Forward Facing Car Seat Straps

As your child grows the proper placement of the shoulder straps changes.

Forward facing car seat straps. The tether reduces forward movement for the child s head and neck up to 6 in a crash. Use the correct harness slots. You must check to make sure your child fits into the height and weight requirements of the car seat in order for it to function correctly in a crash. As a forward facing car seat with a harness it tops out at 90 pounds and as a booster your child can use this seat up to 120 pounds.

The wonderfully inexpensive cosco scenera next is both lightweight and compact. Most car collisions happen when the car is moving forward causing a rear facing child s back to be pressed against the seatback of the child restraint seat. This means that a main goal of a rear facing car seat harness is to keep the child s body from sliding upwards against the child restraint s seatback. Adjust the harness straps so they are at or just above your child s shoulders.

For example it s important that when your child is rear facing the straps are set at or below your child s shoulders but once the seat is forward facing the straps should be at or above. When the shoulder straps are in their highest setting and the child s shoulders reach the strap slot the child is too tall for the five point harness on that forward facing car seat. On rear facing car seats the shoulder straps should come through the car seat slots at or just below your child s shoulders on forward facing seats the shoulder straps should be at or just above the shoulders. So reconfigure seats if necessary so all forward facing kids are in a vehicle seat with a tether anchor.

There are important differences between how to adjust the harness in a rear facing seat and in a forward facing seat. When installing a forward facing harnessed car seat always use a tether if one is available.