Have you ever had your carseat installed by a well-intentioned family member or friend and it just seemed off somehow? When you went to put your child in the seat, it tipped really easily?
Duhn Duhn Duhn! It was installed using the wrong belt path!
Use the wrong belt path and the carseat won’t protect as it should. In a crash, it will rotate around the belt path and if that belt path is several inches away from the seat belt/LATCH anchors, the results could be disastrous.
Using the wrong belt path isn’t limited to rear-facers. It can be even more damaging to forward-facing kids if the tether strap isn’t attached. In these situations the child’s head can be slammed into the vehicle seat or front center console that’s in front of them, or even the side pillar structure of the vehicle.
Rear-facing or forward-facing – it’s vital to make sure that you are installing the carseat using the correct belt path!
Watch this video from the Child Passenger Safety Board demonstrating using the wrong belt path. The carseat on the left has the seat belt threaded through the rear-facing belt path (incorrect). The carseat on the right has the seat belt threaded through the forward-facing belt path and the top tether attached (correct).
What can you do? Look for labels marking the correct belt path. They’re there. Read the manual that came with the carseat. If you can’t find it, look online or call the manufacturer and they’ll send you a new one. Give your kid a fighting chance if the time comes that the carseat is needed as a safety device.
Or the very popular comment, “My LATCH strap isn’t long enough.”
Wrong belt path.
Saw that in a neighbors car once. I guess that rf belt path was easier to see than the ff one? Scary :/. Makes me love the Britax LATCHEs with no wrong way to hook them up. Wonder if it’s possible to do their click tight wrong…?
My mom was trying to put my Scenera into my SIL’s van so she could babysit my oldest for a night. She had the recline foot out (like it would be for forward facing) and the seat belt through the wrong belt path, but at least it was facing the back of the car :). Thankfully, I was there and able to fix it before they took off. She didn’t even see the RFing belt path :(.