[Madeline410]

We see a LOT of these common errors:

• Loose straps
• Twisted straps
• Chest clip too low
• Straps too low/too high at shoulders
• FF seats not top tethered (if your car doesn't have anchors, contact the manufacturer to have them retroffited!)

[Madeline410]

If anyone has pics of children in a proper fitting high back and/or backless booster, I'd love to add them to this thread. Please PM me!

[::er!ca::]

Maddie, this is great! Thank you!!

[Mommy_of_7_Angels]

Maddie, I did have one question, but hadn't looked it up/checked the manual since it'll be a couple years before it's an issue. Do all seats have to be tethered when ff? (I know it's safer, but is this a requirement?) When installing the MR65 for my niece (who's now 4 months old) I noticed that my mom's car (the main car my niece rides in) doesn't have the tether anchors. She drives Suzuki Grand Vitar and retrofitting the tether anchors would most likely cost her a good bit of her storage space. Now, I'm all for what's safest, but it's not my car and I'd like to be prepared with the facts if I have to bring it up.

[Madeline410]

It's not required, but very very strongly encouraged. If you absolutely cannot tether a FF seat, the Radian is a good option because of the low profile. Another good option is something with lock offs, like a Britax or a Nautilus Elite.. or a Frontier or Regent since they have those long belt paths.

I just looked in my LATCH manual since I'm not familiar with the car. If it's 2000 or older, you can have them retrofitted in all 3 positions. It says "Weld nuts in lower tailgate below cargo door." I have no idea what that means, but if you know the car, you can visualize where that is and decide if the space it takes up is ok. If it's '01 and newer, it will have tether anchors in it.

Sorry to butt in here, I saw the link in your siggy Maddie... I see the shoulder strps should be "at or above", do you mean where they are attached tto the seat? May I ask what the reasoning is for this please? My DDs straps are slightly below or as level her shoulders, it's concerned me a bit now! I will be checking this before we travel in the car next time!!

Also, these chest clips - did you buy those seperately? I've never seen these in the UK. They look fantastic at preventing little arms coming out of the straps.

[Madeline410]

You aren't butting in! There are no chest clips in the UK because standards are different. Your seats are fine without them but the seats here require them

For forward facing, if the straps are below the shoulders, it can push down on the child and compress their spine in a crash. For rear facing, if the straps are above the shoulders, the child can "ramp-up" in the seat in a crash and we want them to stay put so there is less force on their spine. Does that make sense? I'm not familiar with seats in the UK though so check the car seat manual on strap placement. But yes, we mean where the harness goes into the back of the car seat by their shoulders. Check your manual on how to change the slot height. You are more than welcome to post pics too so we can take a look.

I feel like such a bad mummy, I just dug out the instruction manual and indeed what is posted here is correct and i have been using the seat incorrectly for a while now.

I spent a lot of time researching car seats and I chose the one we have due to it's safety. I feel I have chosen a fantastic seat, however, I haven't been using it correctly! I'm so glad I clicked the link in your siggy!!

Tmor morning, I intend to go out to the car and re-route the straps and give it a thorough check over. Thankfully I am very cautious about checking the seat is tightly secured every time we travel in the car, and I readjust the tightnes of the straps each time I put her in the seat as well. But I (ignorantly) had no idea about the strap height levels being so important.

[Madeline410]

Don't feel bad!! Lots of people make the same mistake. That's why we're here. Does she still fit RF? It's loads safer at her age

She is FF now. I'm so glad I clicked your siggy link! I've posted a thread on the UK Mummies board, linking to this thread, just out of interest to see if we all check our babies seats and if we don't... that we do!!

[Madeline410]

I posted this in the other thread, but for the benefit of lurkers, check out this link to see why we like to see kiddos RF until they are at least 2. http://www.justmommies.com/forums/f7...ar-facing.html (Extended Rear-Facing)

[MrsStuartD]

Maddie you're the bestest! Thanks for reminding me it's time to up Tyler's straps. They're starting to get a little below the shoulder. I mentioned it to DH last week and completely forgot about it! We'll get it done tonight. What would we do without you!

[Madeline410]

[AmyT]

I think it's time for me to up Allie's straps too. I'm actually going to wash her car seat cover tonight, so when I recover it I will check her straps to make sure they are at the correct level...THANKS for the reminder

[LadyCoconut]

Great thread, I am going to C&P and link it to my board!

[Madeline410]

^Wonderful

Deleted...moved to harness thread

[Madeline410]

bump