Question for carseat techs

[2binak]

We have a Britax Marathon. I tighten the straps as tight as possible when I put DD in the seat, but there is still a little room (1-1.5 finger widths) between the straps and DD's chest. The straps are tight against her shoulders with almost no room between. Today on the drive home from work I noticed that DD had her hands between the straps & her chest. Should I be concerned or is it normal to have some room between the straps & chest?

 

[tanyaandallie]

The way to check for tightness is to pinch the harness in the up/down direction. If you cannot pinch the harness, it is tight enough. Because of the way shape of the body, etc. the harness is normally not going to lie flush with a child's body all the way down. Always check for tightness in the neck area and by the hips/

 

[Erica09M]

Make sure that the harness isn't getting caught on anything. I'm not sure how old your child is, but if your child eats in the car there could be crumbs or pieces of food causing the harness to get stuck and not tighten all the way.

Definitely try the pinch test. If you can pinch the harness and absolutely can't get the harness tight enough, call Britax and in the mean time you need to find another car seat for your child to ride in.

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

I agree with what was already said.

 

[all4fun]

Since sometimes pictures are easier to understand,you can see a pic of the pinch test the pp described here.

I had a Britax convertible and what you describe sounds totally normal for those seats. It is pretty common for the straps to seem loose over the abdomen and lower chest area, but they should be "snug as a hug" at the shoulders. As long as you can't pinch them then they are tight enough. You don't want them so tight that they are scrunching your LO down in the seat though. Remember the straps should be at or above the shoulders when fwd facing, and at or below when rear facing.

hth!

 

[2binak]

Thanks for the replies everyone and thanks all4fun for the pics, they really helped. I'll do the pinch test today, but I think that the straps close to the shoulder area are nice and tight. I tried to get my fingers between the tops of her shoulders and the strap the other day and I couldn't get them in there. Same with the hips. The straps are nice and tight on her hips.

 

[2binak]

I did the pinch test yesterday afternoon and DH did it this morning. There is not enough slack to pinch in front of her shoulders or hips. Thank you all again for your advice!