Recline for a rearfacing carseat

[poohbearkrazy]

The other day my friend and I installed her daughters new AOE rf in her saturn Vue and it took quite a while to finally get it tight. I ended up having to use 2 tightly rolled towels. I told her that she should probably have it checked by a tech just to make sure that it was right. She took it to the fire department yesterday and the fireman said that it was in very secure, but that he was concerned about the towels compressing over time which would cause the seat to become lose. He then told her that he recommends that she gets an encyclopedia to put under it because that wont compress:eek:. I told her that I had never heard of such a thing and asked her not to do it until I found out more from you guys.

[Pixels]

Definitely don't use a book. The object used must be lightweight so that if/when it comes flying out during a crash, it won't injure anyone. That's why pool noodles or tightly rolled towels are used.

Simply by periodically checking her seat for movement, she can be sure that it doesn't become too loose. Really, everyone should check every time. That way if the seat became unbuckled some how, or the towel compressed, or whatever, if the seat was too loose, you'd know right away.

[skaterbabscpst]

:yeahthat:

It's never a good idea to use anything hard like a book (or 2x4s - yes, I've seen that too!) ONLY a pool noodle or rolled towel is acceptable for adjusting recline.

[waterbaby]

LOL! Ditto... no books, please! I'd rather see two towels vs. a book any day. ;)

[SusanMae]

If he's suggesting that she uses books, he is hopefully not a tech. But most importantly---if he's not a tech then he shouldn't have touched her seats. If he is a tech, then he needs to be reported.

I'm guessing since it sounds like he didn't uninstall, take the seat out, check for recalls, make her reinstall the seat that he's NOT a tech and someone needs to tell him that he doesn't know what he's doing and that he shouldn't be doing it without proper training. I'm sure he thought he was being helpful, but how many other people did he tell to use an encyclopedia and they listened to him. Scary. I'm sure he doesn't want you and I rushing into burning houses because we're not trained fire fighters. He shouldn't be checking seats if he's not a CPST.

Susan