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Parents of Toddlers

Don't understand tethers on car seats?

24 years ago

I know there is something new going on having to do with car seats & tethers, but I couldn't quite get what it as about. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

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Comments (7)

trekaren
24 years ago
Um, I'm not sure why you started so many threads. But I will at least take care of this one.

Tethers are belts that come with carseats. Most cars made since the mid-90's have a place to clip this belt to behind the back seats. This keeps the carseat steady a lot better than simply using the seatbelts, although they still work together. Your carseat's toll-free helpline can tell you how to use it. Also drop by a dealer of the manufacturer of your car. They have someone who can show you how to install the seat.
michie1
Original Author
24 years ago
I read a little more about this in a Toys R Us flyer today. It seems my daughter's car seat does have the tether straps. My car is 5 yrs. old does & it doesn't have the anchor hooks & those can't be installed. The part that still confuses me is that I read that many older cans can have the tether hooks attached to them, but I'm not sure how that changes things much. Does that mean I'd still need to use my car's seat belt system or not? Does this make installing the car seat easier? - for example my sister & I often get together & put our girls' car seats into 1 of our cars so we can both drive around together. Has anyone has experience with this yet? I was wondering if I were to contact my car manufacturer to find out about having the tether hooks installed if that's going to make any difference at all.

Michie
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trekaren
24 years ago
The tether makes the seat much more stable than with a belt alone, but is still used in conjunction with the belt. It is possible to retrofit, so call the manufacturer and ask.

In my city, traffic is bad, and it's not a matter of "if" you'll have a wreck, but "when". So I have really enjoyed the added security of the tether.
michie1
Original Author
24 years ago
Oh Ok. "When you have a wreck" - what city do you live in? I used to work in NYC & thank goodness I never had to drive much there. The traffic & drivers were horrendous for the occassional time I had to drive intot he city so I know what you mean about"when you have a wreck". I now live on Long Island & this weekend we're going to drive into Chinatwon & the WTC area so I imagine we'll be stuck in plenty of traffic too.

Michie
trekaren
24 years ago
I'm in the Atlanta metro area, but luckily now have a commute that keeps me off the interstates. The roads are very risky around here, and I used to drive for a living, so I developed a lot of defensive techniques. But many of those go out the window when you have to get on the interstates around here. There was one particular year that I had three wrecks and DH had 1, and none were our fault. Two were interstate, one was on an entrance to an interstate and the other was in a parking lot (one of those couriers that drives the piece of junk courier trucks delivering to office parks came down the wrong way behind bushes in a parking lot and crashed into me.

Of all of them the only one I was injured in was the parking lot one because I was going so slow, and he was flying when he hit me.

When we first moved here years ago, we got hit by a drunk driver. That one was interstate, also.

We're not bad drivers, believe me. We're just all targets in this town!
nadine01
23 years ago
hi there,

i live in canada where it is the law to use the tether strap, you get fined and they won't let you leave till you properly strap your kids in. the idea with the tether is that you hook it onto an anchor that is drilled into the frame of your car. toysrus sells the anchors with instructions we had to install these in one of our cars and you can buy the tethers as well and they come with instructions on how to install. i cant believe that it is still not the law down there for these things to be in. i was involved in a car accident last year that took the whole front end off my car and my then 2yo dd was in the car with me in her car seat. the tether strap is desighned to absorb the shock from an impact and also helps keep the car seat snug so there is no jolting for the child. the fire man at my accident told me my dd recieved not a scratch because my her seat was properly installed and she was strapped in it, so i say spend the extra money and time and put this thing in your car.

nadine

mommy to chelsea 3yo and dempsey 6mo
trekaren
23 years ago
It is a law that all cars built after a certain year (I think 1999) all have the strap. There are kits you can get for older cars, but it is not a law that you must have it in there. I can tell you it sure makes the installation of the carseat a whole lot more sturdy and stable. My older car that didn't have the tether hook, left the carseat a bit wobbly no matter how tight I tightened the seatbelts.

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