Outdated info in school handbook.......

[emandbri]

My 3 year old starts preschool Friday and the handbook had a typo and old info on car safety that says

age weight type of restraint
birth to one year birth to 20 lbs, rear-facing
1-4 years, birth to 20 lbs 26-40 inches forward facing
4-8 years 40-60 lbs booster seat.

They obviously meant to say 20 to 40 lbs for 1-4 years, no mention of rear-facing past a year, and boosters only to 60 lbs is pretty outdated.

I wasn't sure if it was okay for me to contact them or not since I'm not certified and e-mailed the safe kids guy here to ask.

[MomToEliEm]

What kind of school handbook is this? Is it for a daycare, public school, private school? Was it just a small handbook that was reprinted every year or a bound high quality book that was published by a seperate organization?

For any of these organziations, I think I would still address the issue with someone. I would first try to find a point of contact for the handbook. Then I would try and figure out what wording I would want in the handbook, and probably write up what it should read so that would give them an idea of how it really should read. I would make sure to include something about rear facing past 1 year.

[emandbri]

It is for a preschool that is through the school district, lucikily everything else written was okay except for that little box with info. I would bet that most of the info in the handbook is the same from year to year with only minor changes. I got some info sheets from the safe kids cordinator and I'm going to pass them along!

[UlrikeDG]

Um, you're a parent/customer. Of course it's ok for you to contact them! Just don't imply that you're currently certified. Cite your sources (e.g., the AAP, Safe Kids, etc), and you'll be fine.

[emandbri]

I just didn't want to step on anyone's toes if they were already working with someone. I did e-mail the director of the preschool and seemed glad to know that it was outdated. We'll see what it says next year.

[emandbri]

Bumping this up because I got the handbook for this year. It is a little better.

It is a little chart

approximate age of child approximate size of child type of child restraint

premature/low birth weight infants premature/low birth weight infants infant car bed

birth to one year birth to 20 lbs rear-facing infant restraint

one to 4 years old 20-40 lbs 26 to 40 inches forward facing restraint 5-point harness

4 to 8 years 40 to 80 lbs or 4'9" booster seat

The stuff I forwarded to the school from the safe kids cordinator said clearly rear-facing to the weight limit of the seat.

She also stressed for parents to leave kids buckled until they get to the curb to drop them off. Right now parents unbuckle kids as soon as they get in line and they jump around the car, get in the front seat, put their heads out the windows, and out sunroofs!

[papooses]

Gosh, would it really be too difficult for them to simply ask permission to use the updated NHTSA 4 steps diagram? :rolleyes: