UPDATE: Oh no! Family at church using infant seat from 1996!

[DebbieJ]

UPDATE:
I talked to the mom this morning. She said that she and her husband are aware they need to get new seats. I did not tell her about the ancient infant seat, I just told her what I knew about buying a new seat, the money I've raised so far, and the discount I am trying to get for them.

But then I found out that their almost 2 yo is in a seat with an overhead shield. ZOIKS!!! So now it looks like we need to get them three seats.

She said she would talk to her DH, but she trusted me to know what is best. So they're going to talk it over and call me back. In the meantime, I'm going to try to get more donations so we can buy a third seat.

-----------------------------------------

I had nursery duty this morning. A young couple came in with their twins. One in a newer Snugride with 5 pt harness and one in an old Evenflo with a 3 pt harness. I know the SR is okay as it was their 20 mo dd's seat and it is a recent pattern (heatwave, I think). But the Evenflo had the white plastic and the telltale pastel cover, so I had to check it out. I was shocked when I turned it over and found that it was made in 1996!

This is a couple that struggles to get by and was surprised by the second pregnancy so soon, not to mention the fact that they have twins. I'm not sure exactly how old the girls are or how heavy they are. They very well may be close to 20 lbs (I held them both) but I didn't ask.

I don't know whether to find them a different infant seat to use or to help them get some acceptable convertibles. I imagine they love the convenience of the baby buckets. I will definitely tell her to destroy that Evenflo, though.

Any thoughts?

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[kijip]

Could you a couple of other church families to pool some money to buy them a set of new convertible seats? If the babies are not sear 20 pounds maybe someone has a newer infant seat that they could lend? I think the best solution is to put the seats they need in their hands. I know that at the churches I grew up in, the priests would often buy such things out of discretionary $$ so maybe some of the funds could come from the church? If they qualify for WIC, often counties have seat programs. However, often these seats are hard to use of the overhead shield kind so if purchasing them seats is an option I would do it. And when you give them the new seats, I would not make a big deal about how bad the old one ones. Parents will generally be pleased to get community help when they need it for thier own child's safety.

[DebbieJ]

Great advice, Katie!

I am actually having breakfast with my pastor tomorrow, so I'll run it by him. I'm sure we could raise some money to buy a couple Sceneras at least. Any other lower cost covertibles you'd recommend?

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[DebbieJ]

I've been given the go ahead to get a couple of seats for them. I would love to get Britaxes for them, but alas, it is not in the cards. What are my lower priced alternatives? All I can think of is the Scenera. Any other suggestions?

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[kijip]

What's your budget? How old are the kids?

[DebbieJ]

They didn't give me a budget, just told me to get the seats and let them know how much they cost. I don't think they'd be happy if I got Britaxes, though. So something in between would be good.

The kids are 5 months? Not sure, but they're still in baby buckets. We're buying convertibles for them. The easier to use the better as they have three kids under 2 yo. Not sure what seat they have their toddler in or how car seat savvy they are.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[HIU8]

I was looking into the Scenera for a second carseat for DH car. It is really lacking in padding. So much so that I think that the bigger DS gets the more uncomfortable he will be.

Maybe you can go online for a good deal on a couple of Marathons (there is a thread here about that). If you could swing that, they would last them longer than the Scenera would most likely.

Just a thought.

Heather
DS Coby 11/27/04

[kijip]

The nice thing about the Scenera is that it rf to 35 pounds. It is thin on the padding but I really don't see too many kids fussing over the padding as much as the parents. Also, if they have an older child, space in the vehicle might make seats as wide as the Evenflo Triumph or the Marathon impossible to fit 3 in a row. The Scenera is nice and narrow. Also the harness adjuster is nicer that the Titan or Comfort Sport IMO.

Things to educate them on with the Scenera:

Only the highest slots can be used FF. The lower two harness slots are for rf only.

Let them know that they can rf till 35 pounds.

Use a tether for FF.

Or if you want to get seats that are better padded and they have the room for them, why not the Evenflo Triumph> Won't last as long rf but it has some nice features and many parents love it.

http://www.babyage.com/i_15197_3591331_evenflo_evenflo_triumph_convertibl e_carseat.aspx

The seats I have a hard time using well are the Graco ComfortSport and the Evenflo Titan. I can't say they are bad seats, but frankly i can't stand them.

[DebbieJ]

Okay, they approved $200 total. They need two convertibles. I wonder if I could find two Roundabouts pretty cheap and then ask for some private donations to cover the difference?

Any other ideas? I'm going to call the mom tomorrow and "confront" her about it all.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[kijip]

The cheapest RA are going for about $160. SO you would need donations to cover the $120 difference. For donations totalling $160 or so you could get them 2 Marathons on sale.

Here are plcaes for those sale Britax (note, free shipping and no tax!):

Babycenter
Babyage
Albee Baby *** (great shipping- super fast!)

The Evenflo Triumphs would require donations of about $40 total or so since they are a little over $100 each seat (about $110-$130 each).

For under $100 seats here are some options:

Comfortsport by Graco
Vangaurd or Titan by Evenflo
The Cosco Sceneras (under $50). FWIW, I think that these function as well as the Comfortsport, Titan and Vanguard and are a much better value.

Might you want to get 3 Sceneras to make sure all the kids are in safe seats?

[saschalicks]

I just read this and wanted to say how great it is that your church is doing this. Please keep us updated on what you get and how they react. I love these stories.

[tiapam]

I have two BRU coupons for $10 off of any seat over $40. Actually, it says you only need one coupon to buy multiples. Let me know if you want one and I will mail it to you.

-Pam

Charlotte born October 2004

[DeeEast]

I just wanted to mention that with three convertible seats, you should find out what kind of vehicle these seats are going to be installed in to make sure whatever you get will fit. Good luck.

[DebbieJ]

Pam, go ahead and give those coupons to someone else. I'm working with another retailer to give us a discount, so we probably won't be going to BRU.

As for the seats fitting, I've thought of that already. I know they have a minivan of some sort. I actually have to call the mom back today (she wasn't home yesterday) and see what they have their toddler in already and discuss it with her. We're planning to buy seats for the twins only at this point, but maybe we'll need to buy one more!

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif