Fraggle ii use Question

I appologize if the answer to this question is obvious or easily available but I haven't been able to find it. I bought my son the fraggle ii harness because he's tiny. I know typically you'd just tie into the chest loops and go. However, the gym I frequent has semi-permanent carabiners for the climber side of the rope. These can't be undone so I have to clip my son onto the rope. My question is: are those chest clips rated for metal weight bearing? Ive seen the manual that has a carabiner linking them for use while clipping in the back loop. Also, if I can use metal for load bearing do I need to worry about the triangle of death? My kid is 24lbs so this is more proper practice concern. I found a diagram that used a carabiner in each chest loop to the tie in loop. That won't work in this situation as the gyms carabiner has an extension loop on it and the rope is too tight to wiggle in another carabiner.

I appologize if this seems ignorant or silly. I've mostly bouldered and climbed in gyms so I'm unfamiliar with the details of ropes and harnesses. And I'm anxiously awaiting for my little guy to be ready to be my climbing buddy. Thank you. 

I'd ask the gym staff for help, that's what they're there for.  That said, I'd also be very cautious about clipping the chest loops with a carabiner not for strength reasons but because of the possibility of your son getting smacked in the teeth with the hardware.  If that's not a concern then I'm sure you'll be fine.  The tie in points are rated for the same strength if they are tied into a rope or clipped to a carabiner.

I work at a gym and we sell and rent the Fraggle.  You may clip a carabiner through both chest loops, and we do it all the time for our auto-belays.  Depending on the size of the child and the way the harness fits, it may or may not tri-load the carabiner (most don't).  However, there is simply no way you will overload a 20 kN+ carabiner with a small child top-roping, even when severely tri-loading.  He'll grow into a Finn (Edelrid's kids waist harness) soon enough!  Happy climbing!

To clarify why it doesn't tri-load, notice how your son's harness looks when you clip him in both loops and pick him up.  The loops don't keep their distance from each other, as they do when he's wearing it on the ground.  Rather, they pull in tight and sit on top of each other.  The only time I've seen differently is when a kid is nearly too big for the harness.  At that point, they're usually good to graduate to a waist harness anyway.

Thank you all for the help! As far as the gym staff goes I did ask but it was clear they didn't really know. I'm in Florida and most of the gym staff are high school/college kids who don't really know much beyond what they've been told about this particular gyms gear and practices. 

Yeah I've used this harness with my kids and what you propose is totally safe, no way will you remotely approach the force required to damage the carabiner.  On kids this small, just lowering them off the wall is often difficult.

I've been to gyms like this and in many cases you're better off trusting your own judgement than that of some inexperienced, underpaid kid.

I have a bigger concern for those big permanent steel biners getting in his face when he weights the rope. That first time the rope catches his weight might bring the biner up into his face. After the swinging/flailing settles, he will be in a lounge chair position and a safe distance from the biner. Keep the leg loops snug to try and get that biner as low as possible on his chest until he gets a little bigger. My little climber is only a shade heavier than yours, but my gym uses 45kn steel biners on all topropes and autobelays. The biner is aligned perfectly for a busted lip until he gets a little taller. Good thing we mostly use the harness for a giant rope swing. When falling onto the rope is a real concern (after he's actually climbing), I'll probably just lead routes using my own rope and tie him in to a top rope from the lead anchors with a compact knot on a very small bight/loop. Or top rope him from the second bolt, for that matter, since he won't be getting that far up a route before he's 40lb.

For the record, I bought a camp bambino harness and not a Fraggle ii. The position of the tie in loop (bambino only has 1 tie in loop) is comparable enough to warrant similar concerns. We have also used the Petzl Simba (gym loaners), which is similar to a Fraggle ii in design (dual-loop closure at the chest). Seems like all harnesses for groms place the tie in point just under the chin. Makes sense, because of the moment of inertia on a small child.