One acronym that is being floated around the internet car seat community quite a bit these days is “LATCH.” LATCH stands for “Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children,” referring to a system that was developed to dramatically improve the safety features of car seats. This system was developed in response to a huge need for ease of installation in newer car seats. As of 2003, the LATCH system became a standard addition to vehicles. What this means is that you can now find a “lower tether anchor” on two points between the back and lower cushions of the seats in your car. These anchors will attach firmly to LATCH-compatible car seats.
here’s a bit more explanation, courtesy of Expert Village:
So what are the benefits of the LATCH system? They are two-fold:
Ease of Installation
The LATCH system removes the need for using the seatbelt in the installation of a car seat. Before LATCH, the most common installation method was to run the seat belt through a narrow hole on the back of the seat. If you’ve never dealt with this first-hand, I’m sure you can still imagine the absolute pain this is to install, especially if you’re in a hurry to get somewhere and you need to bring your infant with you. The new method of installation is simply to latch two anchor points from your car seat onto the hooks that are not coming standard in vehicles. Generally, this simply requires pushing two pieces of metal together until you hear a “click.”
Increased Child Safety
Although convenience and ease of use are the main points behind the LATCH system, these aren’t the only considerations when a new system like this is adopted. One huge problem with the old system that use seatbelts was that it was possible for the child to reach over and unclasp the belt. Of course, this compromises the safety of the entire car seat and makes it very dangerous to drive with a child. The anchor hooks used in the latch system do away with this danger for good: The anchor points are impossible for a child to compromise in any way provided they are correctly installed and used. So even though convenience is the main goal of LATCH, it’s hard to argue with the fact that a car seat that is easier to install means there are fewer ways to make a mistake in using it; this applies to any kind of childcare product whether we are talking about baby walkers or car seats! Fewer possibilities for misuse definitely equate to more safety and peace of mind, and even cheap car seats will have adopted this system so the price doesn’t increase. Definitely great news for those of us wanting to stretch our dollar a little further!
Learning how to properly use your infant car seat is an important step to take for any new parent, and hopefully this article will help ease you through that process!
First of all, you must be sure that your infant has proper head support during your trip. You can find cheap car seats with head bolsters and/or inserts that will give the proper support to smaller babies. Advances are constantly being made in the world of infant car seats, so be sure to check out the latest product availability to ensure that you are providing the best possible experience for your child.
Also, be sure to correctly put the harness straps in the provided slots. Generally, you want the straps at or below your baby’s shoulder level. Of course, you’ll need to adjust the harness as your child grows larger, so this isn’t a set it and forget it action. You want to make sure your baby is safely secured in the straps every time you put him/her in the car!
check out this helpful video from the folks at monkeysee.com
Another factor to consider is the tightness of the harness. Most people will do the finger test: If you can fit one finger and no more under the harness, then your child is properly secured. In order to double check whether the harness is secured properly, be sure that it is flat against your child’s thighs and shoulders. You should be sure to position the harness clip so that it is flush with your childs’s armpits while the shoulder straps remain in the proper position.
If your child usees a booster seat, be sure that the shoulder belts are correctly worn. Children will often tuck the shoulder belts underneat their arms because they get uncomfortable. While this is understandable on the child’s part, it’s also quite dangerous so make sure not to let them develop a habit of doing this. It also doesn’t hurt to glance back at your child once in a while to make sure he/she hasn’t repositioned the belts while you weren’t looking! A seat-belt positioner device will be a great help when you’re trying to get the belts positioned properly and safely. Even if your booster seat doesn’t come with the necessary positioner, you can find these devices on the internet to be purchased separately. Even if you purchase one of the many cheap car seats available on the market, it should have the ability to be paired with this type of accessory. Be sure to read your manual to make sure there aren’t any unexpected incompatibilities between your infant car seat and the seat belt positioners. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a baby car seat cheap with the proper safety rating as well as options for using accessories!
It’s best to avoid buying used car seats for a variety of reasons. The most obvious one is that you just have no control whatsoever over the potential abuse that the car seat when through in the possession of its previous owners. Even if you are thinking about taking a hand-me-down car seat from friends or family, they may not remember some important details about the history of the car seat, even leaving out important details that could adversely affect the condition of the seat.
Another practical consideration that a lot of new parents forget about when trying to save money by buyinh used is that the warranty on an infant car seat will not apply to a second owner. Even cheap car seats are an investment in the future, and you want to make sure that you are properly backed up with all the proper documentation in case you should discover a faulty part on the device. With a used seat, you run the risk of wasting your money when something breaks and you have to buy a new seat. For this reason, it actually makes far more sense financially to spend just a little bit more money on cheap car seats that do away with useless features while still emphasizing quality of construction and complying with safety ratings. This way, you get the best of both worlds: Smaller immediate investment and peace of mind knowing that you have a quality product.
The last important factor is that a used seat will necessarily be a bit older. Since the world of child safety is driving forward at such a rapid pace, you run the risk of not taking advantage of the latest developments. There are many people who make a good living spending all their time testing out these products in real world situations, pushing them to their breaking point in order to ultimately improve the next version of the car seat. You really should be sure to benefit from this research. Again, you can still get a great baby car seat cheap without sacrificing the quality of construction if you just shop smart and don’t prioritize useless features that artificially drive up the price of the product.
All of this boils down to shifting your priorities as a new parent when shopping for child-related products: Make sure to go with quality and safety first, and then narrow down the list to a product that has the fewest unnecessary, extraneous features in order to bring your cost down as much as possible!
