Car Seats Safety

pumpkin32

My father-in-law has been a great help to me and my hubby by watching our daughter one day a week. She's just turned 2 in December. Anyhow, FIL even bought his own car seat for his car! It's a new Cosco car seat from Target that has the hook system instead of the newer (easier to use) push clip system on the bottom belt. I admit, it is a little work to reach into the seat cushions and fasten the clips on the LATCH hooks, but it's not really that hard. Just this last weekend when moving the car seat for my visiting sister-in-law to use, I realized he switched out the strap/belt that fastens to the LATCH system of the car. I asked my mother-in-law who didn't know anything about it, so I asked my husband who told me that his dad replaced the strap with one from a used car seat they bought at a garage sale. (I refused to let my baby ride in a used car seat - I try to save money but NOT at the potential expense of safety!).

Before I fly off the handle, I thought I'd get some other opinions. What would you do???  Is this a big deal? The straps that actually touch my toddler are the ones that came with the car seat, but I feel like insisting that he put back the strap the seat came with. It's a safety issue...not like I'm mad for buying scented wipes or something trivial. Right? Am I overreacting?

SuperCuteBenz

I would be upset. The strap that he is using didn't come with that car seat. If something happens, and the seat fails for any reason, the company isn't liable. You should never just switch out pieces of seats.

penguingrrl

You definitely can't use a LATCH strap that didn't come with that seat. They haven't been tested together so you have no idea if they work together. Plus, if that LATCH strap was part of a seat that was damaged in a crash then it can't be used. If the LATCH straps are difficult to use there's no reason not to use a seatbelt to install the seat instead. LATCH and seatbelt are equally safe, LATCH was designed to be easier but it may or may not be.

Angela814

I think it's a big deal. The straps that came with your carseat are made for that carseat. I'd be really worried about the other straps even correctly securing the carseat to the car. That's just as important as the straps that hold your DD in, maybe even more so. Plus you don't know if those anchoring straps were in an accident, which would compromise their integrity.

pumpkin32

That's exactly what I was thinking, but I'm afraid my hubby won't support me because he's such a know-it-all. He doesn't even like it that I put the car seat in the middle of the back seat because he says I'm making the air bags ineffective. Grrr. I might be fighting this battle alone.