# Anyone have any information on LATCH system weight limits?



## porenn (Nov 23, 2005)

I figured if anyone did, it would be this forum.

I have a 4 year old in a TrueFit, in a Honda Oddysey with a LATCH system in the middle seats. Recently, at playgroup, one of the moms mentioned that the LATCH system itself has a weight limit, for instance, the limit could be 40 pounds and that includes the weight of the child plus the weight of the carseat. So, for my 36 pound child, and her 15 pound carseat, the LATCH anchors could fail in the event of an accident. Securing the seat via seatbelt is the solution. Securing by seatbelt never seems to get the carseat as secure as the LATCH, even with the safety catch and the belt lock.

Where can I find information on this, to verify that it's true? There is no mention of it in my owner's manual, and a call to Honda Customer Service didn't yield any answers either.


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

Honda has a limit of 40#, child only, on its LATCH anchors. You're good for another four pounds.


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## MrsHin2002 (Feb 17, 2010)

How can I find out the latch limits for my '08 Santa Fe? Our son is 5, 38 lbs and still harnessed. Never thought about a latch limit...

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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

Hyundai defers to the car seat manufacturer. What seat are you using?


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## sahmmie (Jan 13, 2008)

What would be the latch limit for a Radian in a Ford Explorer?


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sahmmie*
> 
> What would be the latch limit for a Radian in a Ford Explorer?


48#, weight of child only.


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## sahmmie (Jan 13, 2008)

Thanks chicabiddy? Where do you find this information?

I also need to know the latch limit for the Radian in a Subaru Forester.


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

I'm a CPST and I own the manual published by Safe Ride News that lists LATCH limits.

Subaru is 60 pounds, weight of child plus carseat. I think the Radian is about 22 pounds, so you could use it with a child up to 38 pounds.


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## AmandaT (Jul 12, 2012)

In the first poster's case (this won't come up for me for quite a few years







) would it be safe to harness with the seatbelt for weight limit purposes and use the LATCH system as a secondary to get the car seat in as tightly as you can? Or is it a bad idea to use the LATCH system at all over the weight limit because it could snap?


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

No, you cannot use both seatbelt and LATCH. Ever. That could cause both systems to fail and it would be catastrophic. Seatbelt installs are perfectly safe.


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## sahmmie (Jan 13, 2008)

Thanks so much chicabiddy. I need to get my son out of his radian in his dad's car, or install it using seatbelt. He's 43 lbs!! Yikes!


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## llwr (Feb 24, 2009)

I'm so confused. I've never heard about latch limits before. I haven't seen these warnings either in my carseat or vehicle manuals. We have an 05 corolla. It looks like something changed in cars made after Sept 05 to accomate heavier limits. Is this true? From what I can tell, Toyota defers to the carseat manufacturer. We have an Evenflo Triumph Advance with a weight limit of 50. DD is probably pushing 45 now. Do I need to redo this with the seatbelt? They're making so many latch carseats up to 65+ now that this should really be addressed somewhere. I can recheck my manuals, but I'm almost positive there's no mention of it.


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

Most Evenflo seats have a 48# LATCH limit.


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## MrsGregory (Dec 21, 2011)

chickabiddy, may I avail myself of your expertise? We have a Subaru Outback (the smaller sport one, forget the year) and Little Miss is rear-facing. The weight limit on her seat is 60 lbs. including the seat and child, so the seat is 22.8, I'll go with 23 lbs., and she's got to be 37 pounds before we need to stop using LATCH and use the seatbelt install; So here's my questions; 1) The LATCH system in our car didn't/couldn't work with our seat (Britax Boulevard), so there are anchors under the front passenger seat that was used instead. In other words, the seat is anchored front and back, but the front anchor is a metal part of the front seat. This was commonly suggested fix for this car-seat/car combination online. Is this the worst thing ever?
2) At 37 pounds, when the LATCH system is outgrown for her, would you turn her, or would you wait until she hit 40 pounds? She's short and chunky, but small all-around, and we joke, but she may well be 4 or 5 years old before she hits 40 pounds. We're prepared to keep her rear-facing for a good long time, but what is more important? Weight? Head-to-body ratio?


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

First, I'm assuming you have the new Boulevard with the 40# RFing limit? Obviously, if yours is a classic model with a 35# limit, she needs to be turned then.

The tether arrangement you have seems fine.

If she's 4yo or 5yo when she hits 37#, I have no opinion about turning her. Do what works best for your family. A 4yo is very safe forward-facing. (As to what's more important, IMO, it goes: age, head/body ratio, weight. I'm fine with a small 4yo forward-facing. I'd do whatever it took to keep a 39# 2yo rear-facing.)


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## MrsGregory (Dec 21, 2011)

Yes, we have the new 40 lbs. RFing model... the one with the tasty chest-strap positioning pieces. Yeah, my Little Miss totally ate those.








Other than that, we love it. It's so much more convenient than her baby bucket, which I waited forever for her to outgrow.

I appreciate your input on when to FF her. We'd been thinking we would wait until 40lbs., but she's 14 months and is still just over 20lbs, and is consistently at the bottom 10% of the charts for height. From here, apparently, I can only expect her growth to slow, with all the running and being too busy to nurse or eat. So we had started to picture a 3rd grader, RFing... it didn't look good in our minds. Thanks for the advice!


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## llwr (Feb 24, 2009)

Thanks so much. I never would have happened across this if I hadn't seen it here. It really irks me that this info isn't in my manuals.


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## Skippy918 (Jul 15, 2008)

Does the 40lb limit apply to the top tether strap also or just the bottom anchors?


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## brigala (Apr 26, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *llwr*
> 
> I'm so confused. I've never heard about latch limits before. I haven't seen these warnings either in my carseat or vehicle manuals.


You're not alone. At all. The whole issue is extremely confusing. There are some changes coming in LATCH rules which should help reduce confusion in the future (whether it will help or not remains to be seen). The whole LATCH thing is very confusing and nobody quite knows why so many vehicle manufacturers somehow don't think it's important to put their LATCH limits in the manual and yet they're so adamant that they must be followed.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Skippy918*
> 
> Does the 40lb limit apply to the top tether strap also or just the bottom anchors?


Another hot button issue. The official stance in the US is that unless the vehicle manufacturer states otherwise, yes, they apply. In Canada, all FF harnessed seats must be top tethered, and so they don't apply. There is no difference between top tethers in the US and Canada. There are no known cases of top tethers failing in Canada because they were used beyond the weight limit. The difference is that in Canada, the government is willing to take responsibility for the very unlikely event that unforeseen issues might cause a problem if the top tether were to fail, and in the US nobody's willing to take that responsibility.

As a CPST I have been taught that I need to tell you (assuming you're in the US) to discontinue the use of the top tether after its stated weight limit.

As a parent, I top tether my forward facing seats if I have an anchor available. Period.


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## Skippy918 (Jul 15, 2008)

Thanks! My car manual didn't specify a weight limit on the tethers. It's a year 2000 make so it doesn't have bottom anchors. I use the seat belt install with the top tether for DS. He's maybe 35lbs. I wonder if car manufacturers haven't caught up to the extended car seat use. Back when my car was made, I doubt there were many harnessed seats that went past a 40lb weight limit.


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

LATCH was supposed to be easier -- not safer, just easier. It isn't.

I agree with brig. As a CPST, I cannot advise anyone to disregard manufacturer's instructions and tether beyond the vehicle's stated weight limit. I did it, though, and I'd do it again (my own personal kid is 10yo and 58" and 90# so it is irrelevant).


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Skippy918*
> 
> Thanks! My car manual didn't specify a weight limit on the tethers. It's a year 2000 make so it doesn't have bottom anchors. I use the seat belt install with the top tether for DS. He's maybe 35lbs. I wonder if car manufacturers haven't caught up to the extended car seat use. Back when my car was made, I doubt there were many harnessed seats that went past a 40lb weight limit.


What make is the vehicle? You're probably still within the limits anyhow.


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## Skippy918 (Jul 15, 2008)

Honda civic. It was more of a curiosity.


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## brigala (Apr 26, 2010)

I don't have the LATCH manual so someone else who can look it up may tell me I'm wrong, but I'm 99% sure Honda says the limit for both their lower anchors and their top tether is 40#.


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

In my copy of the LATCH manual, which is the 2009 edition (they are updated every two years, so 2011 may have new information and 2013 is not out yet), Honda states a 40# limit for LATCH used as a system and *does not state a limit* for tether used with seatbelt install.


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## MrsHin2002 (Feb 17, 2010)

Sorry for the late reply! We have an '08 Santa Fe with a Safety 1st Apex 65 seat (I think that's what it's called?). DS is 5.5 and about 38 lbs. Still harnessed and seat is installed with LATCH.

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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MrsHin2002*
> 
> Sorry for the late reply! We have an '08 Santa Fe with a Safety 1st Apex 65 seat (I think that's what it's called?). DS is 5.5 and about 38 lbs. Still harnessed and seat is installed with LATCH.
> Sent from my BlackBerry 9300 using Tapatalk


Hyundai does not state a limit. If the seat is indeed a Safety 1st Apex, Dorel specifically states in the LATCH manual: "If allowed by the vehicle manufacturer, these lower attachments, when used in conjunction with a tether, can be used up to *65 lb* with the CR [child restraint] harness. This amendment is *retroactive*."


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## brigala (Apr 26, 2010)

Make sure you are aware of the expiration on your Apex. They've been discontinued for some time now and most of them are either expired or don't have much time left on them.

That's as much of a reminder to me as to you. I gave an Apex to DH's granddaughter a while back and I think it expires at the end of this month. I need to keep bugging the mom to check.


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## nia82 (May 6, 2008)

Where can I find those rules? I was told that in my 2011 Siena I can use latch forever? I never read anything about tether limits (both kids are rearfacing, 39lb 4 year old and 24lb 2 year old with tethers to d-rings on front seats)... Thanks!


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

Toyota defers to the carseat manufacturer. Britax has a 40# LATCH limit, Diono/Sunshine Kids has a 48# LATCH limit (unless it has SuperLATCH, which is a whole different animal).


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## nia82 (May 6, 2008)

I have Radians with superlatch. The CPST said I can use it until 80lbs. I'm not too sure though and the interwebz don't offer too much info!


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