car seat install question

2moms2twins

I hear it was supposed to be a nightmare.

I installed two seats in 5 min ... DID I do something wrong 

Used the Latch system  made sure both Graco seats were in the BLUE level and done ?  AM I MISSING SOMETHING ?

Also sdjusted the harness for newbies ( it was already set I just double checked so just wondering.... 

 For those who use latch do you also use the seat-belt?

Thanks for you input.  Hope DW is happy when she wakes up from her nappy !

natb22

Yes we used both the latch & the seat belt. It didn't seem very secure to us with just the latch so we seat belted them in as well, much more secure!

blondek8

It didn't take my husband very long to install both the infant seats and our convertibles either. Everyone complains about how much of a nightmare it is. We had them all double-checked at a carseat clinic run by our Public Health unit. There were some minor changes we made to the infant seats but they were all installed properly. We used the latch system, no seatbelts.

Haven1

The NICU had a certified person on staff, and yeah, she installed it in 5 minutes too.  We did the latch and no seatbelt.  Aren't you NOT supposed to do both?  I recall reading that somewhere in the manual, but maybe I made that up...

MrsCali_Bride

It didn't take my husband long at all to install the seats using LATCH. Even when we used the seatbelt with the seat for our oldest (our Taurus doesn't have LATCH) it didn't take all that much longer. As for LATCH & seatbelt, my understanding has always been that it is one or the other. Whichever gets you the most secure fit. I would verify with the instruction manual before using both. I know ours (the Graco infant SafeSeat and SnugRide 35) both say not to use the seatbelt if you are using the LATCH system.

natb22

Weird I wonder why. I'm gonna have to go read our manual now to see if it says something about not using both that I didn't catch the first time around

~Lynchie~

Yeah its actually pretty easy, I'm always surprised when people seem to have such a hard time with it!   One thing, you definitely do NOT want to use both latch and seatbelt because the seatbelt and latchbelt are designed to stretch 16-18% in an impact, which helps the child ride down the force of an accident. Having two restraints could lessen the stretch, which will transfer the energy to the child's head and neck.

groovygrl

We never even tried, MH just took it to a fire station at his lunch break so I don't know about it being a PITA.

However,  I noticed sometime early on that if I went uphill, LOs heads would bob forward and it made me uncomfortable so I went back- b/c our bucket seats were sort of deep, they actually wedged pieces of a pool 'noodle' under the foot of the seats and it helped a lot.

 

lgurian

~Lynchie~:

Yeah its actually pretty easy, I'm always surprised when people seem to have such a hard time with it!   One thing, you definitely do NOT want to use both latch and seatbelt because the seatbelt and latchbelt are designed to stretch 16-18% in an impact, which helps the child ride down the force of an accident. Having two restraints could lessen the stretch, which will transfer the energy to the child's head and neck.

this!

you can always have it checked by the fire dept or AAA will do it as well. 95% of car seats are improperly installed so I would drive by and have them checked. 

schoolsoutbride

The tough thing is getting them tight enough.  You don't want them to move more than an inch if you try to push them around. I have a hard time doing that without sitting on the bases or seats, which is a PITA. My DH does a better job.  The Chicco bases were a snap because of the way you adjust them, but the Graco was tougher for me.

Definitely no seatbelt+ latch. It's one or the other.

Get it checked.  95% of people aren't idiots. There are just all sorts of things you wouldn't know (like shoulder straps below the shoulders when RFing, above when FFing.)

2moms2twins

lgurian:

~Lynchie~:

Yeah its actually pretty easy, I'm always surprised when people seem to have such a hard time with it!   One thing, you definitely do NOT want to use both latch and seatbelt because the seatbelt and latchbelt are designed to stretch 16-18% in an impact, which helps the child ride down the force of an accident. Having two restraints could lessen the stretch, which will transfer the energy to the child's head and neck.

this!

you can always have it checked by the fire dept or AAA will do it as well. 95% of car seats are improperly installed so I would drive by and have them checked. 

Igurian -  I was told in NV the Firedept and the PD will not check our seat for liability purposes?  Did you have yours checked at Fire Dept or Pd?

Just wondering ?

WaitingOnTwoPinkLines

Seatbelt OR LATCH, never both - read the manual that came with the seats.