We partnered with Britax and received car seats for the purpose of writing this review. This opinions and experiences expressed here are my own.
OMG I’m so thrilled with our new Britax car seats! Not only are they gorgeous and safe but the Clicktight Installation is so easy. It took me less than 5 minutes per car seat! Our twins are three years old so we set them up as Harness-2-Booster. While this car seat truly is “plug and play” I recommend making these three adjustments BEFORE you place it in your car:
- Have your child sit in the seat and set the harness height by squeezing the handle at the top of the head rest. Pull or push until the strap is just above the top of their shoulders.
- Tilt the seat backward so your child isn’t sitting totally upright. To do so squeeze the handle under the front edge of the chair seat. If you have a mini-van with captain’s chairs (we have a Honda Odyssey) you can recline further.
- Loosen
the harness straps by inserting your finger into the rectangular-shaped hole on the seat and press the button inside to release.
You can change/tighten after install but figuring out how it all works before putting the seat in the car made it all around easier for me.
Once you have the seat inside your car, the only thing you need to do is run the seat belt through the Clicktight Installation panel and click it shut. NO KIDDING! It’s just that easy. You open up the Clicktight panel by inserting your fingers into the two slots on and squeezing. Whenthe panel is open you follow the green arrows and route the belt through the channel. After it’s in place you press the Clicktight door shut until you hear it click. DONE! Check out the photo series below to see exactly how the belt runs through the Clicktight.
If you’re looking for the most important install tips here are three more things you’ll want to know:
- Both parts of the seat belt, the lap belt and the shoulder belt, get routed through the ClickTight slot.
- The seat is also equipped with the LATCH system if you prefer to use that. However, you’ll want to check your car manual to see how many pounds your LATCH will support. For our Honda Odyssey the LATCH system is only rated for up to 60 lbs. so a 20 lb. car seat and nearly 40 lb. child is cutting it too close.
- Make sure you tether the seat!!!! For maximum safety of your child the tether is crucial. Don’t forget this extra step if safety is your top priority. The tether comes off the top back of the seat and can be anchored to a point in your car behind the seat, on the floor, or in some vehicles there is a ceiling anchor point. We hooked our tether to the bottom of the captain’s chair – see pic below.
The children are beyond excited about their new seats and the best part?? CUP HOLDERS!! Our little “helpers” were with me throughout the entire process from opening the boxes to unpacking the seats and getting them adjusted. The huge boxes the car seats come in make great toys. While I worked on getting the seats installed they played in the boxes and decorated them with magic markers! Having something to entertain the kids while I did the install was a huge bonus.
I’m impressed with the quality of Britax and even more pleased with their Clicktight Installation. I have wrestled with car seats way too many times, getting in and out of airports and rental cars, switching to my husband’s vehicle – UGH. Now that we have Clicktight it will take no time at all to make a switch. This saves time and money since we don’t have to budget for a second set of car seats. YAY!
The only sadness to our day was saying goodbye to our Britax Convertable Car Seats! They served us well and the children got sentimental when we pulled them out of the car and said goodbye.
Your top tether is attached wrong. That extra part isn’t supposed to be used. Just that clip to the tether point
Hi Mary,
Thanks so much for your comment! The Britax safety expert contacted me with the same concerns – see message below:
“Our safety expert noticed you are using the tether incorrectly (a) using a tether connector strap (only for RF convertibles) as an extender and (b) it seems like the length isn’t completely extended as you shouldn’t need extra length. Wanted to share with you to make sure your little ones are as safe as possible and so you can share with others to ensure the same. I know there is so much to know and learn about car seat safety, we are here to help so let me know if you have any questions.The Tether should have been lengthened before connecting and shouldn’t be going around the sides of the seat, but rather closer to the headrest.”
I’ve updated the post to reflect this input and corrected the tether in our car. I’m so grateful for Britax taking the time to let me know. And thanks to you as well! Lisa