Big Girl Seat

[Anonymous]

OMG! Is 40lbs the cutoffs for most convertible seats? Sarah weighed 36lbs almost a year ago!

[hellbennt]

Lori, that’s for using the seat with LATCH I think; here’s the reply someone posted when I asked at TBW:

posted at TBW: It does depened on the car, and in the majority of cars it is 48lbs. They are starting to make it 40lbs in newer cars though, so the best bet would be just to check your vehicle’s manual. I’m not sure if there is an online list stating any of this, but if I come across one I will let you know.

the above was in response to christines’ question

ndrose wrote: To everyone else. I’ve read lots about this (five point harness versus booster seat for kids over 40lbs) and I definitely think the five point harness is best. Britax makes seats that can be used up to 80 lbs and they are LATCH equipped. BUT you have to read the instructions carefully because they say the car’s anchors may not be strong enough to hold a child over a certain weight in a convertible seat, and that this depends on the car, not the seat. It can never be simple, can it? That’s why I moved Liza to the booster. I could not find any information about whether or not our van’s anchors could support the Britax seat with a child over 40 lbs. No one at Toyota seems to have the answer, and of course it’s not in the manual. I wish these darn car manufactures would just start making built in safety seats that conform to current safety standards. They just don’t seem to care about chldren.

[Anonymous]

40 lbs is the cutoff for most carseats because of the structure of the carseat itself. The straps are not designed to restrain a child over 40 lbs. A child here was killed a few years ago because she was over 40 lbs (I’m not sure how much she weighed) and she was in a convertible carseat. If you ever look at a Britax seat the straps are much thicker and they are anchored to the back of the seat more securely so they can restrain a heavier child.

Thanks Laura for your response. I checked my Toyota manual and it says nothing about how much weight the anchors can hold. It’s frustrating and scary. I’ll have to try calling them again. So far I’ve gotten nowhere on the phone. Thanks also for the info why rear facing is safer. I will definitely keep Myles rear facing for now.

Lori, what you said about the movement in rear facing seats is really surprising to me. I been reading about carseat safety for years and I never came across that, but it sure makes sense. Canada has been ahead of the US for a long time when it comes to carseat safey, so you probably have better information there than we do here. I checked Myles’ seat and I guess it does give a little when I push hard on the back of it, so maybe that’s what they mean.

Did any of you see the winning invention on that American Inventors show a while back? It was a really brilliant carseat that cradles the baby and moves in a circular motion on impact to potect the baby. Kind of reminds me of what Lori was describing. I think Evenflo is working on it. I hope it comes to market one day….but I think it will only work for infants.

[Anonymous]

Christine, let me clarify… she showed me for a REAR facing seat… not once it’s turned forward. Basically she showed me that when you pull up on the top of the seat, it will move upward (sort of toward the back) so that with tons of force it would almost act like a shell around the child (it was neat actually). Once you turn it forward, you lose that kind of protection b/c of the orientation of the seat.

[Anonymous]

Laura, we do use the LATCH. What’s the other option? The belt? After seeing that video I don’t know that I’ll trust a seat belt to hold the carseat in place.

[hellbennt]

the video was for a booster w/o a 5pt harness…we do LATCH bcse the car has it…

[Anonymous]

Laura, I know that the video was for a booster without a 5pt harness, but I can’t help but think: If the seatbelt malfunctions like the video talks about, then wouldn’t that also make it dangerous when the seatbelt is being used to secure the whole seat into the car? Sorry, just my paranoia escalating…

[Anonymous]

I’m paranoid, too. I have my kids’ seats anchored and seat belted in (plus tethered). I figure this way if the anchors fail, hopefully the seat belts won’t, and if the seat belts fail, hopefully the anchors won’t. If both fail, the tethers hopefully won’t.

Am I nuts, or what?

[hellbennt]

ok, here’s more- I’m copying this from TBW (I got permission to copy from her before, too)

Here is what one carseat tech stated about this video (I have permission to post this):
“A tether does not secure a carseat as well as a seatbelt.
LATCH is not tested or rated over 40/48 pounds in most vehicles and it has been around for much less time, and I trust that less than a seatbelt too.
A 3-year-old should not be in a booster. (I understand that he was >40 pounds and the parents were not informed about higher weight limit seats, and this is not about blaming the parents.)
A 3-year-old is likely to not sit properly in a booster… shoulder belt behind his back, leaning out of position, etc.
A 3-year-old should not be responsible for buckling himself. I don’t know if this child was, but if he was, that might explain why it wasn’t buckled after the crash.
A 3-year-old might unbuckle the seatbelt.
If the crash experts found proof that the seatbelt had been buckled prior to the crash, is it possible that they were seeing evidence from a previous crash or hard braking or something. (I have no idea what kind of evidence they found, but I’m not convinced that they can prove that the seatbelt had been buckled properly and came unbuckled during *this* crash.)
Which brings me to another point, what if there had been a previous crash, and the seatbelt was not replaced (again, because the parents just weren’t told that it should be).
I feel horrible for what happened to this child and his family. I don’t even want to imagine. I still have doubts that the seatbelt failed.”
And this is what I said in response to that video in another forum:
“I saw that video yesterday. It’s a tragedy and I don’t want to imagine.
That said, there is misinformation in that video. I’m not sure why that parent thinks that a tether would’ve saved her child’s life.
Carseats are installed with either a seatbelt or with LATCH; the top tether is a part of the LATCH system, and it’s a suppliment to a seatbelt install. In most vehicles, LATCH is only tested and rated to 40 or 48 pounds, so for a child over that weight, the seatbelt should be the thing holding in the carseat (and a tether too, but like I said, that’s an “extra”, not what holds the carseat in the car).
Did the seatbelt fail? Maybe. If it did, it could’ve failed at holding a carseat too.
Honestly, my guess is that the child either didn’t buckle it properly or he unbuckled it prior to the crash. I hate to think about it, but this probably isn’t that uncommon with younger children who aren’t in harnessed carseats. Still a tragedy.
Do I encourage parents to keep their 3 year olds (or even 4 or 5 year olds sometimes) in harnessed carseats? Yes. But not for the reasons stated in that video. Most kids just aren’t mature enough to sit properly in a seatbelt (with a booster) until at least age 4, sometimes older.
For older children who sit properly in booster seats, I don’t think the solution is putting them back into a harnessed seat, but definitely make sure you check to make sure they’re buckled in properly every single time, and that they understand that they should never ever unbuckle their seatbelt until mom or dad says it’s okay.”

[Anonymous]

Thanks Laura! That makes a lot of sense.

[Anonymous]

I have a few questions. First, the seats you are talking about do they seem comfortable. All the seats we have looked at feel hard. I know I couldn’t sit in one of those for too long. The other question is Justice is 6 mos and has great head control, but when he falls asleep his head goes off to one side. Any recommendations for how to keep his head up. To be honest my two yr olds head does the same thing. I know thats not good for them, but not sure what to do about it.

Just a comment. I actually turn our kids carseats around at 20 lbs. I don’t know if they get car sick or what, but they cry and cry and cry in the car until we turn them around. Once we turned Luke around he loved the car, but until then he always cried. My friends kids are the same way, but I think that is unusual. I think most babies love the car.

[Anonymous]

Shelby,

That’s one reason I love the Britax Wizard. It has a side impact feature, a cusion that kind of surrounds the side of the baby’s head. It’s great because when they fall asleep they have a place to rest their heads without the head falling so far to the side. Even my older two love that feature because on long trips they can sleep comfortably.

As far as being comfortable, my kids all seemed very comfy in their Britax seats. I think they have they same amt of cusion as any other seat, and the side impact “pillow” thing really helps.

Britax has a website where you can look at the seats. http://www.britax.com I like the Wizard, but all of their seats are great!

http://www.britaxusa.com/products.cfm?action=ShowProduct&amp ;pro_id=E1B65DDE-13AE-4AB6-BEE87A144FAFBCB5

[Anonymous]

Kaelyn sat happily in her Britax Wizard for our 16 hour car trip this summer, so it couldn’t have been too uncomfortable. Like Christine said, I love the “wings” on it. It makes it easier for her to rest her head when she falls asleep.

Laura, that video had me bawling. It makes me want to go use the seatbelt, LATCH anchors and tether on our seats.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the update Laura, though I still don’t know what to do now with Sarah’s seat. She’s 40lbs clothed and we have her in an Eddie Bauer 2 in 1. I don’t want to use it as a booster b/c of something I learned later on, so I would need to buy something else. Any thoughts? Was that post saying that for 3 year olds it’s better to use a higher weighing 5 point harness seat with a seatbelt and anchor b/c the latch is only weight tested up to 40 lbs? (Forgive my stupidity… it’s sleep deprivation.)

[Anonymous]

No, it’s not sleep deprivation. It’s these darn car manufacturers that don’t give a darn about our kids. Sorry, but this aggravates me to no end because they can make all cars, all seatbelts, and all carseats safe it they wanted to. It’s not profitable for them so they don’t do it.

All we heard about a few years ago was this wonderful LATCH program and how it was going to solve all of our problems with installing carseats properly. Well, what good are they if they are not tested over 40 lbs???

Anyway, Ellie is 36 lbs. I KNOW that she would not sit still, keep the shoulder belt on properly, and be safe in a booster seat, so I have her in a Britax Wizard. I think what Laura’s post was saying was that for kids over 40 lbs, if they are in a five point harness seat (which the experts say is best) the seat should be installed using the seat belts, not the lower anchors. You can still use the upper tether for added stability.

What did you read about using the Eddie Bauer as a booster that scared you?

[Author]

Posts