curls

Do not use LATCH in the middle position. Use the seatbelt. It will be as safe (or safer), and shouldn't move side to side as much. Did you try putting your knee in the base/seat to get the belt tighter? Do this with the seatbelt connection and see how that works for you.

The standards they use here in Ontario are no more than 1" of side-to-side movement and no more than 1" of fore-aft movement... just for reference.

davidspalding

Yeah,he's not kidding. Put your knee AND all your weight into the seat, then tighten. I did this with my baby girl's Britax Roundabout (and the earlier Graco convertible thingie for the first 6ix months), and that sucker D.I.D. N.O.T. M.O.V.E.

Got an A+ from my friendly neighborhood policeman.

crisco

I have two front facing seats. Both are installed using the LATCH system. its funny though, the GRACO seat - I can install it so that it doesn't budge an inch. The COStCO seat on the other hand, no matter how much weight or force I use to press it into the car seat, it remains somewhat loose. I can't wait until the kids are out of the full car seats and into boosters.

BTW, how old/heavy do they need to be in order to 'graduate' into a mere booster?
thx

dereksmalls

In Canada, they recommend that kids only move to boosters once they've reached 40lbs. However, another key factor will be how your kids fit in their child seats. When they are forward facing, the belts should come out of the seat just above their shoulders. If the belt comes out below the top of their shoulders, there's a greater risk of injury in the case of a frontal collision (broken collar bone). It's the same for adults and seatbelts.

Note that this is opposite of when they are rear facing - in this case you want the belts to come out just below the top of their shoulders.

Having said all that, I've always moved our daughter to the next level of seat/position earlier because of her height - she was always too tall. She started in a booster (Britax Parkway) at around 32lbs, and within weeks I had to raise the headrest on the booster to accommodate her height. Now 10 months later, she's finally hit the 40lb threshold and the headrest has been moved up 4 times. When she moved out of her child seat, the belts were already just below the tops of her shoulders, so I was a bit late.

crisco

thanks for the info. that helps alot.

Atrain

I use a Britax Marathon for the 2005 Acura TL and it's such a great seat that we purchased a second one for the 2008 TSX.

I still have the EvenFlo Tribute 5 child seat and it's about as useful as a wet bag of hair. So hard to install, such a pain to adjust and very hard (uncomfortable) for the kid.

The Britax is manufactured in the USA and it shows through the quality and craftsmanship. The LATCH connectors are outstanding to use. The EvenFlo was made in China and well...

The Britax was $260 while the Evenflo was $70 at Babies R Us. It's well worth $190 more...after all it's your child.

When the LATCH system is used on the Britax and I use my body weight (180 lbs.) to secure the child seat on either the TSX or TL...IT DOES NOT MOVE AT ALL.

It doesn't wiggle, tip forward, nothing. If you child seat does this...IT IS NOT INSTALLED CORRECTLY. Period!

I recommend a Britax Marathon to anybody.



Plus it's good up to 65 lbs.

A-Train

curls

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/saf...eat/choose.htm


Pre-school to 8 years old

The law requires booster seats for children who have outgrown a child car seat but are too small for a regular seat belt.

Booster seats are required for children under the age of eight, weighing 18 kg or more but less than 36 kg (40-80 lbs) and who stand less than 145 cm (4 feet 9 inches) tall.

A child can start using a seatbelt alone once any one of the following criteria is met:

* child turns eight years old
* child weighs 36 kg (80 lbs.)
* child is 145 cm (4 feet 9 inches) tall.

A lap and shoulder combination belt must be used with all booster seats. Your child’s head must be supported by the top of the booster, vehicle seat or headrest. The shoulder strap must lie across the child’s shoulder (not the neck or face) and middle of the chest, and the lap belt must cross low over the hips (not the stomach/abdomen). Never use seatbelt adjusters.

DuckDodgers

Well, several points jump out:

1) The correct seat comparison would be with the Evenflo Triumph or Titan. The Tribute is a very thinly padded down market version of the other two. The Titan uses a similar adjustment system that I find easy to use, and the Triumph is an even easier system. These two run about 100 to 140.

2) My daughter is equally comfortable in either seat, and we actually removed some of the optional padding from the Triumph to make her more comfortable.

3) The made in China angle is just pure scare mongering. As a matter of fact, Evenflo is a US company while Britax is a British company...as for the manufacturing location, the majority of the hardware on all these seats is of cheap Asian labor creation.

4) Consumer Reports. Their latest study was marred by a math error, but their previous study (I one I used to select a seat) showed the Britax and Evenflo's refered to here (even the thinly padded Tribute) to be very effective, although the Britax was significantly less effective if installed using vehicle seatbelts instead of the LATCH system. The Evenflo's was as effective either way, so I selected them. While I will be using LATCH in my vehicles, if I have to move the seats around, knowing they work as well using the belts is nice peace of mind.

5) Price doesn't buy safety...even a cheap child seat properly installed is vastly superior to a expensive child seat installed incorrectly. There are basic standards, and as long as the seat meets them, the largest factor in protection is use and installation.

I'm not dissing the Britax, it is an excellent seat...but for the cost of one of those I got two equally comfortable and protective seats (and a 25.7oz can of powdered formula) to install in both our vehicles. The bonus of not moving a seat for car to car is that it makes a correct installation easier, and makes it easy to get it checked.

Atrain

DuckDodgers,

Your opinion differs from mine.

A-Train

DuckDodgers

As does mine from your's, but even in agreeing to disagree we are both ensuring our childs (childrens) safety. I certainly hope this discussion has made everyone with any type of child seat go and checkout their installation and possibly get a professional evaluation of it . Meanwhile, anyone with experience with child seats please consider sharing data on seats working/non-working in the TSX.

davidspalding

Check the owner's guides for your seats.

davidspalding

In that vein,... I use a Britax Parkway booster seat for my princess. Though the rear head rest kinda bumps the top of the seat (need to take it out on that side, will give me better rear window visibility, too), it fits quite well. And it's very comfortable for her, the head supports make napping pretty simple.

clee109

I can't reccomend the Recaro young sport enough. It's simple to put in, the latch system is great, it is expandable and fits the TSX seats like a glove.