First day of my CPS class. I had fun, and I'm a bit annoyed

[wendytthomas]

I knew most of the stuff relating to car seats (though ALR/ELR confused me until I saw it actually done on a seatbelt). The NHTSA's five roles in child safety was new to me, but after the test on Friday I think that'll be pushed into the back of my head anyway.

What annoyed me was when we were in the cars looking at the seatbelts, since my car was one of the ones chosen, the instructors were in there too. They were playing with my install of Piper's seat and they didn't like it. The stalk is simply too long. I can't twist the strap AND use a lockoff, according to them, and since Britax requires a lockoff, then I can't twist the strap at all. There was also a huge pause when they heard she was nearly four years old and rearfacing. So they wanted to move her outboard. I said I don't want her outboard, I want her in the middle. Then they said that if she was to be outboard then the passenger side was safest (I thought it was personal decision, in class not but two hours before they had said statistically there was little difference). I asked why. She said, 1) if I need to pull over on the side of the highway then she'll be on the passenger side and therefore not on the road side (that's not guaranteed, I've pulled off on the left. Plus she's old enough to be told, "Piper, meet me at that door," and if she wasn't I could climb into the car from that side and get her out anyway). 2) On the driver side she's at risk of being involved on a two lane road in a side swipe, should it happen. I can't disagree with this one, but if she's on the other side then if I need to swerve I'm put in the position of do I put her in the way, or me. Plus I can't reach her either way outboard. I know in an ideal world kids sit in their seats with no possible projectiles amusing themselves for the trip while Mom and Dad sit perfectly facing forward, barely moving except to check the mirrors, but this isn't fantasyland, this is reality. I need to be able to reach Piper. And I can't do that outboard. Behind me she's too hard to reach, and passenger side she's too far away (I sit as close to the steering wheel as possible with the seatback as upright as possible). Plus they installed her forward facing (actually, I did, I wanted them to check me as I did it, but they suggested forward and I suggested me installing it). Why would they not advocate her rearfacing since she doesn't meet the limits of the seat, which is another thing they had just said about two hours before?

So I'm annoyed. There seem to be inconsistencies with what they're teaching and what they're telling me. Then I'm annoyed my seat doesn't fit in my car. Easy solution to that, though, get a new car. :-) Told Nathan that we need one. We'll see. I'm annoyed because all of the coursework says 1 AND 20 pounds, not 18 months AND 30 pounds. If they're going to start changing people's minds, don't you think they'd start with brand new techs?

They did have a new Safeseat 1 & 2 there, as well as a Britax Laptop, which was cool to finally handle. They had a trailer FULL of carseats, I need to take a picture tomorrow, but we haven't played with any actual installations tomorrow. Just looked at seatbelts/latchplates/LATCH etc. today. Lots of yada yada and not so much in the carseat department. But you guys are right. Most of the nitty gritty stuff that pertains to carseats I got without a problem (I did get wrong that a frontal crash is not more deadly than a lateral, I thought frontal. I won't make that mistake again). I think I was also the only one to climb in a car and go butt up over a seat trying to find the tether anchors (a 2005 Explorer, the cargo hooks are the tether points, and they're not labelled).

Plus we got caught out in the rain today. Blech. Tomorrow will be worse with 2"-5" of rain predicted.

Oh well. It'll be fun, and I'll learn a bit more, but boy I wish I could just take the test (without the boring red tape NHTSA stuff) and be done with it. I am looking forward to handling something other than Britax and Radians, though. :-)

Wendy

[scatterbunny]

I've never heard that you can't twist the belt and use the lockoffs at the same time. And it doesn't surprise me they wanted you to turn her FF. At the time of my class Hayley was 4 years and 8 months old, about 45 inches tall and 45 pounds, harnessed in a Fisher Price Futura. When the instructors found out her age they instantly said I should have her in a booster. :( I said she was not mature enough to sit properly at all times, that she uses a booster sometimes (the Parkway was also in my van) but she can't handle trips longer than about 15 minutes.

I hope tomorrow isn't TOO terrible, with that much rain! Have fun!

[papooses]

Luckilly my instructors seemed happy that my 8 year old uses the Husky :)

But, if I were you I'd try to call Jeep & Britax to share the response in class -- if you can record your conversation that'd be fun :p :cool:

[rachel3612]

I forgot about the roles of nhtsa, I think that is new, I don't remember it from my 4 day class but I do remember it from my refresher a few months ago.

It is funny that they teach one thing but say another, in a way its good though. They HAVE to teach EXACTLY what the book says. They can have their opinions but can't say them during class.

It sucks they moved her from the middle, very odd. I guess its time to buy a new car when Nathan gets home.

How did Piper do with your parents? I hope they are having fun!

Rachel

[wendytthomas]

They said she didn't even ask for me all day (no surprise. :-) ) and that she did great, they all had a lot of fun. Tomorrow's a busier day for them, so we'll see what happens then.

She just woke up, so I put her in front of the TV while I finish my homework. I better get crackin' before Zoboo tells his last joke!

Wendy

[thepeach80]

IT sounds frustrating! I cringe when I hear stories like that and am SOOO happy that I had such a great team of instructors! I hope things are going better. I had such a blast, but admittedly knew most of the technical stuff already. ;) Our instructors told us to push for at least 18 mos when telling parents about turning their kids, but of course since AJ was almost 3 before he had to turn, I always mention that instead. lol

[Dreaming_of_Speed]

Did they say WHY you cant twist the belt stauk and use the lock offs? There's no way to do it besides to twist the belt stauck once b/c the buckle is in the lock off. Britax says no locking clip so what the heck am i supposed to do? I'm not selling my car (i am selling the van to my SIL as i dont need it anymore) i love that car. Damn damn damn. I'm going to go buy freaking coscos at least they dont have all these rules!

[scatterbunny]

DoS, why don't you call Britax and ASK them if they forbid twisting the buckle stalk and using the lockoffs at the same time before you freak out and go buy new seats? Just a thought. IMO it sounds like Wendy's instructors are mistaken, so don't even worry about selling your car or buying new seats until you hear something concrete from the manufacturer.

[DaniCPST]

Wendy~ Girl I totally hear you on being annoyed at the instructors and their...umm ever changing suggestions. Half the time my instructors would contradict themselves and the other half they were contradicting what another instructor told us the day before. I like you kept thinking to myself...can't I just bypass all this and take the test already?!?! Haha I hope today is better and the rain isn't too brutal on you!
Can't wait to hear about day #2!

[Dreaming_of_Speed]

Jen, i'm just being cranky. I wouldnt sell my car or buy coscos (well ok i'm getting a intra as a spare) I cant imagine they would forbid it without putting it in the manuals but i do sort of understand why it could be forbidden. I just redid my seats yesterday b/c of the rule about no locking clips and Ryans is no where near as tight as it was with the clip. I think i'll call tomorrow and get the facts about this.

[rachel3612]

I just redid my seats yesterday b/c of the rule about no locking clips and Ryans is no where near as tight as it was with the clip. I think i'll call tomorrow and get the facts about this.

Isn't the no locking clip thing in the manual. Why doesn't the locking clip on the seat do its job?

Why don't you use your nice new van that would fit the kids so much better and safer than a tiny little death trap car?

Rachel

[papooses]

I had a similar experience of the instructors contradicting eachother, themselves & NHTSA -- in the end I contact the state coordinator & discussed it with her ... I'd collected enough information in the meantime from other CPST/Is to feel confident doing so, but the coordinator seemed glad to have the feedback for use in following up with instructors :) I feel that it's very important for instructors (even more so than the rest of us CPSTs)to remain current & consistent with safest practice information!

[wendytthomas]

I'm far too tired (just did 48 homework questions after getting home and getting child down at 10 p.m., I left at 6:45 this morning) to start a new thread.

I called Britax on my lunch hour. Twice, actually. Once to ask about the twisting and the lockoff. According to Britax they CAN be used together (more on instructor's reaction later). Then I called back because I remembered about the LATCH bar being in the way and wanted to check with them. A lap lockingplate nonretractor belt MUST be under the LATCH bar. When the seat is installed with a shoulder/lap belt the shoulder belt helps hold it, so it can be installed over the LATCH bar. But a nonretracting lap only belt must have the assistance of the LATCH bar. Fine, I appreciated her answering that for me. I actually went and tried it and got a nice, tight install under the LATCH belt rear facing in the middle of my truck.

I went inside and told the instructor and she said that it's not that you can't use both (oh really???? Her exact quote was, "You can use a lockoff or twist it, but you can't use two fixes at once.") it's that your stalk is so tall that it doesn't make a difference, you'd need to twist it more than three times to get it to shorten. Ok, fair enough. However, I got it installed, and the latchplate/buckle combo is pretty close to 90 degrees from the seat (which she said it HAD to be, not 91, not 89, not 100, not 80, 90 degrees exactly). Probably less than 5 degrees from completely upright. But I'm hoping to find a protractor somewhere (HA! Not tonight or before I leave in the morning!) and accurately measure the angle. I feel that it's safe, personally, but she gave me the, "It's your choice, but you're putting your child at risk," spiel. She strikes me as the type who if I came into a check and said I wanted her on the driver's side forward facing she would sigh the sigh of imminent death and do what I wanted. She's a former K9 police officer, and does NOT like me.

But, other than that I had a blast. We had our first skills test where we identified the seatbelts/airbags/LATCH, etc. in six different cars. You had three tries to pass each car, so a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 18 tries. I got it in 7 (messed up the latchplate of a 1999 Crown Vic rear outboard). Oh well. Then we had a hands on where we went down a checklist of things to find on a carseat (labels, adjust harness, how many belt paths, etc.). My first seat was an Evenflo Orion, which was a blast to play with, but as it turns out it was missing pieces, had extra pieces, and was otherwise generally broken. They told me to get another. SURE! hehe I picked up a bright orange Combi Avatar Sundance. I tore into that thing and finished my second seat off before some had finished their first. It was a blast.

Our final hands on was when we were given a car with a child's age and weight (no height). I was handed a 6 year 2 month old who weighed 60 pounds. Pick the appropriate device for the child. I slammed that kiddo in a Marathon. :-) Said that the slots were above the shoulders, that the ears were not yet above the frame, and the child was within the weight requirements. I also said that due to their age a high back or no back booster would also be acceptable. The Evil Instructor (EI) had been looking mine over good and hard while everyone else was going (I was last, right before we left for the day) and she didn't say anything, but I got the impression she didn't like it. She's the one who wanted Piper forward facing, couldn't believe I had a nearly four year old rear facing, is not doing anything more to advocate above 1 and 20 etc. But the Pregnant Instructor (PI) was doing this exercise, so when it came to mine and I said my say all she said was, "That is correct," and left it at that. Of course it is! Give me something hard next time. LOL

I left my clipboard in the classroom, but I noticed a couple of errors from the instructors. Like saying the Graco Safeseat 2 is a convertible seat (FF only from 20-40 pounds, right?). Something else too I wanted to check here, but those notes are in the classroom.

Tonight after class I met my mother and daughter at playgroup, and as we were leaving a friend asked me if I could help with her daughter's seat (one of Piper's old Advantages). She needed the headrest raised and was having trouble. So I go in and crank it some, it goes up, put her child in to see how we're doing and try to crank with her in there and it won't budge. So remove child, crank, repeat. hehe I got that up high enough and installed her (though the straps were twisted, but I wasn't going to uninstall for a single twist). Then the mom asked if I knew about the BPB her 3 year old (4 soon like Piper) 38 pound son has been using for a while. She said she got it from a neighbor and she doesn't like how she has to keep pulling over to release the slack from the shoulder belt. So I leaned over to see what the make and model was, and the first thing I noticed was the manufacture date. 3/17/00. Well, that solves that problem. The carseat is expired. She can't use it. She would rather a harness anyway (in their other car I believe he's still harnessed). So I sent her a link to the Britaxes and Radian and FP and Apex 65 (it's both Safety 1st and Cosco branded, right?) with prices and descriptions. They're all leaving on a road trip tomorrow, then flying to Chile for several weeks, so she said she was going to take their other carseats, and when she got home she would move around the carseats, get rid of this expired one (hmmm, I may volunteer for my first carseat dismantling), and would get a new one. She wanted to volunteer me for a group carseat check when I'm certified. I told her I'd be happy to do it. :-) That was just a great end to a fun day, except for EI. Oh well, I'll just let her attitude roll off my back. I know a lot and that's fine by me. I have more to learn, I'm not going to try to teach the class (though I helped the guy next to me, a big tough police officer, who had an 8 month 22 pound child, and my favorite, a Wizard, to play with. LOL It was even blue, like Piper's) but I know a lot more than most of the people there. And I'm going to have fun. It's been a while since I've sat with a bunch of guys and debated which stripper name is better (pet name + name of first street you lived on). LOL I sit next to Bolt Yorkshire and he's next to Willow Dellwood. Across the way is Tiki Decovney. I'm Smudge Pulver, which they seemed to like for some reason.

Oh, and when I spoke to Britax (I'm being switched over to BrEYEtax, not BrIHtax) today I asked about fixing the knobs on the seat and they said they couldn't be fixed since I was outside of warranty. So off to convince Nathan within a few months that I want a Boulevard. I can't think of anything else that really gets my heart going. There are some that seem more fun, but I like Britax and I love the Wizard. I DO want a cup holder, though. LOL If I wasn't enjoying her RFing so much I may just go for a Regent. LOL I hope Nathan doesn't remember that we do already have a spare seat that could easily be installed in my car (though not according to the instructors who said that the buckle and latchplate in the middle of the radian would not lock in case of an accident, which makes NO sense to me as that's about where it would be on a person's body, and it's trusted to stop that person).

There are two of my instructors I like a lot (they're both men, actually, and one is more laid back and is the main instructor), PI is pretty good, but EI could be the deal breaker. I just think of you guys razzing on her, and if she's right or wrong I just feel better about it. LOL

More updating tomorrow night! I'm pooped and need to be in the shower in 5.5 hours.

Wendy

[childrestraintsafety]

but what do you mean..
I did get wrong that a frontal crash is not more deadly than a lateral, I thought frontal. I won't make that mistake again).

[papooses]

Wendy, I'm glad it's going a bit better -- you'll make it through with the EI & IMO you should feel free to remind her (as kindly as possible, LOL) that instructors are supposed to keep personal oppinion out of the class room as well as the hands on tasks ... that they must follow the curriculum & manufacturers :o It would have been tough for me to do so, but I wish I had made that point during my course because I just know some of the other new techs have come away with incorrect information that they're passing on to families :(

Also, lateral means side-impact crashes: frontal crashes are more common, but lateral (side) crashes are more likely to cause brain injury which makes them more deadly.

[Dreaming_of_Speed]

Isn't the no locking clip thing in the manual. Why doesn't the locking clip on the seat do its job?

Why don't you use your nice new van that would fit the kids so much better and safer than a tiny little death trap car?

Rachel

It doesnt say anything yes or no about using a locking clip.

I dont want to drive the van. I love my sports car (which is not a death trap and not tiny) I only bought the van b/c i had too many passengers for the car but at this point i can put all my kids in my car until the twins need convertibles which could be close to a year. I dont need a van, its too big, too slow, and just plain not for me! I could handle the idea of driving it when i was going to have 4 kids but now that i'm down to three i want something thats more me. As for it being a death trap, considering the fact the car was made 13 years ago and there hasn't been a single death in one, i'm not worried. I've never even seen a sever injury (anything beyond a scratches and bruises) in a car that was intact, the light bodied and improperly modded cars have had a few but my car is intact and straight as a pin (had it straightened less than a year ago after the accident).

Wendy, it sounds as if the EI is trying to give you a hard time. If the things she is saying are so important why are they in the manual for the seat? I love the stripper names thing! We use a similar system for our race teams nicknames and anyone who goes racing with us has to have one. Did you get a picture of the trailer full of seats? I would love to have a trailer full of seats to play with and compare!

[DaniCPST]

Wendy~ I am glad things are going better! I know how hard it is to hold your tounge with those instructors though! I wish my instructors were more like the women and men on this board and knew what they were doing and had the passion to back it up. I kept wondering why the main isntructor had her job, head of SafeKids in Oregon, if she doesn't even have passion for child safety?!? Hope things keep getting better!

[wendytthomas]

Two hours outside in 90+ weather installing different seats in different cars. I had a BLAST! I installed some tough ones in my car (thank you Nissan for super long stalks) and they were all acceptable installations. I did a nania infant seat (no base, from 2003) that had a fun installation with the lap over the seat and the shoulder around the front. I liked that. Even used a pool noodle on it.

This morning was a lot of lecture, but it was mostly stuff I already knew.

The best part? EI left right after lunch!! LOL

While I was installing the seats I had a Combi Avatar Sundance in my middle spot, forward facing (who the hell designed that belt bath??) and I asked about the buckle placement and how it was twisted. PI said that it was an acceptable installation. Well then, then, if that's acceptable, why was I given the "You're putting your child at risk" spiel from EI yesterday? You guys were right all the long. Putting Piper rear facing in the middle with the stalk twisted three times IS an acceptable installation. It's not ideal, but then again, IMO with one child neither is an outboard position. And parental choice, I'd rather put her in the safety of the middle in an acceptable installation than in an ideal installation outboard. Vindicated!

Oh, this morning we did the "which position is best" game. I loved it. What fun. One five person car, one six. I got it perfect, of course. hehehe

Here's the picture of the trailer o' carseats. I didn't get all of them in the shot, and I only had my phone, not my camera. That's EI in the picture, btw.

http://www.baz.com/wendy/trailerocarseats.jpg

Wendy

[DaniCPST]

Ohh she looks EVIL!!! Haha I am just kidding! It is great you are having such a blast at class! Enjoy tomorrow!

[rachel3612]

I am glad you had fun today! Nice to know that EI was wrong!!!! Your EI looks like mine. LOL You live way to far away for that to be possible. Maybe all the evil ones just are wrong. I actually though and asked the other instructor if the EI was in training to be an instructor because they don't tell the class when they do that until the end to get a fair evaluation. He laughed and said she just didn't teach often. I know the instructor I asked very well before that class, since it was just a refresher.

This makes me want to go work some checks but then I remember its about 105 out there most days and I change my mind. LOL We don't do many checks this time of year. Cold and rain is so much better! We do them in the fire truck bay so we are out of the rain.

Good luck on your test!

Rachel

[jpzec]

:) I have been reading your updates and wondering if you had the same instructor I had back in '02 - hoping it wasn't the same lady because I liked her way back then. Good to know it is not the same peson!

We had a really neat group when I took the class; our Safe Kids coalition sponsored the class and we had 6 local gals involved in our Safe Kids and we were all certified at the same time.

Unfortunately, we are in the middle of nowhere -- (well, technically the "geographic center of NC", but I digress) -- and our certifications have lapsed because we had no senior checker available to assist with recert installation requirements. There is finally a renewal/recert class being offered about an hour away on 7/13, but I can't go 'cause I'll be in Myrtle Beach on vacation that week. Hopefully some of my fellow Safe Kids buddies whose certification also expired will get to go. We are down to 1 -- yep, 1 -- tech in our entire county.

Wendy, take care and I hope you continue to keep enjoying the class. Drink plenty of water and take plenty of breaks. It is sooo humid here this week. Maybe the EI can't stand the heat and will leave early tomorrow, too!

Jamie, mom of 3, and former CPS tech in NC

[wendytthomas]

Hey Jamie. I'm about 15 miles north of the geographic center of NC, in Holly Springs. I'm taking the class in Creedmoor, an hour away. I don't think I have my instructors' last names at home, but EI is Debbie, PI is Kathy, then the guys are Eric and Ryan. I like Kathy, but Debbie can bite me. LOL Hopefully one of the other three will be grading me, because I'm not doing anything technically wrong at all, and I don't want her biasing me. If I can explain why I'm doing an install the way I am and it's not wrong, I think I should be right, whether or not she and I agree on if it's ideal.

I drank a bottle of water today installing seats, and when my water was gone I ate ice. And even then I felt icky and got a random nosebleed (and cut my thumb on that stupid nania infant seat). I almost wish it was raining again! LOL We got POURED on the first two days. At least tomorrow should be a little less humid, and Friday for the check should be a few degrees cooler.

Wendy

[jpzec]

Edited to say -- NOT cool about cut and nosebleed, but cool about fact that we aren't located that far away from one another!

Cool -- We are probably an hr and a half or so apart. I am in Montgomery County -- which is about an hour/hour and a half away from everywhere! Due south of Greensboro, east of Charlotte, west of Raleigh. Supposedly, a little corner in the north eastern part of the co. is the center of the state, even though it looks a little too far south when just looking at a map to me!

I dug out my training book to try and find my instructors names, but only found 2 -- Kelly was the lead instructor; as far as I know she is still involved and in the Raleigh area, and one of the others was Brad from the Charlotte area, IIRC. And my class was actually in '03 instead of '02 -- oops!

I'm a frequent lurker on this board, but don't post a lot. This board, and the Parents Place board which used to be really active but isn't so much anymore definitely gave me an advantage in the class. My youngest was a little over 4 - and probably the only kid her age still harnessed - when I took the class; she'll be 7 next week and is still harnessed part of the time (Husky) and a Parkway the rest of the time. My other two kids are driving now.... a whole other ball of wax!

Keep having fun, and good luck with the check on Friday!

Jamie

[wendytthomas]

http://www.google.com/search?q=geographic+center+north+carolina&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

Two or three of my instructors are from Charlotte. I can't remember where they all work, but some are Mecklenburg EMS or Police or work with Mecklenburg County Health.

I think Piper is one of the few nearly four year olds still harnessed, and I can guarantee she's the only nearly four year old still rear facing. Ye ole question about the legs being bent came up today, so I told how Piper is in her seat and she just bends her legs or puts them up, or over the sides, and she's perfectly comfortable.

Wendy

[Dreaming_of_Speed]

Wow, That looks like heaven! How did you ever just take one seat at a time??? EI does look like a total bitch! (Wonder if we have a swear filter? :) ) We're close enough i wonder if we could have the same instructor. I've decided to take it anywhere within an hour of here (my basis is 100 miles, i can get about that far in one hour :) Just dont let the cops see me!) I wonder if there will be a trailer full of seats at the local class, my SIL is taking it and the local coalition head said i could come sit in or stop by with the kids and let them try out my car. (she's seen it and it mystifies her how i manage it!) It would be awesome to see how the twins fit in all those seats without taking them to a germ filled store. Its within walking distance to the hospital and if they are there while the class is going on i will defiantly go see the seats for a few minutes. (at this point i'm still not having any signs of labor so maybe i'll make it that far!)

Good luck with the check! I'd pack an extra big bottle of water (and maybe a spare) since its going to be another hot day! (as someone just below you i see your weather daily Strangely enough i was watching and thinking "poor Wendy she's going to get rained on all day tomorrow" the night before day 2! :) )

[papooses]

Hey, in all fairness I have some really "b!tchy" shots of myself, too but people tell me I tend towards being too sweet (I have a bit more backbone online, though) :p

It rained the last day of my class -- when we did the seatcheck -- not to mention I woke up that morning with the flu so I left class right after I whipped through my test to get some Dayquil :o

[Patriot201]

Okay, this may be a stupid question, but what are EI and PI? I am guessing they are something instructor? Just a guess. For what to those initials stand?

Thanks!

[wendytthomas]

EI is Evil Instructor (she's the one who said I was putting Piper at risk by putting her in the middle, rearfacing, with the stalk twisted three times. And then today said that some people keep their kids reafacing longer than 1 and 20, but she definitely recommends turning them when they start to talk)

PI is Pregnant Instructor. Self explanatory. LOL

I just couldn't remember their names the first night I posted, so I gave them nicknames.

EI was a bit better today. Finally bailed me out on an impossible and wrong installation. We had our installation evaluation this afternoon and they wanted us to put a 6 month 24 pounder in a GMC Jimmy with an ALR sewn lap only belt. Fine, but that seat is only eight inches wide and the manual to the cars says to NEVER put a child there. So I think it's a trick question, I move the carseat to the outboard and wave over an instructor. No, they really want us to install in the middle. Well that just don't work. Piper would have to squeeze to fit in there with just her little tush. I started out with an Evenflo something, went to a Century I think because it had a slightly narrower base. I cursed, I pushed, I pulled, I used two different sized noodles, I tried from both sides. Nothing. It would NOT install. As it shouldn't. So after a half hour of cussing with this stupid seatbelt EI said that I had it down, I knew what I was doing, it just wasn't going in. ARGH! That would NEVER come up in a seatcheck situation, but that was the only ALR lap belt there. Ugh ugh ugh.

Other than that I passed the other four installations pretty well (the infant base with the locking clip didn't stay tight as I finished the install the first time, so I had to do the clip again, but that was 1/3 of one of 5 installs, so the other 14/15 I got perfect on the first try), and I got all of the misuses on the first try.

Boring lectures today too, and tomorrow is the test and then the check! Yay! I'll do some review (mostly over the boring NHTSA regulations, TREAD, stuff like that) tonight but I feel great about it.

I did go more of a mainstream route today with the seats. There was a 32 pound 2 year old and I wasn't going to search through the seats for the one or two seats that would harness pass 32 pounds, so I installed forward. Plus then there was a 4 year 41 pounder in a Chevy Avalance, rear outboard, and I put that kid in a backless booster because the Avalance is a BITCH to install a seat with a tether (you need to pull the base of the seat up, then fold forward the back of the seat, attach the tether, tighten to an appropriate length and pray you don't have an O ring tether, then put the back back up, the bottom of the seat back, and THEN install the seat). I told the instructor that I would normally put that child in a harness, but in that particular vehicle (too many Southerners in my class, I hear vee HICK al so many times) I wasn't going to fight with the LATCH and I would recommend a different car to transport that child. LOL

Wendy

[skaterbabscpst]

Plus then there was a 4 year 41 pounder in a Chevy Avalance, rear outboard, and I put that kid in a backless booster because the Avalance is a BITCH to install a seat with a tether (you need to pull the base of the seat up, then fold forward the back of the seat, attach the tether, tighten to an appropriate length and pray you don't have an O ring tether, then put the back back up, the bottom of the seat back, and THEN install the seat). I told the instructor that I would normally put that child in a harness, but in that particular vehicle (too many Southerners in my class, I hear vee HICK al so many times) I wasn't going to fight with the LATCH and I would recommend a different car to transport that child. LOL

Wendy

OK, I'm going to have to come back to this when I have more time, because MIL has an Avalanche and I know at some point I'll need to install our MA in it....

[vamom]

Originally Posted by wendytthomas
Plus then there was a 4 year 41 pounder in a Chevy Avalance, rear outboard, and I put that kid in a backless booster because the Avalance is a BITCH to install a seat with a tether (you need to pull the base of the seat up, then fold forward the back of the seat, attach the tether, tighten to an appropriate length and pray you don't have an O ring tether, then put the back back up, the bottom of the seat back, and THEN install the seat). I told the instructor that I would normally put that child in a harness, but in that particular vehicle (too many Southerners in my class, I hear vee HICK al so many times) I wasn't going to fight with the LATCH and I would recommend a different car to transport that child. LOL

Did you mean to say LATCH? I have a chevy silverado and the tether points are behind and below the seat bench, so you have to release the seat, hook the tether loose, put the seat back, which then locks it, and wrestle in a one inch space to tighten. Not too big of a deal with a regular seat, much bigger deal with the versatether on my husky. I thought I would never get it tight, then i needed to install a second seat, which cannot be tethered with 1 seat installed. So i have to think ahead, place both seats, put the seat back, then tighten each, which is why i have to installed seats, yet only have 1 child. this way when i pick up a friend's child i don't have to pull my hair out, or make the other child less safe.

[wendytthomas]

No, I meant tether. The LATCH aspect of it would be easy, if it wasn't for the tether anchors being behind and below the seats and impossible to get to. We had five people reading the manual and an instructor and we still could barely find, and then believe, where the tether anchors were (and I say tether because what if you have a non LATCH seat that still has a tether, doesn't matter after the tether if you're doing a LATCH or seatbelt install, it's still a pain with the tether).

I would imagine with a Britax seat smaller than the husky it would be *ok* since you can at least maybe put it in with the tether looser and then tighten it. The lady who was doing the install had a Cosco seat (I think a Scenera) and it had an O ring tether, so she had to thread that thing tight basically while it was dangling out of the car and guess how tight it needed to go. Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh. Plus in that car the two LATCH positions were passenger outboard and rear middle, so if you did have a situation with a Regent or another very wide seat, you're screwed before you start!

Wendy