Using a Rear-Facing Tether
If you’re looking for information on using a rear-facing tether, you probably have a Clek convertible with a Q-Tether or an UPPAbaby Knox. Please click on their respective links for more information on those seats and how to use them.
OUTDATED INFORMATION!
The only carseats in the U.S. and Canada with the capacity to use the tether rear-facing are the Clek Fllo and Foonf, and the UPPAbaby Knox. —June 2023
Updated 01-28-17
In the What Is A Tether? blog article, we learned all about forward-facing tether use. But what if you have a convertible carseat that can be tethered in the rear-facing position? How do you do it? And why?
Which Seats Can Be Tethered Rear-Facing?
Let’s start with which current carseats can be tethered rear-facing. There are four manufacturers which allow their convertibles to be tethered in the rear-facing position: Diono (formerly known as Sunshine Kids), *Clek, Combi, and Peg Perego. If your carseat isn’t listed, it can’t be tethered when rear-facing and the tether should be stowed safely away until you need to use it for forward-facing.
| Models That Currently Allow Rear-Facing Tethering | |
| Britax | Advocate (manufactured before 06/03/15) |
| Advocate ClickTight (manufactured before 01/28/15) | |
| Boulevard (manufactured before 06/03/15) | |
| Boulevard ClickTight (manufactured before 01/28/15) | |
| Decathlon (Discontinued) | |
| Highway (Discontinued) | |
| Marathon (manufactured before 06/03/15) | |
| Marathon ClickTight (manufactured before 01/28/15) | |
| Marathon “Classic” (Discontinued) | |
| Pavilion (Discontinued) | |
| Roundabout 50 “Classic” (Discontinued) | |
| Roundabout (manufactured before 06/03/15) | |
| *Clek | Foonf |
| Fllo | |
| Combi | Coccoro |
| Diono/Sunshine Kids | Radian 65, Radian 80 & Radian XT (Discontinued) |
| Radian R100 | |
| Radian R120 | |
| Radian RXT | |
| Olympia (Discontinued) | |
| Pacifica | |
| Rainier | |
| Peg Perego | Primo Viaggio SIP 5-70 |
*Clek only allows rear-facing tethering when the vehicle has a dedicated, factory-installed rear-facing tether anchor available, such as in Volvos and Saabs. See the picture gallery at the end of the article for two pictures of factory-installed rear-facing tether anchors on a Volvo front seat track.
Britax, originally the only manufacturer allowing rear-facing tethering, offers anti-rebound bars for their G4.1 series convertibles and their ClickTight convertibles which serves to function like Swedish style rear-facing tethering (see below). Anti-rebound bars (ARBs) are available for convertibles manufactured after June 2010, excluding the Classic models. If in doubt, follow the instructions written in your carseat manual.
The reasons for a movement toward anti-rebound bars are two-fold: vehicle manufacturers are concerned with the advanced airbag wiring that may be housed around the front seat legs and ARBs perform the same Swedish style rear-facing style tether function with less force being transferred to the child. Even though there’s minimal force applied to the tether and carseat on rebound, that force is transferred to the child as a sudden stop when it’s tethered rear-facing. The ARB absorbs the force and allows a bounce-back so the child isn’t absorbing that sudden stop. To date, we don’t know of any injuries to children in carseats tethered rear-facing vs. using ARBs. These are energy management features on higher-end carseats that are like icing on a cake. Any rear-facing child is going to be *very* safe.
Styles of Rear-Facing Tethering
There are two styles of rear-facing tethering: Swedish and Australian method. Swedish is the more popular of the two in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and has the tether attached to a point under the front seat. Australian is more common in, you guessed it, Australia. In the Australian method, the tether comes back over the carseat and is anchored to the vehicle’s tether anchor. Britax was the only manufacturer that allowed Australian tethering because of the shape of its tether. There are pros and cons to each method.
| Pros | Cons | |
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Australian RF Tethering Toward the rear of the car |
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Swedish RF Tethering Toward the front of the car |
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A note about Australian seats and why they tether to the vehicle’s tether anchor: Australian convertible carseats have an ARB/foot that prevents the seat from rebounding into the vehicle seat. That anti-rebound bar, combined with the tether that doesn’t allow downward rotation, means that there is little movement of the carseat in an impact.
Why Should You Tether Rear-Facing
Many parents and caregivers are concerned about a rear-facing carseat rebounding into the back seat. Rebound is the secondary movement a rear-facing carseat will make during a frontal crash. The initial movement is a downward rotation as the carseat is pulled towards the point of impact in a frontal crash. After the carseat reaches its peak rotation down, it will start to rebound towards the back of the vehicle seat. This is similar to how a driver moves forward into his airbag and then rebounds back into his seat in the late stages of the crash sequence. This rebound motion isn’t necessarily a terrible thing since rebound is generally considered to be a “low energy event.” If there are injuries to the child that occur as a result of rebound, they should be relatively minor because the main forces of the crash have already been absorbed by that point. The most common rebound-related injuries occur when children rebound into something that has been placed on the backseat facing them (such as hard mirrors or toys dangling from the infant carseat handle). Contrary to what some people believe, rebound isn’t something that was designed or engineered into a rear-facing carseat as a way to manage energy in a crash; it’s just the result of the top of the carseat not being connected to the vehicle.
By tethering a rear-facing carseat Swedish style, rebound is greatly reduced. The installation may also be more secure and there may be benefits in side impact or rollover crashes simply because the CR is firmly attached to the vehicle in more than one place which improves overall stability. There’s a definite benefit in rear impacts since tethering a seat Swedish style reduces head excursion, much the same way a tether works for a forward-facing carseat.
But let’s be clear: rear-facing tethering is optional. No carseat requires its use; think of it as an added feature.
How to Set Up A Rear-Facing Tether Using the Swedish Method
Since the Swedish method uses an anchor point under the front seat, you’ll have to move the front seats forward. Look for a solid point that’s anchored to the vehicle floor, like a front seat leg or seat track. If the point you want to use isn’t solidly bolted to the vehicle frame, there’s a possibility the tether might fail in a crash. A seat that is able to be tethered rear-facing will come with a tether connector strap, otherwise known as a D-ring (though lately, they don’t look like “D” rings). The current tether connector strap being shipped with Britax convertibles is a piece of webbing with a loop on each end; there is no metal ring on one end anymore. This D-ring is threaded around the solid point you’ve found and the carseat’s tether is attached to it. If the D-ring doesn’t fit around the leg, see if the plastic covering will pop off. These cosmetic pieces usually are removable and can be put back on either after you’ve attached the D-ring or after you’re done with rear-facing.
If you are installing the rf seat in a 3rd row or have one of the rare vehicles that has a tether anchor on the back of the front seat or front seat track (some Ford minivans do, as do some Volvo and Saab models), you can attach the tether of Britax seats directly to the tether anchor on the vehicle seat in front of the carseat, as long as that tether anchor isn’t already being used by a ff seat (Diono/Sunshine Kids doesn’t allow their tether to be used in this manner). It’s much more important for a ff carseat to be tethered than a rf one if you have to choose between which seats get tethered. Plus, you can always use the d-ring for the rf seat. And it’s never preferable to turn a carseat ff because you can’t tether rf.
For positioning, try to use an anchor point closest to the carseat; for example, if you’re installing the carseat on the passenger side, use the passenger side front seat leg, not the driver’s seat leg. This will help keep the carseat from leaning excessively. Carseat manufacturers also test the rf tether when it’s 20° off-center or less. Twenty percent is about the distance to the vehicle seat front legs directly in line with the rf carseat. Attach the tether to the rf tether point you’ve created with the d-ring or to the tether anchor and pull the slack out of the tether. Do not use the tether to change the angle of the carseat; simply pull it snug.
Concerns
- Finding a suitable location to wrap the d-ring (aka tether connector strap) around. Many newer vehicles have potential locations that are covered by large plastic trim pieces that can’t be easily removed. In some vehicles rear-facing tethering just isn’t possible because there is no suitable location.
- Airbag sensor wiring: As you wrap the d-ring around the front seat leg, take care not to disrupt any wiring that may be attached or near the leg. This wiring may be for the front seat airbag and you definitely don’t want to mess with it. If you notice any airbag warning lights coming on or going off after you’ve attached the rear-facing tether, discontinue use of the tether immediately.
- Older vehicles: Some older vehicles in the rust belt may have problems with undercarriage rust. This could be a problem because if something is rusted, it’s a weaker point in the vehicle and the whole purpose of using the vehicle seat leg is to provide a solid tethering point. We don’t have any statistics on rusted vehicles, but it is something to keep in the back of your mind.
- Vehicle manufacturer resistance: Because rear-facing tethering isn’t commonplace, most vehicle manufacturers don’t address it in their manuals (even Volvo omits it from their North American manuals). Some vehicle manufacturers are not on board with Swedish style rf tethering at all, though it may be because of user error in setting up the d-ring.
- Chrysler brands, specifically, do not allow Swedish style rear-facing tethering in their vehicles. Current manuals address the subject and if you call and ask (if it’s not in your vehicle manual), you will be told it’s not allowed. Brands include: Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Plymouth, and Ram. Other vehicle manufacturers may be following their example in the near future.
Now for the pictures . . .
Swedish Gallery
If you have a 2005-2012 Honda Odyssey, you’ll be interested in reading this thread from our car-seat.org forums. It’s a step-by-step guide on using a rear-facing tether in those vans. If you have a 2013-14 Honda Odyssey, you can see video on how to tether rear-facing in this blog post.
Thanks to CDNTech for providing her ’03-’08 Grand Caravan pictures in this thread: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=28939; and thanks to Emily for providing the pictures of her ’12 Volvo S60 front seat track tether anchors!
Australian Gallery
Boy am I confused! Haha! I have a Diono Radian RXT for my son and this top tether in the rear-facing position seems to be a mystery! I have a 2008 Chrysler Aspen and it says nowhere in the manual anything about rear-facing tethering. I called Chrysler, they told me to call my dealership. I called my dealership and they said that it would just depend if there was a suitable anchorage point. This confused me since your blog post said Chrysler brands don’t allow this (which is why I was calling to double check). I’m worried the people I spoke to from Chrysler and my dealership just had no idea what I was talking about or what they were talking about.
At this point in my confusion I called Diono because I wasn’t sure where the heck to even place the tether since, obviously, there are no floor anchors in my vehicle for rear-facing tethering. Does it attach to part of the seat in front of the seat the carseat is installed on, or on the seat the carseat is installed on? She didn’t know, but said it made more sense than it would attach to the seat in front of the one on which the carseat is installed on.
So to summarize, I have no clue what to do…lol. Any advice?
I should maybe also add that I’m in Canada. Not sure if that makes a difference. 🙂
Meagan, Transport Canada has always been wary of RF tethering and with Chrysler not being on board with it, I would not attach a RF tether. Chrysler has confirmed with the authors of our LATCH manual reference guide, kind of a bible in the CPS tech world, that it doesn’t allow RF tethering, so that’s what I’m basing it on. It’s possible when you called you spoke with a CR who misunderstood what you were asking about.
Wow.. Britax is confusing the heck out of me.. I thought rear tethering was a BONUS feature that vehicle manufactures just haven’t all hopped On board with yet.. A HUGE reason we recently purchased(and shelled out a pretty penny) the advocate click tight is because of the ability to rear tether. Our instruction manual allows it… are the changes retroactive, hence, should we discontinue the use of the swedish style rear tether in our 2007 camry hybrid and 2000 crv an any other vehicle we use the rear tether in an anchored point in the vehicle? Also if we purchase the anti-rebound bar and an extended tether, will I be able to use the rebound bar and Australian tethering method together. The rebound bars should have come with the seats for cost of the seat and not at an extra cost to consumers who thought the rear tether was an added SAFETY feature.. Thank u for your help and making consumers aware!
Evan, if it’s allowed in your carseat manual, you can RF tether, though I have heard through the grapevine that if you call Toyota they will tell you that they prohibit RF tethering. I have not heard a compelling reason from Toyota for not RF tethering other than “I said so,” but that’s what the grapevine reports and why I didn’t include it in the above article. You can buy an anti-rebound bar from Britax and then tether Australian style, but to say it’s a royal PITB is an understatement, especially with the tether extender. Perhaps if enough consumers call and complain about the price (and price of shipping), Britax will do something for them.
I just purchased a Britax marathon click tight, the lady at the Babies R us told me that I was able to use the tether rear facing, however I noticed in the manual it said do not use it rear facing. According to your chart, Britax no longer supports the rear facing tether, do you know why this is? I currently have a Volvo which has the anchor points for a rear facing tether and was hoping to be able to use it.
Thanks for any info!
Rebecca, vehicle manufacturers have been giving push-back to rear-facing tethering because of the airbag wiring found in some front passenger seat legs, so Britax decided to discontinue its use in favor of an anti-rebound bar. You can get an ARB from Britax by calling their customer service line or by going to their website.
@Jenni, yes, that’s a phone call to the manufacturer. Techs have the LATCH manual that give us this info, but parents have to call.
so how would you know that a manufacturer does or does not allow the anchoring to the seat that the child restraint is installed on. I looked in both my ssk and britax owner’s manuals and it only specifies that the anchor had to be made on a point that is bolted to the car frame. is that something I just need to call the manufacturer to check on?
@Anabel, the plastic is a decorative piece that can generally be removed. It covers the part that’s anchored to the vehicle floor.
@Jenni, generally yes. Diono is the only manufacturer that allows rf tethering to the vehicle seat that the carseat is installed on (and only if there’s no place forward to tether), which is why I didn’t even mention it in the article. It’s one of those, “Gee, I wish you didn’t have to do that, but if you really do, it’s OK,” kind of situations. There are some vehicles where you can’t get the tether connector strap under the carpet and under a rail and that’s OK. RF tethering is optional.
When rear facing tethering does the anchor location always need to be on a seat in front of the child’s car seat? like on the front diver’s seat and not on the actually seat with the child seat?
Some of the anchors the D ring is attached to in the pictures for the Swedish method look like they are attached to the plastic on the base of the front seat. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the D ring needed to be wrapped around metal.
Does Chrysler (specifically the 2008 town and country) allow rf Swedish tether?? I have a diono r100
@Lauren, I don’t believe Chrysler specifically spells it out in their vehicle manuals that you cannot tether rear-facing. If you call them, I’m pretty positive they’ll tell you that you can’t. This is because they haven’t done testing of the rear-facing tether scenario, so the default answer will be no. You have 3 options available to you: tether to the front seat track, tether to the captain’s chair the R100 is installed on (only Diono allows this), or not tether at all.
Can I install the car seat in the middle seat of a Toyota corolla using the Swedish tethering method would I need to have a tether running on both passenger and driver seat track to keep the tether from pulling the car seat to one side?
@Ashley, the tether is attached only to one side. To keep the seat from tipping, adjust the tether by pulling one side or the other.
@Corinn, I haven’t worked in a ’12 CRV yet. Look around the end points of the front seat track to see if you can loop the d-ring around it.
Hi! I was curious about RF a Diono RXT in a 2012 Honda CRV. Trying to find the tether points or see if I need to use the seat track. Thank you!!!
@Jul, I haven’t read anything or seen any studies/reports to indicate that tethering to the seat track of a vehicle seat that’s occupied–by carseat or person–is dangerous. As long as you’re following manufacturers’ instructions for both carseats, you’re golden!
I have a Mazda 5 with three car seats, graco nautilus on second row, two britax roundabout in third row both rear facing. I did the Swedish style tethering with the d-ring to the outer tracks of the second row seats. On the passenger side second row seat I have my nautilus ff tethered to the specific tethering place, and a roundabout behind it tethered to the track… Does that work? Two car seats tethered to same seat but at different places?
@Rayna, sure–I’d love to see what they look like in a “classic” car, lol. murphydog77 at carseatblog.com
Hey if you guys want I could send in pictures of our rear tethers in our 1993 Saab…. Yes they come from that long ago! We love our Saab 🙂
@Dpark, what carseat is your dd using? Only the carseats listed above can be tethered rear-facing. It’s normal movement for a rf carseat to tip towards the back of the vehicle, though some carseats are tippier than others. The carseat should move less than 1″ when you give it a tug at the belt path, which is where the seat belt/LATCH strap goes through.
Have a 2012 jeep compass. My daughter has a safety 1st car seat. When I have her rear facing, the back of her seat moves back and forth to the point I am worried for her safety. I’m reading that is normal for it to move but I don’t see how that’s safe. So I tethered it underthe car seat and locked it on the back od the seat. It holds great. Can I not do that?
I have a 04 accord and there isn’t any latch point for the tether on a rear facing seat. There is only latches for front facing. How do I tether the rear facing seat to prevent my daughter from rocking the seat if hit from behind in an accident and basically smashing her pretty face into the back seat? Bad design I think. The local fire hall said just the seat belt is enough. I didn’t agree at all. It seemed very easy to rock backwards
Hi Holly. Sorry for the late reply, but we left for a long weekend. Things work differently in Canada, lol. Here, I’ll link you to our review of the new Advocate which tells you a little about the rf tethering issue: https://carseatblog.com/25807/2014-britax-advocate-g4-review-usa-and-canada/ . Basically Britax requires you to use the tether while rf in Canada (only in Canada, dear US readers). The issue comes in where the Canadian CPS curriculum states that you can only tether to vehicle manufacturer-approved anchor points under the front seat if tethering Swedish-style. The US curriculum states that too, but we’re not as, um, anal about it down here.
So, yes, you’re tethering to the correct tether anchor for Canada, which is behind the vehicle seat (aka Australian-style) and it’s a royal PITB. You could loosen/tighten the tether each time you get your ds in and out of the seat. You could also make a parental decision to use the D-ring and tether it around a front seat leg Swedish-style. I know my Canadian tech friends are pretty adamant about not tethering to the floor but I don’t know if it’s based on real life testing or manufacturer recommendations.
Hi Heather. Thanks so much for your article.
We just purchased a Britax Advocate. It is newly manufactured (In Canada) and states in the manual and right on it that it must be top tethered.
I have a GMC Terrain and the only designated anchor points are behind the back seats. This seems unsafe as the top tether belt gets twisted and also it is harder to get my son in/out of the car seat. So I’ve anchored the top tether to the front passenger seat frame. It seems safer to me, but is not a “designated” anchor according to my car manual. Can you give me some advice? Am I doing the right thing?
Thanks!
@Amanda, I imagine the straps are required to be above the shoulder when rear-facing in Australia because of the way they tether when rear-facing. They use the tether anchor behind the vehicle seat (the one we tether to when forward-facing), which keeps the rf carseat from rotating toward the vehicle floor. This means the child won’t ramp up/slide up the carseat in a frontal crash, so there’s no need for the harness to come from below the child’s shoulders. Here in the U.S., we want the harness coming from below the child’s shoulders in a rf seat because in that most often occurring frontal crash, the child will ramp up the carseat. Having the harness come from below helps reduce that motion. I have no idea why the Aussies want the harness to be at or below the shoulders when ff; that’s when you get spinal compression. That causes the shoulders to compress and roll forward.
To answer your last question, if your carseat allows rear-facing tethering, yes, it’s safe and even recommended to use the tether that way. When rf, always keep the harness at or below the shoulders (essentially, follow the manufacturer’s instructions).
Can you comment on safe harness height when using a RFing tether? My sister lives in Australia and sent me an article saying that they recommend the harness straps be at or above the shoulders for RFing, and give the use of the top tether as the reason for the difference between US recommendations. They say the movement during rebound can cause spinal compression if the straps are below the shoulders, which is the reasoning given here for not having the straps below in FFing mode.
They also recommend the harness height to be at or slightly below the shoulders for FFing, which I can’t see the reasoning for that since the installation should be the same as the US in that case.
Is it safe to use the top tether RFing and keep the harness straps below the shoulders?
@meljc, there appears to be a bar running across underneath the front passenger seat that’s covered in plastic. I’m not sure if you’ll need to pop the plastic off or not. This bar is bolted to the seat frame, which is bolted to the floor, and should be an OK spot to wrap the D-ring around. The only problem is if the front passenger seat is moved, it can affect the tether, so make sure that passenger seat is parked in one spot and not moved. And don’t forget that rf tethering is optional, so don’t get too frustrated 🙂 (yeah, I know, easier said than done). HTH!
We have a CCO and I tried to tether in my 07 CR-V, but for the life of me I couldn’t find a reasonable anchor! I tried popping of the plastic and that didn’t help. any ideas?