Question If it was YOUR child...

[Frenchgirl]

Ok, so I've read everything about the new 65# limit on the LATCH and the TT being mandatory in Canada.
So, right now, I don't know if I should switch DS2 to a booster.
He is 5 yo (since yesterday!) and 50#. He is in a Frontier (harness mode) in my 2006 Mazda5 and my 2010 Toyota Sienna. The Frontier is secured with the seatbelt (LBP).
I think he would probably do well in a booster. He has food allergies so he's used to take care of his safety.
Before the controversy about LATCH, I wanted to switch him to a booster around 6 yo. But now, I'm confused.
So, if it was your child, WWYD????????
Thanks!

 

[monica-m]

If it were my child and I wasn't ready for him to ride in a booster, I would use the tether beyond the limit. I feel that the benefits of tethering outweigh any potential risk. As a tech, I would make the parent aware of the benefits of tethering as well as the fact that if the tether fails, it has already done its job and that I have never heard of one failing and I would let them decide what they want to do. I would then document their decision.

 

[featherhead]

If it were my child and I wasn't ready for him to ride in a booster, I would use the tether beyond the limit. I feel that the benefits of tethering outweigh any potential risk. As a tech, I would make the parent aware of the benefits of tethering as well as the fact that if the tether fails, it has already done its job and that I have never heard of one failing and I would let them decide what they want to do. I would then document their decision.

:yeahthat: I just switched my 5 1/2 year old to a booster (she is 40 lbs) but my next child will probably hit 40 lbs before 5, and I will not put her in a booster at that point. And I drive an Odyssey which apparently has always had a limit on the top tether.

 

[ketchupqueen]

I have and would again tether over the limit (though I would not use lower anchors over the limit.) I have a Honda, have an almost 60 lb 6 year old, she has been tethered the whole time she's been harnessed, is just now moving out of the Frontier and only because she outgrew it by height, and I have never had any hesitation about that. Tether anchors are neither built nor tested like lower anchors and there is ample evidence they are good over these limits, and none that they will fail, and even evidence that if they did fail it would likely not be harmful and do some good first.

 

[bubbaray]

I move my kids to boosters at 5/40, but not for reasons relating to LATCH (technically UAS here) and any supposed TT limits.

 

[Brianna]

I would use TT to the harness limit of the seat.

 

[Nimommyof2]

I'm not a tech. But I'd use the tethers over 65lbs. I'm really baffled by these "limits" and find it pretty confusing. consumers don't even know the lower anchors have limits and now the top ones do too?? I haven't done much reading on this but I assume this is seat and child together to make the 65lbs meaning something like a radian wouldn't take much to be over that?

 

[tiggercat]

If it were my child, in a Toyota (always been a "defer to CRS manufacturer") I would absolutely continue to use the Frontier, installed with seatbelt (lbp preferred), with the tether.

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org

 

[snowbird25ca]

I have kept my ds harnessed in a frontier installed with UAS and top tether without hesitation. He's 45lbs and I'll switch to seatbelt fairly soon, but I don't have any concerns right now.

I didn't have any concerns before, but after all this hubbub about limits broke loose in the US I spoke to GM Canada who told me that if my vehicle manual didn't specify any limits, then I could use both UAS and top tether to the limits of my car seat. If GM was *that* concerned, they would make sure that all their CSR people were trained...

We have always said to not worry about top tether anchor limits in Canada. Part of the test process for top tethers involves a pull force higher than what a seatbelt has to meet before unbuckling. If the standards were truly inadequate for the weight of most kids in carseats, then we'd be seeing much more frequent seatbelt failure with adults.

The whole mess is a bunch of CYA in the US and not based on actual documented research so far as what I've been able to uncover. In fact, it seems to be more based on lack of evidence of exactly how much they can hold.... If you don't know if the maximum is 110lbs or 150lbs, it's much safer to just say 65lbs...

Transport Canada did all that research testing, much of it with dummies that were over 48lbs. The only vehicle that had a failure had a failure of the UAS, and it was a seat installed with UAS in an unapproved position... All the other kids - even in heavy seats and with the vehicles being crash tested higher than standards require, stayed secured to the vehicle. It just sucks that this CYA move on the parts of vehicle manufacturers is going to impact so many families - it goes against the very goal of what LATCH was designed to do when it was implemented and the problems it was designed to combat...

 

[canadiangie]

All of my ff harnessed seats are top tethered, period.



What a mess this industry is turning into.

 

[Frenchgirl]

Thanks you SO much for all your replies.
I really appreciate your input about it.
I will keep DS harnessed. I prefer it that way. And if I buy a new booster (FR is too large for my 5yo), DH will 1- be a little mad about a new expense. And 2- he will say: we should use the FR for dd (3yo 1 mo). Right now, she's rf and I really want to keep her that way.... So, it's better for the safety of all the family if DS2 stays harnessed in his FR
Thank you again!

 

[Keeanh]

This LATCH limits business is an obnoxious mess. The top tether doesn't install the seat. It just limits movement. So it isn't subjected to the same forces as the lower anchors. We've always had top tethers in Canada, dating back to when they were DIY-type installations by mechanics who may or may not have been putting them in properly. Yet it seems NO-ONE has heard of any serious problems with top tethers.

 

[tam_shops]

We've always had top tethers in Canada, dating back to when they were DIY-type installations by mechanics who may or may not have been putting them in properly. Yet it seems NO-ONE has heard of any serious problems with top tethers.

Yep, I installed my first top tether in the 90's in my Ford Festiva. It came w/ a kit and instructions to use a torque wrench which we did not own, so I used a regular one and it stayed like that the life of the car...

tam