car seat installation issues in Calgary

[Unregistered]

I am in Calgary and have a message into someone at St John's ambulance to inspect my carseats - is it one of you here on this forum?

We are finding with our second child that we can not get the infant carseat base to stay flat while installed in the rear seat of our 1996 toyota 4 runner. we are using the locking buckle but the shoulder strap doesn't seem to lock so the base tends to tilt.....

why are these things so finicky?

my other issue is my son. He's 3 years old, 40 inches tall and almost 40 lbs (need to weigh and measure again). he's in the eddie bauer convertable carseat while in our car and the straps are too short now. Can we use it as a booster seat now? Our second car seat has a very awkward buckle (the even flo) but is rated for heavier and taller...

our daughter will likely outgrow her infant seat soon - what is reasonably priced and good for the backseat of a toyota matrix???

thanks in advance

Jen

[CDNTech]

There are a few techs in the Calgary area on the board here... including myself, but I'm leaving for Florida early tomorrow morning. I'm not back until the middle of February, so I'm sure someone will have been along to help you by then, but if not I can help when I get back.

Your 3 year old needs to stay in a harnessed seat. A booster only protects them as long as they stay in position. Since the brain synapses that govern impulse control do not fully develop until 4 - 5 years old, a 3 year old is not capable of sitting correctly 100% of the time.

Two great seats to look at are the Britax Frontier and the Graco Nautilus. There are pros/cons to both, you need to decide which you like better. They both harness to 65lbs and have nice tall top harness slots and then turn into nice boosters.

If the Eddie Bauer is not expired, then you can turn it rear facing and use it for your daughter... no need to purchase a new seat for her, unless you want to. ;)

Click here for a comparison thread (http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=55415) of the top seats we typically recommend in Canada (both convertibles and combo seats).

ETA: The Eddie Bauer also makes a poor booster. It does not position the lapbelt correctly on most children and is outgrown rather quickly by height. I would not plan on ever using this in it's booster mode. :o

[Unregistered]

So I need to buy ANOTHER seat for my 3 year old?

[canadiangie]

I am in Calgary and have a message into someone at St John's ambulance to inspect my carseats - is it one of you here on this forum?

We are finding with our second child that we can not get the infant carseat base to stay flat while installed in the rear seat of our 1996 toyota 4 runner. we are using the locking buckle but the shoulder strap doesn't seem to lock so the base tends to tilt.....

why are these things so finicky?

my other issue is my son. He's 3 years old, 40 inches tall and almost 40 lbs (need to weigh and measure again). he's in the eddie bauer convertable carseat while in our car and the straps are too short now. Can we use it as a booster seat now? Our second car seat has a very awkward buckle (the even flo) but is rated for heavier and taller...

our daughter will likely outgrow her infant seat soon - what is reasonably priced and good for the backseat of a toyota matrix???

thanks in advance

Jen



I'm in the Calgary area, and can help if you'd like. :)

Just PM me, and we'll arrange a date and time.

(to PM me, click on my screename, then scroll down to 'send private message')


Talk soon,

[CDNTech]

So I need to buy ANOTHER seat for my 3 year old?

Unless you want to use the Evenflo combo seat with the higher weight limit that you have, yes you need to purchase an appropriate restraint for him.

Unfortunately, the Eddie Bauer 3 in 1 seats get a lot of people... they are pretty much *never* the last seat you'll need, despite their advertising. :o

[canadiangie]

So I need to buy ANOTHER seat for my 3 year old?

Yes, since your infant will need your son's current seat, your son will need a new harnessed seat.

[Unregistered]

Yikes. I guess we'll use the even flo until we can do booster, as I cannot really afford another seat at this time. I'm finding conflicting info (from other sources) to be making this really confusing! My friend's dr for example said to put her 3 year old in a booster now that he's outgrown his eddie bauer.

Angie, I'm not registered yet so I can't send you a pm yet but will as soon as I am registered

Jen

[CDNTech]

Yikes. I guess we'll use the even flo until we can do booster, as I cannot really afford another seat at this time. I'm finding conflicting info (from other sources) to be making this really confusing! My friend's dr for example said to put her 3 year old in a booster now that he's outgrown his eddie bauer.

Angie, I'm not registered yet so I can't send you a pm yet but will as soon as I am registered

Jen

Unfortunately doctor's are *not* certified technician's, yet some continue to hand out outdated advice. If her doctor was current, he would be telling her the same thing we are telling you... a 3 year old is *not* safe in a booster seat. :o

[canmom]

Also a tech in Calgary.... I agree with the others, a 3 yr old is WAY to young for a booster.

[JenNate]

Thanks ladies! this is stressful but I'm so glad you are here

Jen

[JenNate]

Angie

Thank you SO much for helping us today with our vehicles and car seats. I had no idea it would take so long (ie that we needed so much help) and you can be sure I'll be spreading the word to my mommy friends to take a course or call you for help!

[canmom]

YAAAA for everyone being safe!!!

[canadiangie]

CDNTech, Canmom, and myself are all in the Calgary area. Not that I can speak for them, but to my knowledge we're all willing to help whenever necessary providing we have childcare and scheduling works, etc. You can certainly PM any of us whenever you or your friends need help.

As for taking a course, IMHO you'll learn MUCH more by sticking around here. Be sure to head over the CDN/Int'al forum section as well. There you can read about CDN seats, get advice from CDN techs, read about seat sales, seat recalls, best/worst seats (subjective and dependent on your kid and vehicle), etc, etc.

As for this morning, you're very welcome. Anytime. :)

[Unregistered]

We have recently moved our 6 month old to a convertible marathon car-seat and I have a couple of concerns about whether we've installed it properly. It doesn't move much from side to side but you can tip it back towards the back seat easily. Is there someone I can contact who could check it for me?
Thanks

[canadiangie]

You can email me at:

slyphox at hotmail dot com

Or, you can register and then Private Message me. :)