Makes me sick.. Carseat usage

[momm]

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BvJaj995uwI/UWNOFQbjTVI/AAAAAAAAKt4/sqvrzs9KHbc/s640/image.jpg

Saw on another forum I visit. I dont know this mom, and she is lucky I dont know her. I want to tear her a new one.

[edurnemk]

Ummm, doesn't anyone read manuals? Still doesn't compare to some carseat use I've seen IRL.

[mmsmom]

I really don't get it. I don't understand why people don't read the manual or at a minimum look at the stickers on the car seat as to how it should be used.

In the past 2 weeks I saw:
1) A child around 1 year old FF in a Scenera sitting on top of the harness and buckled in with the seat belt.
2) At a restaurant I watched a mom and presumably grandparents doting over an around 6 month old baby. They brought a clip-on Chico high chair with them, had all the latest baby bowls, spoons, etc. for feeding; then I saw them put her in a FF Marathon.

[BayGirl2]

That is so frightening to even look at.

[MSWR0319]

I can't see the image for some reason, but a few weeks ago I saw someone using a booster seat that you would use at the dinner table (plastic type) as a booster seat (car seat type). I was floored.

[rin]

Wowza.

Three days ago I saw a woman drive past our house right as I was pulling out of the driveway, so I ended up behind her going down our road and driving behind her for a few blocks. She was in an SUV with a toddler-aged child on her lap (!) and a preschool aged child *standing on the front seat* poking his head out the sunroof!! Craziness . . .

[rin]

I can't see the image for some reason, but a few weeks ago I saw someone using a booster seat that you would use at the dinner table (plastic type) as a booster seat (car seat type). I was floored.

For some reason, the link's missing a colon; add one in right after the https

[wendibird22]

Today I parked next to a car with a bucket seat installed sideways. It was just the base but it was clearly tightly strapped in with seatbelt install. I can only hope that it was sideways when not in use.

[momm]

Wowza.

Three days ago I saw a woman drive past our house right as I was pulling out of the driveway, so I ended up behind her going down our road and driving behind her for a few blocks. She was in an SUV with a toddler-aged child on her lap (!) and a preschool aged child *standing on the front seat* poking his head out the sunroof!! Craziness . . .

Omg!!! Did you call the cops?

[Kindra178]

It looks a little fake, especially the kid's expression. The juice in the bottle just tops it off, though.

[MSWR0319]

For some reason, the link's missing a colon; add one in right after the https

THanks! That picture reminded me of the way my SIL installed DN's car seat when they were visiting. She claims to be very into car seat safety, yet has no clue how to install a car seat and has her 18mo FF (which is fine if it's what you choose, but it's not how she presents herself as far as keeping DN safest in his seat) Anyway, she had me check his FF seat and she had one side of the latch hooked and the seat belt through one side of the belt path somehow. So one side was totally loose and the other side was barely holding on. I don't know how the poor kid even sat in it from the airport.

[LizLemon]

Is that an infant seat that is turned forward facing and held in place with a seatbelt around the baby? :nono:

I will never forget during an surgery rotation in med school, seeing a child who lost a limb due to improper carseat usage come in as a trauma. If the seat is used incorrectly enough, the seat itself can become injure the child in an accident.

[edurnemk]

In the past 2 weeks I saw:
1) A child around 1 year old FF in a Scenera sitting on top of the harness and buckled in with the seat belt.
.

I saw this once, too. DS's friend was riding in a convertible, but with the seat belt over it as if it was a booster. The mom claimed the harness was too tight for her DD, so she tried to lengthen them herself somehow by sewing them differently. Given the fact that she asked me for car seat recs I took the chance to explain how dangerous that was and sent her some links.

I live in an upscale neighborhood, people here are educated, travel all over the world, and all get the fanciest strollers, etc. Yet you would not believe the things I see. At my mommy and me yoga class I've seen:

1) A FTM leaving the yoga studio gets in a minivan (I think it was her mom's), plops the infant seat on one of the middle row captain chairs, and the grandfather just pulls the seat belt out and loops it over the infant seat, like around the seat back, so the seat belt is not buckled and not going through the belt path. The mom doesn't even check and gets in the passenger seat. The Grandmother was sitting in the other middle row seat.

2) Another FTM was buckling her newborn baby in the bucket seat in the yoga studio and puts both the baby's arm and his leg through the strap and then buckles him. Luckily I was talking to her since she was asking for advice and all so she was a tad distracted. I casually said "ooops! careful, his little leg is stuck in the harness" and I helped her put the harness on correctly.

I've also seen my share of babies FF before a year old, young toddlers in boosters or nothing at all, young kids in the front seat or jumping around the back seat, chest clips at tummy level, loose straps, pictures on FB of toddlers in a booster sleeping and toppled over the seat belt, etc. This even at DS's school which is a private school, and one of the most expensive ones in the area. You'd think people would read a manual!

I try to offer friendly advice when I can, and I frequently post car seat safety articles and videos on FB. I did convince on friend to ERF, though, so at least I can count 1 success.

[AnnieW625]

It looks a little fake, especially the kid's expression. The juice in the bottle just tops it off, though.

:yeahthat:

[TwoBees]

It looks a little fake, especially the kid's expression. The juice in the bottle just tops it off, though.

Yeah, something about it looks off, although I'm sure there are people who do that or worse. The kid's head and her expression - it almost looks like a doll.

[edurnemk]

A least someone said something to her, though she'll probably brush it off.

[Liziz]

It looks a little fake, especially the kid's expression. The juice in the bottle just tops it off, though.

This is what I was hoping when I saw the picture (especially w/ the juice bottle...) ... but now I'm sitting here reading some of the car seat horrors yall have seen and it sounds like even if this picture is fake, car seat usage can be terrible!!! (and let me take a moment to give a "thank you" to the BBB for my serious car seat focus now....I'm positive I would have read the manual, even w/o the BBB, but there's no way I would have as safe as I am now w/o some of the great educating links and comments from here)

[scriptkitten]

totally photoshopped picture.

[sunnyside]

Yeah, something about it looks off, although I'm sure there are people who do that or worse. The kid's head and her expression - it almost looks like a doll.

I can't believe that is real with all those twisted straps and all that craziness going on. No way! If so, super scary.

[PZMommy]

I have seen someone driving with an infant bucket seat strapped in forward facing. I also have seen someone with a toddler who looked to be at least three years old into a RF infant bucket seat. Her shoulders were way over the top or the car seat.

[OKKiddo]

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BvJaj995uwI/UWNOFQbjTVI/AAAAAAAAKt4/sqvrzs9KHbc/s640/image.jpg

Saw on another forum I visit. I dont know this mom, and she is lucky I dont know her. I want to tear her a new one.

Sadly I've seen this in real life. Twice. One was with a baby that could only have been under 1 year old (I figured at about 9 months old) and the second time was with a child that was probably headed towards her 2nd birthday. Both times were in Texas and I said something to them because I was so worried and only got told I was number one with sign language. :-/

[hellokitty]

I'd like to believe that the photo is fake, but I have seen some real doozies regarding carseat usage in my area. They don't even do carseat checks around here anymore. I know one of the techs at the health dept and they said that unless they offered some freebie, like free carseats, they literally had NO ppl show up to their carseat checks! They put out their stats each yr, including how many carseat checks they do (by appt), and it's some really low number, like 30 a yr or something. There was even a situation where a family got into a car accident and the only one who survived was the baby. HOWEVER, the family did something weird, they used rope and had also tied the seat down somehow with the baby in it (wrapped around the carseat with the child in it, so you couldn't unbuckle the child with all the rope tied around the seat). The truck driver that pulled the child out had to cut the rope to get the child and carseat out.