![]() Infant car seats are generally advertised as having a lock off, but it’s built into the base rather than the seat itself. Graco TrioGrow SnugLock *very light convertible with a lock off, fits ~birth-8īritax Allegiance *lightest convertible with a lock off, fits ~birth-5 Here are some of our favorite car seats that have built-in lock offs and don’t require a locking clip: The Graco SnugLock and Britax ClickTight car seats can also keep a non-locking seatbelt in place on their own. Some of those are too heavy to easily travel with, though you can make it work by using a car seat travel cart. Many “premium” car seats have built-in locking mechanisms (called “lock offs”) and don’t need another device no matter where you’re going. This photo shows my daughter in her Chicco Keyfit30 on an airplane, but you’d use the car seatbelt the same way if it is a lap-only seatbelt. Done! This can come in handy if you bring a car seat to countries in the developing world, where some seating positions (often the middle) only have a lap seatbelt. On a bigger car seat, the lap seatbelt goes under the cover (below the legs for rear-facing, behind the back for forward-facing). Thread the lap-only seatbelt under those and tighten. The body of an infant car seat typically has two little “arms” over your baby’s legs. Many car seats are actually easier to install with a lap-only seatbelt (just like on an airplane). There’s no downside to having it in your carry on! Remember, a locking clip weighs a few ounces and is the size of a credit card. You may be pleasantly surprised to find a car that has a locking seatbelt or that has lower anchors, but you don’t want to be caught off-guard without a safe way to drive your baby. If you’re traveling outside of those regions or bringing an infant car seat without its base or your child weighs more than the car seat’s LATCH limit, it’s a good idea to bring a locking clip with you. You’ll also generally find seatbelts that you can lock at the retractor in those countries. The limit varies from 35lbs to 50lbs depending on the weight of the car seat. If you’re traveling within the US, Canada, western Europe, Australia and New Zealand with a convertible or forward-facing car seat, you should be able to install your car seat with LATCH (or the local equivalents, which go by different names like LUAS and ISOFIX) if your child is within the LATCH weight limit for your car seat. It depends on your car seat and where you’re taking it. Read more: Important info for traveling with car seats Do you need a locking clip? Want to know all my best secrets? Click here to learn how to travel with your car seat like a pro! That’s how you know you’re doing it right, because if it’s too easy to get on then it probably isn’t going to be secure enough to do its job in an accident.īut when you need car seat belt clip, you’ll be really glad to have it! Just tell the taxi driver to check some sports scores while you do your thing. It takes a few extra minutes and usually involves lots of swearing for me. No one loves using a car seat locking clip. Then cross your fingers that you won’t have to use it. Put it in an outer pocket of your carry-on for convenience. Learn how to use car seat clips with the video tutorial below. It’s a small, light, inexpensive piece of metal that keeps the seatbelt from sliding freely by holding the lap and shoulder sides together very tightly.īuy one. But if the car has a lap-shoulder belt that you can’t lock at the retractor and it doesn’t have LATCH, you may need something else to help you out… What is a locking clip? ![]() If the car has a lap-only seatbelt it’s pretty easy to install a child car seat (more on that below). In other countries, you are likely to encounter cars with seatbelts that don’t lock at all and have no LATCH attachments. It’s been a requirement in new US cars over twenty years! ![]() This last step is referred to as locking the seatbelt at the retractor. Installation with a car’s seatbelt isn’t usually too tough either: thread the seatbelt through your car seat’s belt path (often with arrows showing you the way), buckle, and then pull the seatbelt alllllll the way out before letting it slowly feed back in at the top. LATCH is simple: push in or hook on the clips, then tighten the strap. One of the best aspects of American car seat standards is that they are required by law to offer two installation options: LATCH ( Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren) and seatbelt. What is a seat belt locking clip? I’m glad you asked… This article about using a car seat locking clip is written by certified Child Passenger Safety Technician Melissa Conn and may contain affiliate links.
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