install with LATCH when possible. (Sometimes I install with seatbelt in my dad's Odyssey because the LATCH hooks are hard to get to and he's usually waiting for me, somewhat impatiently. :rolleyes:)

Here's how I have the seats installed in my cars:

1998 Escort: No LATCH, of course. FPSVD installed RF with seatbelt, Regent installed with seatbelt.

2003 Focus: MA installed RF with LATCH and RF tether, Nautilus installed with seatbelt and tether. Nautilus was installed with LATCH, but DS is over 48 lbs (just barely ... like 48.5 lbs.) so we had to switch to a seatbelt install.

For me, one of the reasons I prefer LATCH to seatbelt is that no one's going to accidently unhook the lower anchors somehow. I've seen enough seats at check events that weren't even buckled in and the parents say, "Oh, (other kid's name) must have done that when she was climbing in." (Which may or may not be true. :rolleyes:) I would worry about it more if I had a boostered kid right next to a harnessed seat installed with a seatbelt.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
All of mine are with seatbelts.

Pilot:
Nauti with belt because it's in the center, DS is over 40 lbs anyway, and the seatbelt is much easier than LATCH with that seat, IMO.
SS1: Seatbelt, because it's way easier than LATCH.

Prius:
Regent: Seatbelt because it's in the center, and I'd probably use the belt outboard anyway, because I like seatbelts :)
SS1: Seatbelt because it's easier than LATCH, and I'm not sure I could reach both LATCH anchors in that position anyway, because of the way the Regent sits.

Unless I'm installing an infant/lightweight RFing seat without lockoffs, I'll nearly always go for the belt. Less hassle, especially in uninstalling.
 

Guest

New member
For me, one of the reasons I prefer LATCH to seatbelt is that no one's going to accidently unhook the lower anchors somehow. I've seen enough seats at check events that weren't even buckled in and the parents say, "Oh, (other kid's name) must have done that when she was climbing in." (Which may or may not be true. :rolleyes:) I would worry about it more if I had a boostered kid right next to a harnessed seat installed with a seatbelt.

May be true. We noticed the Blvd leaning (DS never rode in it when this was happening). Couldn't understand how it was moving positions. I finally went to reinstall it, and discovered the belt had been undone. MIL apparently undid the wrong belt when she was trying to get out one time. She always has probs with the seatbelt.
 

munchkin

Active member
My Marathon always gets installed with LATCh (and RF tether when applicable), because I think it is so much easier/gets a tighter install.

The Frontier depends on the vehicle. Mostly LBP (but every so often LATCh) in my Focus, but always LATCh in my mom's Sport Trac, because the belts aren't long enough for LBP. (and always top tethered!)
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
May be true. We noticed the Blvd leaning (DS never rode in it when this was happening). Couldn't understand how it was moving positions. I finally went to reinstall it, and discovered the belt had been undone. MIL apparently undid the wrong belt when she was trying to get out one time. She always has probs with the seatbelt.

Exactly. What I'm envisioning is a situation where my 7YO is in a booster right next to my 3YO, with both buckles right next to each other, and him having to buckle in a hurry in the pick-up lane at school. He wouldn't be able to see the buckle anyway, and really wouldn't know if he undid hers.

All moot for me, of course, because in my car I really can't fit a booster next to a MA and still be able to buckle the booster. :rolleyes:
 

Michi

Member
Our MA is installed 2nd row/center, with a lap-only belt, and our (pre-advisory) Regent is in the back installed with the belt ( long belt path.) Sometimes I'll put the MA outboard in the 2nd row, and then I use LATCH, but otherwise I usually prefer seatbelts.
 

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