What Infant Car Seat Latch System Is Best For You?

Little Canadian offers a vast selection of Infant car seats, each with its own unique features and installation methods, however, choosing from this selection can be difficult. A feature that may heavily factor into any parent’s choice, is the ease of installation. Infant car seats offer three types of installation, rigid latch hooks, soft latch hooks, and a hybrid of the two. These latches are a part of the Universal Anchorage System, UAS for short. Cars manufactured after 2002 should have these in the rear passenger side and driver side, with few having a UAS in the center seat. Cars without the UAS are still able to carry infant car seats, but they must be secured with a seat belt instead. 

	Rigid	Soft	Hybrid
Will it hook into my car? (younger than 2002)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Audible Click when secure	Yes	Sometimes	Yes
Visual confirmation when secure	Yes and this can look different for every brand. Visual confirmation is on the car seat base	No	Yes and this can look different for every brand. Visual confirmation is on the car seat base
Manual pull to tighten the base	No, one click and you’re done	Yes, manual pulling is needed	No, usually a button or hook to press for automatic tightening (like a seat belt)
Pros	-Easy install with least amount for possible human error  -Makes it easier to switch between cars  -Gives a sense of security as it is almost impossible for the car seat to be installed improperly	-Soft latches will not be affected by the seat and will virtually be able to	-Get the pest of both world -Easy install that is not affected by the type of seat  -Latch manually tighten to the right length and visually tells you it is in properly
Cons	-Possibility of car seat not fitting in certain cars with deeper seats on an angle ( we recommending dry-fitting car seat before purchasing for this reason.	-Install has more chance for human error  -parent must manually tighten the latches which is much less reassuring than other options  -Longest install time with no reassurance that it is install properly	-On very rare occasions manual retractor can get stuck or caught( this is covered by the manufacturer warranty

Price

The Price of an Infant car seat is not determined by the type of install they have but is rather based on the features that the car seat has and the brand/quality of the car seat. In general Rigid latch, install car seats tend to be slightly more expensive but they are made by brands that tend to be more expensive.

Brand

While latch type is not brand specific, many choose one type of latch system for their bases. Be

Nuna - Hard Latch System:

• Pipa
• Pipa Lite
• Pipa Lite LX

Clekk - Hard Latch System:

• Liing

Maxi-Cosi - ft. soft latch system with models that have a manual or a hybrid latch system

• Mico Max 30 -- manual soft latch system
• Coral XP --  hybrid latch system with an automatic tightening feature
• Mico Max Plus --  hybrid latch system with an automatic tightening feature

Chicco - Soft latch system with a manual tightening system

• Key Fit 30 is a one-hand pull

Per Perego - Soft latch system with a manual tightening system

• Prima Viaggio 4-35

• Prima Viaggio 4-35 Nido

Cybex - Soft latch system with a manual tightening system

• Aton 2 Car Seat Sensorsafe

Baby Jogger - Soft latch system with a manual tightening system

•  City Go car seat

UPPAbaby - Hybrid latch system with an automatic tightening system

• Mesa

Government Recommendations

The federal government has a general page where it recommends how to install a rear-facing infant car seat. The government recommends that the car seat and case are installed in the car as tightly as possible. On this same page, they recommend that the car seat should not move more than 2.5cm or 1 inch when it is shaken from side to side. For more information on federal rules and provincial regulations please visit the linked sites. 

SITE TO LINK: 

https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/child-car-seat-safety

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/safety/install-child-car-seat.shtml

Overall a car seat is one of the biggest decisions new parents make when having a baby and there are many factors to consider when purchasing a stroller. There is no wrong choice only what is best for you and your family.