Britney's latest car seat (mis)usage...

[rorycam]

http://britneyres.com/displayimage.php?album=1771&pos=0

He's 8 months and already forward facing, not to mention the way he's slouched over. Britney clearly still needs help in proper car seat usage.

[maurenemm]

It seems like the straps have to be way too loose for him to be slumped over like that...

[MamaParis]

OHH wow!

Yeah I think he's been FF since the big car fiasco months ago and they made a big point to go and buy a new car seat.

Those straps must be REALLY loose too for him to be slumped over THAT much!


so ... 9 months old FF with harness straps WAY too loose IN a convertible ...


Poor kid!

[Momof3Labs]

Or not even fastened - that is serious slumpage!

[elliput]

He was probably safer *driving* the SUV. :-(

[DeeEast]

She's an idiot, reckless, and someone needs to step in to educate her. I'd say that maybe this last evidence will finally silence all of the people who keep saying "Oh have you never made a mistake, please give Britney a break!" but it won't. I'm so sick of seeing her flaunt the laws that I don't want to hear one more defense of her. She needs someone to just shake some sense into her. Grrrrrrrr.

[Joolsplus2]

He was FF in an Intera like 2 months ago in her PT Cruiser (gosh, how many cars does she have???)...
And one guy at Lifesavers made a shirt with the picture of Sean driving with the caption "CPST's... job insurance!" Or something like that, it was hilarious, and look at her proving him right!

:P
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[jeanum]

Poor baby and another one on the way, yikes. There's no excuse for the baby to be FF like that because it is possible to RF a carseat in a Mini Cooper. The compatibility database has entries for a Britax Wizard and a Graco Safe Seat 1 installed RF in the rear passenger seat with the front passenger seat moved up in the Mini Cooper. What will she do with 2 babies in carseats, put one of them in the front seat or on her lap again?? And it's not like she doesn't have other cars to drive either. Unbelievable.

[psophia17]

I wonder if he has any sunscreen on. Somehow, I doubt it.

[brittone2]

LOL, but not really as this photo is so disturbing. I just bumped into it online today and came here to see if someone had posted it, and of course, someone had :)

All of the money in the world can't buy you common sense, good judgement, or a brain, as Britney clearly demonstrates.

That kid's straps have to be waaaaay ridiculously loose, and the fact he's FF (and has been for a while) is disturbing. I wish the media would use it as a chance to educate the public. I feel for celebrities always being in the public eye, but at the same time, she's somehow got to know this is NOT proper carseat usage.

Crazy woman.

[tarynsmum]

dang it, I just posted about this in the Lounge, not knowing it was already commented on. drat, and I thought I was up to date.

[cdlamis]

>dang it, I just posted about this in the Lounge, not knowing
>it was already commented on. drat, and I thought I was up to
>date.

Don't worry- I saw it first in the Lounge so I thank you for my daily bit of celebrity gossip! :)

Daniella
Mom to Julia 6/02
and Bella 12/04

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif

[SusanMae]

That's a Britax seat she's using!!!!

I can see the belly pad. Are there any CPST's out where she lives that could find out how to contact her "people" to educate her? It's got to be worth a shot.

Susan

[my3fallkiddos]

Actually, Sean just turned 8 months old.

Has anyone thought about bombarding her website with e-amils about her carseat usage?? Maybe then she'll get a clue...probably not but still...

[Lovingliv]

I am amazed DAILY at how many people I meet that don't have a clue about carseats and safety. But she has access to just about anything she wants,,,,,,can't one of her "people" help her out? Please, Lord, help Brit Brit. Ughhhhhhhh...and she is preggers again.

[kimbe]

LOL!!!!

Seeing that makes me so sad.

[tjham]

Doesn't California has some good car seat laws?

Will seeing this cause another visit by Child Protective Services?

I sure hope so!

Oh, it was just on the news here with the helicopter footage but...they made a big deal about her having curlers in her hair and just barely mentioned "Sean Prestion slumped in the back seat."

And wonder if he got sunburned? I wouldn't walk around with a baby in a stroller uncovered like that and she's in a CAR? What a dipstick!

[kep]

How can she be so uneducated about something so important? (Well, I guess Britney and the majority of other non-BBB parents out there... ;) )

Kelli
Proud Mommy to Lukey (4.2003)

http://b4.lilypie.com/G0VTm4.png

[Tondi G]

unfortuneatly she is not the only person in the world who misuses car seats.... it's just that she happens to be famous and in the spotlight! Living in CA I do know that the law starts 1 year AND 20lbs.... why if she has been "caught"/photographed red handed breaking the law, are the authorities not doing something about it???

You would think she would send the nanny or driver out to buy the top of the line car seat for her kids and have them preofessionally installed... in all her cars!

It's frustrating but I can tell you I have two neighbors who turned thier boys around before one year because they were crying in the car seat and "are so much happier now that they can see mommy"! They both knew/know the law and wanted to do what was convenient for them not what was safe for their child!

Poor little Sean Preston..... I just feel bad for him and his brother or sister to be. Why doesn't she just leave him at home with the nanny.... oh maybe because the nanny let him fall out of his high chair onto his head!!!! Why wasn't he strapped into his high chair???

Just because someone has money or is a celebrity doesn't mean they are smart! You would just think that after the first incident that she would have hired someone to come and educate her, I would have!

~Tondi
Mommy to Mason 7/8/01 and Aidan 5/4/05

[3girlssofar]

I am surprised at the comments on The View today about Britney's car seat usage. They basically spewed out misinformation saying that particular seat should be rearfacing until 1 year AND 20 lbs. and then the blonde girl said she isn't sure if it's 1 year AND 20 or 1 year OR 20 and she kept her child rfing until 1year AND 20 to be "safe". I believe HER kid is still young enough to be rfing. They were more dissatisfied with the fact that she was in a convertible, which is also a problem. They didn't even discuss how the kid is slumped over. I plan on e-mailing the View and suggesting they have a Tech on the show to explain proper car seat usage. Please join me.

[my3fallkiddos]

Britney's rep released this statement this afternoon: "It has been reported that there is a photo of Britney Spears driving with her child sitting in a forward-facing child safety seat in the back seat of the car. Having a child in the child safety seat facing forward in the rear seat of the car is in compliance with California law. California law requires, pursuant to Vehicle Code 27360, that all children under the age of six or weighing less than 60 lbs. be in safety seats in the back seat of the car. There is no law in California requiring rear-facing car seats. In fact, there are only ten states that require a child to be in a rear-facing car seat, and in two of those states it is not required if the infant is more than 20 lbs. Britney’s son Sean weighs over 20 lbs. As such, Britney Spears was in total compliance with California law with the forward-facing child safety car seat with the baby strapped in properly in the back of the car."

[DeeEast]

Um, except that she didn't have him "properly" strapped. At all.

[jesseandgrace]

Is he even strapped in? I just can't see that slump happening with regular strap usage, maybe not even loose straps.

[jeanum]

Loose straps are not proper use by any stretch of the imagination, and proper use also means RF under 1 year of age which is probably stated right on the carseat's label.

[hipmaman]

I just heard on one of the entertainment channels (can't remember which one and it was on late at night) that there has been outcry of the baby being in a ff seat, safety advocates recommended 1 yr, etc. Her PR people responded that she complied with California laws. Yup, that's what matters whether that child is slump over, dangerously restrained (if restrained at all), etc.

[clc053103]

I was really annoyed with the View's commentary too- and I thought Star was trying to defend her, saying she probably just didn't know the law? I'm sorry, how many nanny's does Brittney employ? At least one might know something about car seat usage- not to mention, EVERY parenting basics book out there!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I wish the law at least said something about "used in accordance with manufacturers instructions". It should be a crime to put a baby in danger like that.

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

well, Elisabeth meant well by her comment, that she wasn't sure of the law, so she went by AND to be sure she was following the law... but of course Grace should still be rf (okay, I am obsessed with celebrity babies and am okay with that)

but I think we can all agree that we pick our battles... we'd like to see SP rf until 1yr and 20lbs... we'll settle for that, though we'd like to see it longer, we'd just like the law obeyed and the minimums stuck to (at least till we can increase the minimum to 2yrs or 30lbs)

we'd like to see proper use of seats... harnesses tight and the seat installed correctly, before we go picking the rearfacing past the minimums and harnessed past 40lbs battles.

I am just waiting to hear about cps investigating her again because of this.

my guess is their first visit told her that he was too big for her infant seats she had.

I'm going to email the view and find brit-brit's official site.

[reseam]

I just heard on the radio that California is considering a new bill to make it illegal to put a child under the age of one Forward facing no matter what they weigh. Here's an article I found online about the whole deal...it's from some gossip column, the mention of the bill is near the end.

LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears did such a poor job of strapping her infant son in his car seat that it's almost a "gross misuse" of the high-end baby product, an expert said yesterday.
"The straps are way too loose. That seat is not going to be able to protect the baby because she's not using it right," said Dr. Alisa Baer, a national expert on infant passenger safety known as "The Car Seat Lady."

"It's toward a gross misuse" of the Britax seat, Baer said after examining a photo of Spears ferrying her son in the back seat of her Mini Cooper convertible.

Baby Sean Preston was riding in a forward-facing car seat - which was "in compliance" with California law, Spears' rep said.

But Baer blasted the pregnant pop princess, saying the 8-month-old's neck bones would not be developed enough to withstand the impact of a frontal crash.

"One year old is a bare minimum to keep a child in a rear-facing seat, and older is recommended," said Baer. "Babies' neck bones are still stretchy ... and their heads account for about 25% of their body weight."

She said a baby's weighty head might be flopped around and "hit hard structures" in a front-facing car seat.

Another expert agreed that Sean's car seat straps were not tight enough.

"Something's wrong. He is not in his seat securely," said Sonja Atkins, a certified national child passenger safety technician and instructor with Safe Kids U.S.A.

"If a child is properly fitted in a seat, he or she will not be able to slump over to the side like that."

Federal safety guidelines recommend babies up to 1 year old and up to 20 pounds ride in a backward-facing car seat. Spears' rep pointed out that Sean weighs more than 20 pounds.

But medical and safety experts nationwide agree kids under 1 year old, no matter how much they weigh, should be in rear-facing car seats. The California Legislature is considering a bill that would make it illegal to place any child under 1 in a forward-facing seat - no matter how much the child weighs.

"There has been confusion on the age/weight issue. This bill will clear that up," said Atkins.

Maybe they'll call it "Britney's Law."

[KrisM]

Maybe something good will come of all this! That would be great to have the law changed.

[AddiesMom]

OH MY! I was just showing my DH the pictures from the link above and you should see what Brit's fans are posting on this message board. It is really, really scary that many of the people are defending the way Brit has the baby strapped in. One Mom says that her kid slumps like that too!

Here is my personal favorite:
'yo dumba#!...if ya wanna talk statistics, 85% of people misuse their carseats, it's not a big deal. get a life and take a hike.'
I just pray this person does not plan on having childern!

[elliput]

Just because most people get it wrong, doesn't mean it that makes it right. Idiot.

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

I have seen those... it really makes me sad for the kids and wish that their parents cared enough to know how to keep their children safe.

It was one thing before the internet, but with internet access being so readily available (especially considering these moms were USING it), even if you don't own a computer, because of libraries and stuff, it's just insane to me that they can't do a few quick google searches and research.

Heck, just read the carseat manual and follow it... that would do it.

because those manuals say to rearface until 1yr AND 20lbs, they tell how the harnesses should be, so it's really not as hard as people think... it's the installation that can be more difficult, but that is what cps techs are for...