DebbieJ
06-03-2005, 04:17 PM
Wow, that was fast! Especially for a Friday afternoon. I called the Park Dist. office to find out who was in charge of the techs today. I spoke to Carol, who was in charge of the event for the park district, and she told me she'd find out who was in charge of the techs and would have them call me. Not five minutes later, I got a call from the Sheriff's office! I couldn't believe it.
The officer I spoke to is in charge of the car seat techs. I described to him what happened (basically read down my post here) and he was profusely apologetic. I told him that I was not personally angry about what happened to me, but I was extremely sad that this man was giving out misinformation to parents all day long and he probably convinced many of them to turn their children FF when in fact RF is safest. He thanked me for calling with my concern and said he would look through the paperwork on Monday to find out which tech it was that I dealt with (because unfortunately, I did not get his name.
Anyway, I feel I did my good deed today. Maybe one day I'll get certified too so I can show these bozos how it's supposed to be done.
----------------------------------
Our park district put on a "Touch a Truck Day" today at a local park. They had fire trucks, dump trucks, tractors, etc, that kids could sit in and climb on. I went with my 18 mo ds and my sister and her 3 yo son.
They were also doing a car seat check. I had noticed that the seatbelt on my MA installation was looking a little loose btwn the lockoff closest to the door and the belt anchor next to the door (if that is the correct term, you know where the belt is anchored in to the frame of the car--that side). I have it installed RF behind the driver's seat. The belt is locked, the lockoff is closed, and the base does not move and I *KNOW* that I have it installed correctly, but I figured they could help me tighten it up a little. And honestly, I wanted to hear what kind of misinformation they would give me. }(
So I drive up and they hand me the paperwork to fill out. I'm sitting in the driver's seat doing that while the tech opens the back door to start checking my ds. He asked how big he was. I said 18 months and 22 pounds. He announces it so all his colleagues can hear and he's kind of laughing as he's doing it. The tech tells me that since he's that big, he can turn the seat around for me. Strike one. I said no thank you, he's fine like that. So he keeps checking the harness, tells me the chest clip is in the right spot. He checks it for tightness and tells me that it could be tighter. It probably could, but it's super snug on his shoulders and because my ds is so tiny, it is a little looser in the lower chest and belly area, which is where the tech was checking. Strike two.
So I pointed out to him that it was tight on his shoulders. He proceeds to tell me that since he was over 20 pounds, I could move the harness up a slot. Doesn't he know it's supposed to be at or below his shoulders? Strike three. I told him it was fine where it was; it isn't falling off his shoulders. Honestly folks, it is *just* below his shoulders. If I moved it up one, it would be WAY above. Not safe!!!
All the while he keeps telling me that he can turn the seat around. That the recommendations used to be 1 yr/20 lbs, but now pediatricians are saying 18 mo/20 lbs. (I should have asked him how a pediatrician knows anything about car seat safety--this isn't a medical issue, folks!) I tried so hard to be polite, I really did. I told him no thank you, I said he's fine, I informed him that my car seat has a RF limit of 33 lbs and my son is only 22. But he wouldn't stop! How many strikes am I at now???!?! LOL!
So I took ds out and he checked the belts and wiggled the base. It didn't move. He said good, your seatbelt is locked, you must have read the manual. Ha ha. I said yes I did, I bet you don't get many people who do.
But he didn't stop there. He told me that kids are more comfortable FF and that parents like it better because they can see their kids and hand them things like bottles and food. I had had enough at this point. I don't see why he didn't leave it alone. I said to him "You are a car seat tech. You have seen the crash test videos and so have I. Why in the world would I want to turn my son around?" He then tried to tell me that in a rear-end collison, the force of the crash would fling my son's head forward. I then told him that he would then rebound and most of the impact would be absorbed by the shell of the seat instead of my son getting whiplash if he were FF. He then mumbled something that sounded like agreement. Strike 200?
He climbed in the back seat to get the information off my seat to finish his paperwork. I then put ds back in. He then "quizzed" me by asking where is the safest spot in the car for the seat. I said, yes, I know, it's the middle. But I care for my nephew a couple of days a week, so I need to put his seat on the other side. Ha ha, sucker, you thought you'd get me on that one, didn't you!
As I was loading back up, one of the tech's colleague walked over and joked that he just couldn't convince me. The tech then kept trying (!!!), pointing to my son's legs and remarked that his feet are already touching the seat and that it's uncomfortable for him. I told him he's just fine, he can see out the window and look at all the trees, dogs, cars, etc. Then he called ANOTHER tech over who took one look and said (in a very snotty tone, I might add) "yeah, look, his legs are already bent, that's no good." Then she asked if I had the manual. I said, "yes, would you like to see it? It's right here." And I pulled it out of it's nifty hidey-hole that Julie showed us. She said no and walked away. :P
My tech finished up and we said our goodbyes. He reminded me that when I do turn ds FF, that I'll have to use the tether. I said he already is tethered. So then the tech hopped back in my car and checked that out, but he had no comment.
He seemed forlorn that he couldn't convince me to move my son forward. I told him that I didn't spend $200 on a car seat to not use it to its limits.
He never did help me tighten it up. I'm sure they talked about me all afternoon. I shudder to think of how many moms and dads they convinced to move their children FF today. In fact, I saw a mom next to us with two small kids--one in a Snugride and one in a Britax seat of some sort and they installed the Britax FF for her. :( Instead of trying to convince me (and others) to turn our kids FF, shouldn't they have been trying to convince us to leave them RF? Who trains these people?!?!?
I am seriously considering calling the Park District and finding out where these techs came from so that I can write their supervisor a letter. It just saddens me that they are out there giving this misinformation and many people are probably taking them at their word.
*sigh*
Edited to add this photo (taken on May 10) so you can all see how comfortable my ds *really* is! Oh yeah, and I like to show him off. :)
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/26741.jpg
~ deb
DS 12/03
And a niece or nephew arriving in early August!
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif
The officer I spoke to is in charge of the car seat techs. I described to him what happened (basically read down my post here) and he was profusely apologetic. I told him that I was not personally angry about what happened to me, but I was extremely sad that this man was giving out misinformation to parents all day long and he probably convinced many of them to turn their children FF when in fact RF is safest. He thanked me for calling with my concern and said he would look through the paperwork on Monday to find out which tech it was that I dealt with (because unfortunately, I did not get his name.
Anyway, I feel I did my good deed today. Maybe one day I'll get certified too so I can show these bozos how it's supposed to be done.
----------------------------------
Our park district put on a "Touch a Truck Day" today at a local park. They had fire trucks, dump trucks, tractors, etc, that kids could sit in and climb on. I went with my 18 mo ds and my sister and her 3 yo son.
They were also doing a car seat check. I had noticed that the seatbelt on my MA installation was looking a little loose btwn the lockoff closest to the door and the belt anchor next to the door (if that is the correct term, you know where the belt is anchored in to the frame of the car--that side). I have it installed RF behind the driver's seat. The belt is locked, the lockoff is closed, and the base does not move and I *KNOW* that I have it installed correctly, but I figured they could help me tighten it up a little. And honestly, I wanted to hear what kind of misinformation they would give me. }(
So I drive up and they hand me the paperwork to fill out. I'm sitting in the driver's seat doing that while the tech opens the back door to start checking my ds. He asked how big he was. I said 18 months and 22 pounds. He announces it so all his colleagues can hear and he's kind of laughing as he's doing it. The tech tells me that since he's that big, he can turn the seat around for me. Strike one. I said no thank you, he's fine like that. So he keeps checking the harness, tells me the chest clip is in the right spot. He checks it for tightness and tells me that it could be tighter. It probably could, but it's super snug on his shoulders and because my ds is so tiny, it is a little looser in the lower chest and belly area, which is where the tech was checking. Strike two.
So I pointed out to him that it was tight on his shoulders. He proceeds to tell me that since he was over 20 pounds, I could move the harness up a slot. Doesn't he know it's supposed to be at or below his shoulders? Strike three. I told him it was fine where it was; it isn't falling off his shoulders. Honestly folks, it is *just* below his shoulders. If I moved it up one, it would be WAY above. Not safe!!!
All the while he keeps telling me that he can turn the seat around. That the recommendations used to be 1 yr/20 lbs, but now pediatricians are saying 18 mo/20 lbs. (I should have asked him how a pediatrician knows anything about car seat safety--this isn't a medical issue, folks!) I tried so hard to be polite, I really did. I told him no thank you, I said he's fine, I informed him that my car seat has a RF limit of 33 lbs and my son is only 22. But he wouldn't stop! How many strikes am I at now???!?! LOL!
So I took ds out and he checked the belts and wiggled the base. It didn't move. He said good, your seatbelt is locked, you must have read the manual. Ha ha. I said yes I did, I bet you don't get many people who do.
But he didn't stop there. He told me that kids are more comfortable FF and that parents like it better because they can see their kids and hand them things like bottles and food. I had had enough at this point. I don't see why he didn't leave it alone. I said to him "You are a car seat tech. You have seen the crash test videos and so have I. Why in the world would I want to turn my son around?" He then tried to tell me that in a rear-end collison, the force of the crash would fling my son's head forward. I then told him that he would then rebound and most of the impact would be absorbed by the shell of the seat instead of my son getting whiplash if he were FF. He then mumbled something that sounded like agreement. Strike 200?
He climbed in the back seat to get the information off my seat to finish his paperwork. I then put ds back in. He then "quizzed" me by asking where is the safest spot in the car for the seat. I said, yes, I know, it's the middle. But I care for my nephew a couple of days a week, so I need to put his seat on the other side. Ha ha, sucker, you thought you'd get me on that one, didn't you!
As I was loading back up, one of the tech's colleague walked over and joked that he just couldn't convince me. The tech then kept trying (!!!), pointing to my son's legs and remarked that his feet are already touching the seat and that it's uncomfortable for him. I told him he's just fine, he can see out the window and look at all the trees, dogs, cars, etc. Then he called ANOTHER tech over who took one look and said (in a very snotty tone, I might add) "yeah, look, his legs are already bent, that's no good." Then she asked if I had the manual. I said, "yes, would you like to see it? It's right here." And I pulled it out of it's nifty hidey-hole that Julie showed us. She said no and walked away. :P
My tech finished up and we said our goodbyes. He reminded me that when I do turn ds FF, that I'll have to use the tether. I said he already is tethered. So then the tech hopped back in my car and checked that out, but he had no comment.
He seemed forlorn that he couldn't convince me to move my son forward. I told him that I didn't spend $200 on a car seat to not use it to its limits.
He never did help me tighten it up. I'm sure they talked about me all afternoon. I shudder to think of how many moms and dads they convinced to move their children FF today. In fact, I saw a mom next to us with two small kids--one in a Snugride and one in a Britax seat of some sort and they installed the Britax FF for her. :( Instead of trying to convince me (and others) to turn our kids FF, shouldn't they have been trying to convince us to leave them RF? Who trains these people?!?!?
I am seriously considering calling the Park District and finding out where these techs came from so that I can write their supervisor a letter. It just saddens me that they are out there giving this misinformation and many people are probably taking them at their word.
*sigh*
Edited to add this photo (taken on May 10) so you can all see how comfortable my ds *really* is! Oh yeah, and I like to show him off. :)
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/26741.jpg
~ deb
DS 12/03
And a niece or nephew arriving in early August!
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif