Seat belt placement for rear facing seats?

In reading the manual for my Intera, I noticed that it says 'thread under seat pad IN FRONT OF BUCKLE STRAP and out opposite side' (this is for rear facing installation with a seat belt). I've never seen it specified in any of my other car seat manuals (I just checked my Britax) and now I'm wondering if there is a specific position that is better for the seat belt - behind the crotch strap or in front of the crotch strap? Am I making sense? Its something I've always wondered about, but never knew if there was really an answer. Is it different for different car seats, or should the seat belt always be in front of the crotch strap? I'm specifically wondering about Britax seats and the Touriva. If anyone knows, please help! Thanks!

I've seen it before.

Cosco/AlphaOmega says behind the crotch strap.

It's been too long since I've done a RF Britax, but I remember the MA manual specifying because I initially did it wrong and had to redo it.

I haven't read or heard the "WHY" of this, I just try to do what the manual says to do.

I can't remember what exactly it says in the Scenera manual, but I believe it does specify where to thread the seatbelt or LATCH strap relative to the crotch strap for rear facing installations. I think if the LATCH strap or seatbelt is threaded through "wrong," it will interfere with the crotch strap by making it too short, and possibly hard to buckle properly.

That is one reason that I think its strange the Intera says to put the seat belt in front of the buckle strap - it really gets in the way of the strap and 'shortens' the strap making it a little difficult to buckle with my 3 yr old in it. I did find it in the Wizard manual - it says behind the buckle strap, so now I just have to figure out the Touriva. If anyone knows how it should be for the Touriva/Scenera, please let me know... I can't seem to find my manual for it! Thank you for your help!

I'll try to remember to look for it in the Scenera manual in the morning. Our spare Scenera and manual are in the corner of DD2's room at the moment. She's sound asleep, and I don't want to tiptoe in there and risk waking her.

stayinhomewithmy3 said:

That is one reason that I think its strange the Intera says to put the seat belt in front of the buckle strap - it really gets in the way of the strap and 'shortens' the strap making it a little difficult to buckle with my 3 yr old in it. I did find it in the Wizard manual - it says behind the buckle strap, so now I just have to figure out the Touriva. If anyone knows how it should be for the Touriva/Scenera, please let me know... I can't seem to find my manual for it! Thank you for your help!

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Behind the buckle? My Wizard is out on loan right now, but I can't wait to check this out. I have no idea how I could get the seatbelt to go behind the buckle. It's a solid two inches in front of it, at least.

Now I'm wondering about the RAs too. I just installed one for a friend and I think I did the seatbelt under the cover in front of the buckle.

Wendy

I've never thought about this so I looked it up for my seats. The RA and MA manuals say "route vehicle belt behind/under the buckle strap, then through the second rear facing belt slot." But, the BV manual says nothing about position at all. Hmmm. I bet it's the same. By 'behind' do they mean with respect to the CSS (I assume) or with respect to the front of the car? could be interpreted both ways with opposite results.

Alrighty, got out the Scenera manual, and it says for rear facing, you need to route the seatbelt/LATCH strap under the cover in front of the crotch strap (in other words closer to the vehicle seatback when rear facing). Here's what the manual says verbatim:

For rear facing installation with vehicle belt per the Scenera manual (p. 26):

"Thread the vehicle lap or lap/shoulder belt combination through the rear-facing belt slot.

Thread UNDER seat pad in front of crotch strap and out opposite side. Buckle vehicle belt. Do not place vehicle belt over child's legs."

The above instructions are accompanied by a diagram showing the vehicle belt threaded in front of the crotch strap (closer to to the vehicle seatback).

In the Rear Facing Installation with LATCH: Install LATCH Belt section of the Scenera manual, where it talks about positioning the LATCH belt into the rear facing belt path on pages 28-29:

"LATCH adjuster can be on either side, but belt should not be twisted.

Route the entire LATCH belt through the upper slot in side of shell.

Reach under pad, pull one LATCH hook between rear harness slot and crotch strap.

Push LATCH hook through the rear facing belt path slot.

Pull other end of LATCH hook in front of crotch strap and across seat to other side.

Push LATCH hook through the other rear facing belt path slot."

This is also illustrated by a diagram showing the LATCH strap threaded in front of the crotch buckle (i.e., closer to the vehicle seatback when rear facing).

From what I remember when I first tried installing the Scenera, threading the seatbelt or LATCH strap behind the crotch strap actually overlapped the crotch strap where it's attached to the carseat, shortening up the crotch strap and making it harder to buckle up. I'm assuming this could potentially interfere with how the Scenera performs in a crash.

Jean - thank you SO much for looking that up for me! I'm not sure how my Touriva is right now, but I'm going to have to check it out this afternoon. Yes, I was meaning 'in front of' and 'behind' acorrding to the CSS, not the front of the vehicle, so 'in front of' the buckle strap would be closest to the vehicle seat back and 'behind buckle strap' would be between the buckle strap and the back of the CSS. When I found it in my Wizard manual, I went out to check, and sure enough, I had it the wrong way! I couldn't find it in the BV manual, either, but I would assume its also behind the strap since we know thats what the MA, RA, and Wizard manuals all say.

You're welcome. I'm kind of curious now about what the Touriva manual says about threading the seatbelt in case it's different from the Scenera manual. I used to have a Touriva but disposed of it and the manual a while back because it was expiring. Now I wish I had saved the manual, lol. My Touriva was pre-LATCH, so it didn't have the details about positioning the LATCH strap in the manual, but I don't remember what it said about threading the seatbelt for rear facing installations.

I'm going to call Cosco to get the manual for the Touriva, but 1st I have to go out and get the numbers off the seat (ugh)... I hope they're in an easily accessible place! Then, I'll see if the seat belt placement is the same for both the Touriva & the Scenera.