rear facing LATCH, but without tethering?

[spu]

Is it safe to use the Marathon seats rear facing with the LATCH, but not tether them? We have 2 seats installed, and I don't know what to do with the tether. Britax told me to find somthing underneath the front seats to tether the car seats to. This seems a bit odd. Any suggestions? Plus, since we have 2 seats - one in the center and one on the left, where would we tether the center seat to?

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte & else

[August Mom]

I believe that according to the Britax manual, you can use the seats with or without the tethering. No other seats can be tethered rearfacing and the Britax convertibles are safety tested without tethering (like all other seats on the market) so you should be fine. But, tethering does help control rebounding in an accident. It also gives a seat greater stability and helps with the angle of the seat, so I would tether if there are appropriate anchor points. I would tether the center seat under the front seat that's not being used to tether the other seat.

[murphydog77]

Hi. I would tether them if possible. Most vehicles have a non-moving, structural part that you can connect the tether to (or the tether connector strap, aka D-ring) under the front seat. To get some ideas of how to do this, look here: http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/isakswings/ratetherrf.html

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.carseatsite.com