Which child restraints have LATCH?

Rear-facing, forward-facing, combination, and convertible seats all feature LATCH. Please note that most car beds, vests/harnesses, and belt positioning booster seats DO NOT allow use of LATCH.

Rear-facing Only seats:

• Infant carrier bases. These bases stay attached to your vehicle seat while you snap the infant carrier in and out for easy mobility. The LATCH system is permanently attached to the base and is either a flexible strap or a pair of rigid metal hooks. Currently, only the Combi Tyro II infant seat uses a tether strap on the base.
  

• Carrier (without base).
  

• On carriers sold without a base, the LATCH system is a flexible strap permanently attached to the carrier. The Britax Handle With Care was the only infant carrier to use a tether (manufacture of this seat stopped before the lower anchor belts were required; therefore this seat used the vehicle's seat belt along with the top tether.)

• Carriers sold with a detachable base are not required to feature LATCH. Instead, the LATCH system is permanently attached to the base (see above). When installing the carrier without the base (assuming your child restraint allows this) you can either use the vehicle’s safety belt or purchase a LATCH retrofit belt (available for many Evenflo, Century, Graco, and Cosco/Safety 1st/Eddie Bauer infant carriers.)

Convertible Seats (these can be used both rear-facing and forward-facing):

• Rear-facing: Typically only the lower anchor belt is used when attaching a convertible seat in the rear-facing position using LATCH. That is, most rear-facing convertible seats use only the lower anchor belt, not the top tether. Britax and Sunshine Kids allow use of the tether when the seat is rear-facing.

• Forward-facing: Both the lower anchor belt and the top tether are used when installing a convertible seat in the forward-facing position.

Forward-Facing Only Seats:

• Both the lower anchor belt and the top tether are used to install forward-facing only seats. Please note that a few vehicles do not have top tether anchors--in this case, use of only the lower anchors is permissible.

• Most forward-facing restraints have weight limits of greater than 40 lbs. However, maximum weight limits for attachment of the restraint using LATCH's lower anchors range from 40-60 lbs, depending on the vehicle. When using a restraint for a child who weighs more than the vehicle's maximum lower anchor weight limit, use the vehicle safety belt instead of the lower anchors to secure the restraint. Continue to use the tether, however, since benefits of use outweigh the chance that it might break during a crash.

Combination Seats (these seats can be used as forward-facing 5-point harnesses or booster seats):

• 5-point harness mode: Both the lower anchor belt and top tether are used. For seats with weight limits over 40 lbs, please check with your vehicle manufacturer to find out to what weights the lower anchors and top tethers are rated. If you continue to use the seat beyond the maximum weight for the lower anchors, use the vehicle’s safety belt to secure the child restraint. Many in the safety field recommend using the top tether strap above the vehicle manufacturer’s stated maximum, believing that the benefits of the tether outweigh the risks of the tether failing.

• Booster mode: Most manufacturers do not allow for the use of the top tether and/or the lower anchors when the child restraint is used as a booster seat – check your child restraint’s instructions if you wish to do this.

• Some vests/harnesses require the use of the top tether in order to provide the child with upper body restraint. Examples include the Safeguard Go, Ride Safer Travel Vest, and the EZ-On Y harness with RideRyte booster. In situations where the tether is essential to holding the child’s upper body back (and there is no back-up plan like there is with a forward-facing car seat where the car seat will effectively restrain the child’s upper body without the use of a tether), it is important to make sure that you do not exceed the maximum weight limit of the tether anchor. Check you vehicle's owners manual for tether anchor weight limits.
  
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