At what age are you comfortable with using the RF-tether for a baby?

At what age are you comfortable using the RF tether with a baby?

  • From birth

    Votes: 18 38.3%
  • 3-6 months

    Votes: 8 17.0%
  • 6-9 months

    Votes: 16 34.0%
  • 1 year or older

    Votes: 2 4.3%
  • clicky box (explain)

    Votes: 3 6.4%

  • Total voters
    47

Chex

New member
I'll probably move DD4 to the BLVD in the next couple of months and I'm not sure whether I want to use the tether yet. Just wondering what others' thoughts were on this. :)
 
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Mama Jo

New member
6-9 months. I wouldn't use the tether until they were strong enough to, at the very least, sit up on their own.
 

An Aurora

Senior Community Member
I put "from birth", although a more appropriate choice might have been "as soon as the chil actually fits into the seat" since DS is 2mos and still is well below the bottom slots of a Britax.
 

canadiangie

New member
With a rf'ing tether my *personal* answer is sometime after 6mos.

People have all kinds of opinions on this though, all based on various studies.

If it was an ARB (ie: TFP or Chaperone, etc) I'd be comfortable from birth.

Are her shoulders level with the bottom harness position on the BV?
 

Chex

New member
No, she doesn't fit into it yet. That's why I said it'd probably be a couple of months still. She's still on the bottom slots in her Snugride. I've also considered switching her to the Radian, but that would mean not letting DD3 have it and she needs the legroom, so that probably won't happen.

Anna, I put "from birth" since a lot of babies fit the Radian from birth. But yeah, I don't know of any babies who fit a Britax well from birth.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
I tethered my daughter's Radian from birth, and do not regret it. (She would have fit a Britax fine from birth. But she is a very long-torsoed exception. ;) )
 

canadiangie

New member
I've always wondered how the rip-stitch tether on the Britax seats works or doesn't work in terms of rf'ing (is your BV new enough to have the rip stitch technology?). FAIK, it's similar to ARB technology.

I was thinking back, and I think I added the tether to Emma's MA right around 5mos. Her shoulders were skimming the bottom harness slots by then, and her infant seat was recalled.

How old is baby dd now?
 

fyrfightermomma

New member
Mine came out of the bucket around 6 months-8 months and went straight to tethered seats then. But that age wasn't for any reason other than that's when they out grew the bucket. I think for me, it'd be 6 months anyways.
 

aisraeltax

New member
Our son went into tethered MAs at 6 months. I didn't know there was an issue with newborns. What is it?


yeh, im confused too. my son was in a BV from birth and i tethered it. i thought you were supposed to tether it always....please explain.
 

Pixels

New member
Rear facing tethering is optional always, mandatory never on US/Canadian seats.

There is some indication that RF tethering increases neck loads because the seat rotates downward as usual, then on rebound it gets stopped short, and baby is caught by the harness. Versus untethered, seat and baby move together.

The increase in neck loads isn't a whole lot, at least in seats that allow it. After all, they have tested it, and deemed it safe without designating an age.

The biggest safety advantage for RF tethered seats is actually in side impact protection, not in head on or rear collisions. The tether gives the seat more stability side to side.
 

macmomma

New member
Rear facing tethering is optional always, mandatory never on US/Canadian seats.

There is some indication that RF tethering increases neck loads because the seat rotates downward as usual, then on rebound it gets stopped short, and baby is caught by the harness. Versus untethered, seat and baby move together.

The increase in neck loads isn't a whole lot, at least in seats that allow it. After all, they have tested it, and deemed it safe without designating an age.

The biggest safety advantage for RF tethered seats is actually in side impact protection, not in head on or rear collisions. The tether gives the seat more stability side to side.

Thank you very much for explaining this- I had no idea that that could even be an issue.

Thanks,
Tina
 

Chex

New member
Angie, mine does have the rip-stitch tether, so I do feel better about that. DD is 3 months now and I usually don't keep my babies in the bucket past 6 months (actually, only one of my kids has stayed in it that long....the others all got sick of it before then). DD4 isn't complaining too much yet, but she's starting to get just a bit fussier in the car lately and so I don't know how much longer she'll be content in the bucket.

I'm thinking I'll probably wait to attach the tether until she's 6 months. I don't have anything to back that up with, it just sounds good to me. :p
 

Valentine

New member
There is some indication that RF tethering increases neck loads because the seat rotates downward as usual, then on rebound it gets stopped short, and baby is caught by the harness. Versus untethered, seat and baby move together.

The increase in neck loads isn't a whole lot, at least in seats that allow it. After all, they have tested it, and deemed it safe without designating an age.

The biggest safety advantage for RF tethered seats is actually in side impact protection, not in head on or rear collisions. The tether gives the seat more stability side to side.

Interesting. And how does that compare with an anti-rebound bar?
 

Pixels

New member
Interesting. And how does that compare with an anti-rebound bar?

Anti rebound bars rely on the vehicle seat cushions to slow/stop the motion of the carseat. Since the cushions are squishy compared to yanking on a tether, it should be a slower stop, rather than a yank. There will still be some increase in neck strain, but not as much.

I don't know if ARBs do anything in side impacts or not.
 

aisraeltax

New member
Rear facing tethering is optional always, mandatory never on US/Canadian seats.

There is some indication that RF tethering increases neck loads because the seat rotates downward as usual, then on rebound it gets stopped short, and baby is caught by the harness. Versus untethered, seat and baby move together.

The increase in neck loads isn't a whole lot, at least in seats that allow it. After all, they have tested it, and deemed it safe without designating an age.

The biggest safety advantage for RF tethered seats is actually in side impact protection, not in head on or rear collisions. The tether gives the seat more stability side to side.

thanks for the explanation.

but arent side impact crashes more common? so the RF'ing tether would actually be safer regardless of age (statistically?).
 

KelliBella

New member
yeh, im confused too. my son was in a BV from birth and i tethered it. i thought you were supposed to tether it always....please explain.

Yes, I had no idea. Never even heard of this, in fact. I have not moved my kids out of infant seats until they have pretty much outgrown them, :whistle: , so my kids have been at least 1 year and tethered. I thought that was the safest thing to do.
 

lynsgirl

New member
I put 'from birth,' because I am comfortable w/that. Ds3's seat was a Companion, which has an ARB bar. If it wasn't such an unwieldy seat with that mandatory air-cushion headrest (very confining and hard to deal with) AND it wasn't so dang heavy (w/only a 22lb weight limit). . . . I'd have used it again. Whew, run-on sentence. I am a very big proponent of ARB, especially the older a child gets.

When I switched ds3 from the Companion to the MA (at 3.5 mos - heavy heavy heavy between his 17+ lbs and the monstrously heavy seat), I did use the tether. Whenever I decide to switch little miss, who is only 16 lbs at 6 mos :love:, I will be using the tether. So if it was me, I'd use the tether on your BV whenever you decide to switch her :D.

ETA: Funny little story. Dh has gotten so accustomed to RF tethers and such that he had no idea that the SS1 has no ARB of any kind. He informed me that her base seemed "awfully tippy." I assumed he meant side to side somehow and thought one of the kids had messed with it. No, he meant tippy toward the van seat from the front of the base. He was horrified when I told him it was supposed to do that. He said he couldn't believe I had a seat that seemed so unsafe and that it seemed awfully much like asking for a dead baby in a crash. :ROTFLMAO: He backed down after we talked about it more, but he is still skeptical. I think I've gotten him brainwashed. . . :whistle:
 

amyd

New member
I struggled with whether or not to tether when we moved DS to the Marathon around 5 months. I actually Aussie-tethered for a while, which made me feel better about it.
 

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