Dog Community

Car seat rant

Posted : 3/29/2007 11:15:18 AM

Okay, so as some of you may know, I watch my cousin's daughter 50 hours a week. Alleen's a big girl, she'll be four in a month, is 42" tall and 46 pounds. She outgrew normal car seats a while ago, since they only go up to 40 pounds, but she's not (or wasn't) old enough to be comfortable putting her in a booster seat in the car. I'm very obsessive about car seats (although I don't think it's at all a bad thing), I just think it's stupid to not keep kids as safe as possible. So I drop $200 on a car seat that goes up to 65 pounds (this was actually when she was around 38 pounds, almost a year and a half ago) for my car. It was my money, and I don't even make that money in a week (thankfully I'm only 18 and my Mom still puts up with me since I watch Alleen), but there was no way I was putting a 2 1/2-3 year old in a booster seat in my car.

A few months later, I got $300 in insurance money for some idiot who rear-ended me, but since the car was barely even scratched, I gave the money to my cousin to buy Alleen another 65 pound car seat for their car. My point is Erin couldn't even be bothered to buy a car seat for HER car, let alone mine, and on top of that, couldn't be bothered to move the seat from her car to other cars, and put Alleen in a booster in other cars. I'm sorry, but I just find that disrespectful to me (not to mention STUPD), when I've basically put out $500 to keep Alleen in a 5-point harness.

So then Erin sees this story about a 3 year old in a booster seat who died in a fairly minor car accident because he was too young for the booster seat. Then she started moving the seat around from car to car, but that's a hassle, I understand, so finally she bought another car seat. Couldn't possibly buy another Britax though, she can find money to go to a coffee shop every day, but can't find money for her kid's safety. Fine, whatever, she buys this new cheaper 65 pound car seat. Good enough. She gets her husband to put it together. STUPID MOVE!

She brought the car seat today because her mother is picking up Alleen. She's told me before that the buckle is too close to the back of the seat, and she's pinched Alleen's legs in it several times (uh, BE MORE CAREFUL!). So I'm looking at the seat trying to see if the buckle can be adjusted (it can, but it's already in the front position, so not the way we need it), and I notice that the harness straps are pretty low. So I get Alleen to sit in the seat, and they're WAY WAY too low. When kids are forward facing, the straps have to be at or above the shoulders (rear-facing is at or below), and these were INCHES below her shoulders. In all fairness, looking at the seat, that appears to be the highest the harness can go, but if you read the instruction booklet (and WHY the hell didn't they??), it says you raise the headrest, and there's more slots underneath there. So I did that. I adjusted it. It's fine now.

But I'm just so frustrated. How hard is it to read the instructions?? I KNOW they didn't, because the booklet was still shrink wrapped in the back of the seat. I mean, even if they were SURE they knew how to do it (but how could they be with a brand new car seat?), it takes freaking five minutes to read them! They literally trust that seat with their kid's LIFE, why be so arrogant as to think they know how it works?

I'm just so mad. The seat goes in Jerry's car, and Jerry drives like a JERK, which already worries me, but now that I know they're so bad at putting in a car seat, I'm so worried about Alleen. There's literally nothing I can do. I'm gonna talk to Erin, but she brushes this kind of thing off like it's nothing. It's NOT nothing, and that pisses me off.

Anyway.. I just needed to rant.

jjsmom06

Posted : 3/29/2007 11:41:14 AM

Chelsea... I don't have time to post as much as I would like to on this thread but I have to congratulate you for your efforts. Don't EVEN get me started on people NOT READING the directions for car and booster seats.[:@]

You NEED to convince Erin that she needs to go to a Child Passenger Safety Inspection Event OR location. THIS IS CRUCIAL... I would be willing to bet that when they have the seat in their cars it is not installed properly.

Based on the weight and height you stated, there are probably a few booster seats that could safely hold your cousin AND would NOT have all the installation issues... these are VERY easy to take from car to car. I just finished up a 3 year education and research project relating to booster seats for 4-8 year olds so I would be happy to give you some further info if you want (although I am NOT child passenger safety technician certified...so some installation issues I will not be able to assist you with). BUT general info I can give you as well as helping you to identify WHERE Erin can take the seat and car for inspection and be given accurate advice on what is the saftest for her child... feel free to pm me!

Michelle

Posted : 3/29/2007 1:06:27 PM

Most fire stations and/or police stations have at least one person trained in how to properly install car seats. It's actually more difficult than you imagine and MOST people don't have them installed properly, even after reading the instructions ( I forget the exact statistic, but it's really high). Babies-r-Us will also sometimes have drive-in events where you can just pull up and they have someone check it for you. Call your local fire/police stations and see which one you could have her take the seat to and they'll install it properly.

griffinej5

Posted : 3/29/2007 1:14:18 PM

Chelsea, I know you probably won't want to hear this, but if the seat was in your car when you got rear ended, it may need to be replaced. I'm not sure exactly on this though, because I'm thinking Britax may say you can continue using the seat if the impact was minor.
Also, you don't necessarily need a britax to have safety. All seats have to pass a certain level of testing in order to be sold in the US. The more expensive seat might be safer, or it might not. However, it is probably easier to use, which in my mind would make it safer if you know a person won't go to the trouble to use a cheaper, more difficult seat correctly.
Since they will probably screw up a harnessed seat, since they have done it already, maybe she would be better in a high back booster. Maybe you can tell them the seat belt has to be locked since you know they don't bother reading the manual. At least that would keep Aileen from moving around too much. That would also prevent the issue of the seat being installed improperly when they move it from car to car, since it sounds like you can't just put it in the right way for them and leave it there.
Do you by any chance know what seat they got her, because I can't think of what that might be. It sounds like it's a convertible seat? Is it maybe the fisher price seat, which is essentially a scaled down britax?

chelsea_b

Posted : 3/29/2007 1:51:19 PM

but if the seat was in your car when you got rear ended, it may need to be replaced.

It wasn't. I sort of lied to the insurance company, but it was totally accidental. By the time they asked me what kind of seat was in the car, I'd had the Britax for several months, and forgot that it wasn't it in the accident. It was some cheapo Graco or something that's now sitting in my garage. I got the Britax after the accident.

Also, you don't necessarily need a britax to have safety.

I know this, but like you said they're easier to install properly, plus this new one just seems flimsy to me.

maybe she would be better in a high back booster.

There's a couple of reasons I think she's not ready for a booster. 1) She falls asleep in the car quite regularly (in fact that's the only way she ever naps here, and some days she REALLY needs a nap). I don't see how a belt-positioning booster would protect her while she sleeps. 2) I'm not sure she'd keep the belt over herself. Seat belts are just too easy to move around. Plus 5-point harnesses (when the seat is installed correctly) are just safer. I don't think there's any getting around that.

Do you by any chance know what seat they got her, because I can't think of what that might be. It sounds like it's a convertible seat? Is it maybe the fisher price seat, which is essentially a scaled down britax?

Nah, it's the Safety 1st Apex 65. It's forward facing with harness to 65 pounds, and belt-positioning booster til 100 pounds. I have a couple issues with it. It's a bit flimsy, which I already mentioned. The harness is barely big enough for her. And the buckle's strap is really short, which makes it easy to pinch her poor little legs when buckling it.

I'm checking out car seat inspection places, and I'm entirely willing to go to one and make sure my seat is in right, but I have a feeling Erin won't be so willing, which is funny because the seat in my car is in very tightly (like, shove on it with all your strength and it won't budge), and Erin's often isn't. I usually take Alleen out to Erin's car and buckle her, and if I notice it's loose, I tighten it. I get nasty looks for that, or she'll say "Oh, it was ripping the seat, that's why it's a little loose." Uhm, that's not okay, lady. Who CARES if your seat gets a little ripped or indented? Really...what's it matter? She wants to have more kids soon, so I'm really doubting there's ever not gonna be a car seat there. *sigh*

What's sad is I know she doesn't care more about the seat than her kid. She just doesn't think of things like that. She doesn't think of the fact that loosening that seat could cause her kid to be injured or killed in an accident. She doesn't think of the fact that shoving a thick folded towel under the seat could cause it to loosen. She doesn't think reading the manual is very important, because she's just "sure" she knows how to do it. It's just bothersome. I'm not trying to be high and mighty or something. I KNOW I don't know everything about car seats. That's why I read the manual, and anything I can find online. That's why I spend 20 minutes the first time I install a certain car seat making sure I don't miss anything. And I just don't understand why everyone doesn't do that. Is that really asking too much of people?