It used to be that anti-rebound bars and load legs were common only in Canada and outside North America. But today these features are becoming more and more common for seats on the American market as well. In Canada, car seat manufacturers often employ the anti-rebound bar to meet Canada’s anti-rebound standards. But what exactly are these, and what do they do?
Transporting families in pick-up trucks is standard in much of North America, and modern 4 door trucks can be comfortable and safe for kids and adults alike. When installing car seats some trucks have unique features, however. Let’s take a look at how installing child restraints in trucks differs from installing in cars.
Perhaps you’ve seen members in our facebook group asking about a rear facing only (“infant”) seat be warned to “make sure it’s not rear adjust!” Or perhaps you yourself purchased a rear facing only seat, and you can’t find the adjuster strap to tighten the harness. What’s going on?
Vehicle shopping is a daunting task. Many times, the sales staff descends upon you as soon as you enter the lot. If you need to quickly replace a vehicle, shopping can be even more stressful. If you are not in a time crunch, you have more time to weigh options. Two of the last three times we’ve chosen a new vehicle, we didn’t have the luxury of time. As a family of seven, any old vehicle won’t do and when our main vehicle died a painful, unexpected death, we were suddenly living in a world of hurt.
Whether you have two weeks or two hours to make the decision, here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a new vehicle.
Meet our little model. Her parents are putting her in the Graco SnugRide 35 Click Connect that her older brother used. They made sure that it hadn’t expired, they cleaned it according to the instructions in the manual, they verified that they had replaced the buckle in the Graco recall, and they moved the straps down to the lowest slot. But now when they tighten the harness around her, there’s some slack even when they pull it as tight as it can go. What went wrong?
Our friends at Safety 1st/Cosco/Dorel have changed the game when it comes to the forward facing minimum age: all of their car seats now require children to be at least 2 years old to ride forward facing. They’ve ushered in this change with a slew of exciting new car seats that cover a range of features and price points.
Have you had your car seat checked?
As much as the technicians at CSFTL.org help people online every day, it is always a good idea to have an in-person carseat check done on your car seats. Nothing can replace working with a CPST and learning hands-on how to use your own seats in your own car properly.
Sometimes it seems manufactures are out to confuse parents as much as possible.
For years Child Passenger Safety Technicians stated that you don’t use LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren) with boosters. The booster simply sat on the seat under the child, then the seat belt held in both the child and the booster.
LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren) was phased in between 1999-2002 with the goal of giving parents a standard, foolproof method of installing their children’s seats. However, the advent of larger seats, and older children being restrained in those seats, has led to a concern that never occurred to the experts of 20 years ago; how much weight can those anchors actually bear in a crash?
Do Britax ClickTight series Convertible car seats, such as the Britax ClickTight Advocate, Britax ClickTight Boulevard, or Britax ClickTight Marathon fit next to each other?
