# Can you hook 2 carseats to the same LATCH bar?



## Jilian (Jun 16, 2003)

I'm due with baby # 2 soon and trying to work out how the carseats will be set up. DS is in a ff marathon and the baby will be in a bucket for a while then switch to a marathon. I drive a 2002 4-door Accord and I'm pretty sure there are only 3 LATCH bars in the back. I assumed there were more. I was planning on having the baby in the middle so he is safest, but can I do this? That would mean that the two carseats would have to share one of the LATCH bars. Is this ok? Is that what people have to do to install 3 carseats across the back? Or is there another LATCH bar that I am missing back there?







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## mbhf (Jan 8, 2005)

check your cars manual, but i am pretty sure no car manufacturers allow it. a seatbelt installation is just as safe.









also, most cars do not allow you to use the lower anchors in the middle, only outboard. again, check your manual.


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## ThreeBeans (Dec 2, 2006)

No, you cannot









Install one with LATCH and the other with the seatbelt


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## toddlermama16 (Jun 21, 2005)

Yep, exactly.







:

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ThreeBeans* 
No, you cannot










Install one with LATCH and the other with the seatbelt


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## dallaschildren (Jun 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jilian* 
I'm due with baby # 2 soon and trying to work out how the carseats will be set up. DS is in a ff marathon and the baby will be in a bucket for a while then switch to a marathon. I drive a 2002 4-door Accord and I'm pretty sure there are only 3 LATCH bars in the back. I assumed there were more. I was planning on having the baby in the middle so he is safest, but can I do this? That would mean that the two carseats would have to share one of the LATCH bars. Is this ok? Is that what people have to do to install 3 carseats across the back? Or is there another LATCH bar that I am missing back there?







:


I am confused. You mentioned 3 bars? 3 lower anchors sticking out of the seat bight? OR 2 lower anchors and 1 top tether anchor for a total of 3?
Most definately double check your owners manual Jillian. Verify you have lower anchors at all. Look for the LATCH symbol near the bottom of the seat backs. You mention your accord is a 2002. LATCH was not federally mandated until Sept. 2002, so you may not have it depending on what month your car was produced. OR if you do indeed have 3 lower anchors....then Honda may say it is ok to share an anchor between 2 car seats. Very few manufacturers allow this.

Dallaschildren
CPS Instructor


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## Jilian (Jun 16, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dallaschildren* 
I am confused. You mentioned 3 bars? 3 lower anchors sticking out of the seat bight? OR 2 lower anchors and 1 top tether anchor for a total of 3?

3 anchors when you reach into the seat in the car (where the seatbelts are) and also 3 top tethers. I don't know why it never occured to me to hook one car seat up using a seatbelt







:

So would it be safest to put the baby in the middle and DS (4) in his marathon on the end? I've always thought it was safest to use LATCH to hook up a carseat. Does it matter which seat has LATCH hookup and which has the seatbelt? I have a Marathon and a Combi bucket if that makes any difference.


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## dallaschildren (Jun 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jilian* 
3 anchors when you reach into the seat in the car (where the seatbelts are) and also 3 top tethers. I don't know why it never occured to me to hook one car seat up using a seatbelt







:

So would it be safest to put the baby in the middle and DS (4) in his marathon on the end? I've always thought it was safest to use LATCH to hook up a carseat. Does it matter which seat has LATCH hookup and which has the seatbelt? I have a Marathon and a Combi bucket if that makes any difference.

Either A. Honda allows the sharing of the 3rd lower anchor between both rear seats, or B. you have a 4th.....2 sets of 2.
At any rate, is your DS forward facing? If so, it is "safest" seating position for him in the center and I would place your newborn in the passenger rear outboard position.
Of coarse what trumps the "best laid plans" would be if you cannot get a good install on one of those seats in the seating position you intend on putting them (or they don't fit side by side).
LATCH is not safer. It was mandated to make it a more uniform way for parents and caregivers to install car seats. It's evolution sprung from the desire to lower the insanely high mis-use rate (incorrect seat belt installed car seats).

Dallaschildren
CPS Instructor


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## SomedayMom (May 9, 2002)

If your older son is forward facing, he would actually be the ideal candidate for the middle position. The least protected child in the most protected position. A forward facing child is not as safe as a rear facing child, regardless of age and would be best there if you can fit the carseats that way.

You'd have to check your manual but I used to have an 02 Acura and it did not allow LATCH in the middle position at all, only outboard.


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## yamilee21 (Nov 1, 2004)

I have a 2000 Toyota Corolla and it also has only three lower anchors - one right in the middle of the middle seat and each of the other two in the middle of the outboard seats. But since the middle seat is slightly elevated, a car seat can't be installed properly using the LATCH (besides turning the three-seat rear into only two seats).


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## Jilian (Jun 16, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SomedayMom* 
You'd have to check your manual but I used to have an 02 Acura and it did not allow LATCH in the middle position at all, only outboard.

I never checked my manual







: but I did have my son's carseat inspected when he was an infant and they said it was ok in the middle position with LATCH installation. Maybe my car does not allow for LATCH installation in the middle position? That would explain why I only have two sets of LATCH anchors. I know Hondas and Acuras are sister-company cars and made almost exactly the same, so maybe the same rules apply. I'm gonna check my manual today.


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## Jwebbal (May 31, 2004)

I have a 2001 Honda Accord, and there are only four latch bars in the back seat, and you cannot put a latch install in the middle, only a seat belt.


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## Jilian (Jun 16, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jwebbal* 
I have a 2001 Honda Accord, and there are only four latch bars in the back seat, and you cannot put a latch install in the middle, only a seat belt.

Does it say that in your manual? I checked my manual yesterday and it says you can install a car seat with a seatbelt or LATCH in any of the three positions in the back seat - only there are not enough LATCH anchors to hook up 3 carseats across with LATCH. Oh, and when I said I had only 3 LATCH anchors I meant 4


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## savithny (Oct 23, 2005)

Okay, I know someone who works at Honda. We've had long talks about car design, carseats, and safety.

What she told me (not inresponse to this) is that no, you cannot EVER put two sets of LATCH hooks on one lower anchor. Ever. No. Don't.

No manufacturer that my friend knows of for sure *warrants* their lower anchors in the middle position UNLESS THERE ARE THREE SETS. If there are two sets, they are only tested with seats in the outboard positions, and they make NO guarantees about their ability to hold up in a crash situation.

If you read the discussion of installing three seats across, what I think they're saying is that there is a TETHER in all three positions, and that you can use either LATCH or seatbelt in the outboard positions and seatbelt+tether in the center. My friend was very clear that they say you shouldn't do that.

WHile the math on the stress on the anchors says they should hold up, the bigger problem is that the two lower anchors are not spaced correctly and may not hold a seat securely or in a way that correctly distributes the crash stresses to the *seat*

Here's two articles on center latch that are pretty useful:

http://www.car-seat.org/archive/index.php?t-853.html
http://www.car-seat.org/archive/index.php?t-1306.html


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