Monday, February 28, 2011

LATCH 101: The Basics You Need to Know


LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren. It's also known as ISOFIX in Europe and LUAS (Lower Universal Anchorage System) in Canada.

LATCH is a way to secure a child safety seat to the vehicle using straps from the child safety seat that connect to special metal anchors in the vehicle.


VEHICLE LATCH ANCHORS

LOWER ANCHORS:
  • Lower anchors are a pair of metal “u-shaped” bars hidden in the vehicle’s seat crack.
TETHER ANCHOR:
  • A tether anchor is a metal anchor (often a ring or bar) found behind the vehicle seat.
**FYI: Vehicles since model year 2003 must have the lower anchors in at least TWO seating positions and tether anchors in at least THREE positions. This means that, in most vehicles, the side seats have lower anchors AND tether anchors, while the center seat has a tether anchor but NO lower anchors.


This diagram above shows the varied locations you may find the tether anchor in the vehicle.  ALWAYS check the vehicle owner's manual to make sure that what you have found is indeed the tether anchor (and not a cargo hook, which can not withstand the force of a crash).  See bottom of this post for pictures of different locations for tether anchors in a wide variety of vehicles.

CHILD SAFETY SEAT LATCH STRAPS
LOWER ANCHOR STRAP
  • All child safety seats that use the vehicle’s lower anchors have a lower anchor strap with a connector on the end. Some child safety seats have two separate lower anchor straps, each with a connector on one end. These connectors attach to the vehicle’s lower anchors.  A few booster seats have a rigid lower anchor connector, instead of having the connector on a flexible strap.
  • Rear-facing car seats typically just use the lower anchors (a few can also use the top tether).  Forward-facing car seats use the lower anchors AND top tether.  
Forward-facing car seat
using Lower Anchor Strap

Forward-facing car seat
with Rigid Lower LATCH

TETHER STRAP
  • All forward-facing child safety seats that use the vehicle's lower LATCH anchors will come with not only a lower anchor strap, but also a tether strap. The tether strap comes from the top of the child's car seat and has a hook on the end that connects to the tether anchor in the vehicle.
Forward-facing car seat
Using tether in a minivan
Forward-facing car seat
Using tether in a sedan
AN ANALOGY
Vehicle Seat BeltGlasses   as   Lower Anchors : Contact Lenses  
- Just an analogy for those yearning to relive their high-school SAT studying days.  But in all seriousness, this analogy explains why you never use the lower anchors & the vehicle seat belt at the same time to install the car seat.   Just like if you were to wear contacts & glasses at the same time you would see worse rather than better, so too the performance of the car seat may be NEGATIVELY affected by using both the lower anchors and the vehicle's seat belt at the same time.
- Note: Lower anchors are used INSTEAD of the vehicle's safety belt to secure the child safety seat to the vehicle. Tethers are used IN ADDITION to the lower anchors OR the vehicle's safety belt to secure a forward-facing (and some rear-facing) child safety seat to the vehicle.

JUST A FEW PICTURES SHOWING THE HIGHLY VARIABLE LOCATIONS FOR TETHER ANCHORS 
***ALWAYS CHECK YOUR VEHICLE OWNER'S MANUAL TO SEE WHERE YOUR ANCHORS ARE LOCATED***
MINIVAN
Tether on bottom of vehicle seat
MINIVAN
Tether on bottom of vehicle seat -
but covered up by carpet flap
SUV/Wagon
Tether anchor in the roof
SUV/Wagon
Tether anchor on back of vehicle seat
SUV/WagonTether anchors in floor of cargo area
(very inconvenient when trying to load packages)

5 door Hatchback
Tether Anchor on back of vehicle seat
SEDAN
Tether Anchor is on the shelf below the rear windshield

SEDAN
Tether Anchor is on the shelf below the rear windshield

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

LATCH Tip: Right Way Up or Upside Down - Attaching the Lower Anchor Connector Right

Did you know that there is a right way and a wrong way to attach the lower anchor connectors?  If attached the wrong way, the anchor may not hold securely in a crash - so make sure you get it right!

PUSH ON LOWER ANCHOR CONNECTORS
RIGHT WAY UP
UPSIDE DOWN

Close-up of the Fine Print:
"UP" - THIS SIDE FACING CHILD SEAT
FASTEN WITH AUDIBLE CLICK ONTO LOWER ANCHOR BAR
RIGHT WAY UP
HOOK STYLE LOWER ANCHOR CONNECTORS


RIGHT WAY UP
UPSIDE DOWN
RIGHT WAY UP
WHY DOES IT MATTER
Look at the direction of the metal tooth - you want the metal tooth to start from the top and come downwards for a secure hold - rather than coming from the bottom upwards.  The metal tooth in this pictures is almost all the way down (I'm holding the release button outside the frame of the picture so that the tooth isn't all the way down).

Also, attaching the lower anchor connector upside down usually means that you are twisting the lower anchor strap (which isn't good) which can lead to the strap getting twisted in the locking mechanism for the strap - which once the strap is twisted in the locking mechanism it is typically impossible to get the strap looser or tighter.
Lower Anchor Connector attached upside down - with strap twisting in the process