When should I use a safety belt instead of the LATCH system in my car?

When should I use a safety belt instead of the LATCH system in my car?

Stephanie Tombrello (Child Passenger Safety Educator & Executive Director, SafetyBeltSafe USA) gives expert video advice on: Where should a child safety seat be installed in a vehicle?; How do I install my rear-facing child safety seat using the LATCH system?; How do I install my child safety seat using a safety belt? and more...

There are times when you want to use the safety belt instead of the attachments, particularly if you are using a safety seat with a full harness that goes above 48 pounds. The current weight limit on most of those lower attachment bars is 48 pounds. So, LATCH is a convenience and sometimes it improves protection because it allows for a tighter fit and greater ease for parents to attach the safety seat properly, but the safety belt will always be a safe restraint system in terms of the weight of the child in the seat. In many cases, it will lock tightly. Since 1996 models, safety seats have had to have what's called a lockability feature. In other words, it means that you can manually lock the belt through the car seat by something that you do to the safety belt; a lot of parents don't know about that and they're missing the fact that they can lock that safety belt through the car seat properly.