The Car Seat Lady explains the 2014 LATCH changes for car seats
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[…] With most vehicle manufacturers now giving a weight limit for the lower anchors of 65 pounds (combined weight of child + car seat) it is now important to know how much your child’s car seat weighs. For a complete explanation on the changes to LATCH and how this affects the installation of your child’s car seat, click here. […]
The Car Seat Lady 
My child weighs 75 pounds, but requires a booster. We wanted to buy the Britax Parkway SGL which supports his weight. However, it is equipped with LATCH. Can I still use the LATCH in light of this new LATCH weight limit? If not, why would they make such a seat if LATCH is not ok to use?
As noted in this post, the lower anchor weight limits do NOT apply when the seat is being used as a booster (where the child uses the vehicle’s seat belt across them as their restraint).
My niece just had a baby boy and I want to share this with her when she gets out of the hospital. These changes to LATCH are all new to me and I’ll be taking care of him when she returns to work.
My daughter is FF in a Britax Boulevard 70 CS and falls below the 65lb combined limit. We use the tether system and latch; is it beneficial/detrimental to go ahead and switch to the seatbelt & tether combo? Thanks!
Jennifer – I typically suggest that parents select the easiest installation method in cases where they have a choice. I find that LATCH is easier to achieve a secure installation with the Britax 70 seats than the seat belt, so I’d keep it as you are doing now.
Do the weight limits include the base? (base + car seat + child < 65lbs?). Do the weight limits apply to a car seat with a rigid LATCH like our Baby Trend Inertia? Or am I understanding correctly that we continue to use the LATCH for the life of the seat?
The weight of the car seat includes all parts of the car seat that are connected to the car… so for a seat with a base, the total weight of the car seat is the carrier + base. The weight limits do apply to a seat with rigid LATCH like your Inertia – although with a child’s weight maximum of 30 pounds, the Inertia would have to weight more than 35 pounds (carrier + base) to make it even possible to exceed the limit… and I don’t think the Inertia weighs that much.