Don't leave Chaperone handle up, and more

[misstj9]

So sad to hear all this. Sorry you are getting such crummy information, and scared that the others in the class won't know any better.

I'm not seeing the seat check tomorrow publicized on any of the places I go to check for events, so I'm not sure it's open to other techs. I'd be there in a heartbeat if I thought it was, and knew where it was....if nothing else, just to back you up on some of the issues you've noticed. Hope it goes well (or as well as possible)!!

 

[bnsnyde]

Yes, good points.

We had a carseat tour of Buy Buy Baby today, too. They pounded on the headwings of the Prosport. Bad. Too hard. Traumatic brain injury. But the Air Protect? Good. Nice and soft. (These were all side collision situations).

Now, I like both seats just fine.

But I should ask, are the hard headwings a problem? I volunteered that I had two of those seats (now feeling a little stupid), and I pointed out all the foam it did have.

 

[monica-m]

I'm sure there is much more bad information that they taught the class than what you shared here. Please report them. They are doing their students a disservice as well as the parents and children you will be serving.

 

[wendytthomas]

WTF? Do you have a mental happy place? Go there.

There are no standards for SIP. So no, we don't know that foam covered hardwood helps or not, or that airbags help or not. We do know that there aren't 100% of kids with head injuries in ProSports. So real life tells us that the carseat is not injuring kids.

Have your instructors thought about this at all?

Wendy

 

[bnsnyde]

Somebody please come to my check with a RF 4-year-old. And a short kid over 80 lbs. who does not fit in a seatbelt yet.

At any rate, I'm excited. Hope for no rain!

 

[luckyclov]

They're idiots. Ignore them and learn here. Just use them to get your certification.

This is precisely what I intend on doing when I take my course.

 

[jeminijad]

Just reading this thread is giving me flashbacks to 11th grade English, when my teacher was a dumb jock who mixed up affect/effect, and lay down/lie down, and responded poorly to it being pointed out.

 

[Kecia]

Our curriculum book is from 2007, by the way.

Look on the lower right hand side of the cover of your student manual. It should say R10/10 meaning it's the NEWLY REVISED student manual that we are REQUIRED to provide you with after May (I think) of this year. Yes, the curriculum is still essentially from 2007 but there have been several minor revisions since it was rolled out 4 yrs ago. And it's undergoing a major revision at the moment. Still, I want to make sure that they at least provided you with the appropriate student manual.

 

[LISmama810]

Although it does sound like her instructors are living several years in the past...

 

[Kat_Momof3]

oh wow... they'd get a kick out of Jeffrey, then. He's 4'9.5", 100lbs, and does NOT fit the seatbelt in his dad's car (2007 chevy cobalt 2-door coupe) outboard and, as he does not have enough head support (no headrest and tops of ears over top of seat) in the center, he has to sit outboard (and the lapbelt fit is the bad part outboard... worse than the shoulderbelt) So... he's in a booster... and will be until that seatbelt fits.

in my car... he passes the 5-step test... but guess what? he has room left in his booster and he says it's more comfy and that he likes that he can see a little better... so he's in it...

and Ruthie... will be 8 in March... she's 4' tall and only 53lbs... I guarantee you at age 8 (and she'll be legal to go without a booster here in VA, too) she will NOT be riding in a car unless she has one of her Recaro highback boosters to ride in... or at least a booster that gives a good shoulderbelt fit (it's easy to find ones that do this with the lapbelt... her narrow shoulders make the shoulderbelt part tricky)

 

[tam_shops]

Someone said, "I mention that SK allows the top slots to be below the shoulders, but also mention that they're the only ones in the US, and most kids don't find it comfortable (and it doesn't matter in the XTSL anyway, and that's what most people here buy)."

I'm sorry, I forgot who said it!? but the second part, "(and it doesn't matter in the XTSL anyway, and that's what most people here buy)." why doesn't it matter w/ the XTSL? Do their shoulders hit the wings before they go over the harness? We're still RF in ours, so we're not there yet and YDS will probably needs our RN before ODS gets there, but I like to have the facts and RN straps over/under seems to be a grey area!

OP I'm sorry your class isn't going the way it should w/ the latest greatest information...Common sense says that you can flip the canopy down/under the seat so even if it a flimsy piece of fabric w/ a thin piece of plastic were dangerous, why would you take it off and then do something questionable like apply sunscreen to a new baby. If you even remember and/or have it handy and/or can find one safe for babies! Seriously, that's just silly!

tam

 

[wendytthomas]

I'm sorry, I forgot who said it!? but the second part, "(and it doesn't matter in the XTSL anyway, and that's what most people here buy)." why doesn't it matter w/ the XTSL? Do their shoulders hit the wings before they go over the harness? We're still RF in ours, so we're not there yet and YDS will probably needs our RN before ODS gets there, but I like to have the facts and RN straps over/under seems to be a grey area!

That was me. Right, the wings don't go up high enough to allow the shoulders to go over the top slot by more than about 1/8".

Wendy

 

[KaiLing]

Look on the lower right hand side of the cover of your student manual. It should say R10/10 meaning it's the NEWLY REVISED student manual that we are REQUIRED to provide you with after May (I think) of this year. Yes, the curriculum is still essentially from 2007 but there have been several minor revisions since it was rolled out 4 yrs ago. And it's undergoing a major revision at the moment. Still, I want to make sure that they at least provided you with the appropriate student manual.

This. I'm looking at mine. Bottom right says "April 2007 (R10/10)". That's on the footer on each left page too. Please please say they're not using old books!

And frustrated as I was, your class is worse. I suggested FF kid in the middle and they disagreed but took my point. The 5 step test was golden, not 80 lbs or law. Locking clips were used according to the cirruculum. RTFM over and over.

 

[tam_shops]

Thanks Wendy! That makes sense, I kind of like that I don't have to make that decision to save $300 on the (Canadian) Frontier! LOL Will see how I feel when YDS gains his last few RF MA#s and needs ODS RN, might be able to deal w/ my first baby moving into a booster! LOL

tam

 

[emtb79]

To the original poster I feel your pain. There were a couple things in my mis-use practical that I think that I was so tired and exhausted after driving 2.5hrs everyday to the class and I was trying to find all the things that were being misused on the infant seat and was almost in tears I was so stinking frustrated. Apparently the foot wasnt supposed to be extended with a noodle or towel. I showed them that in the manual it was ok and said to do it to achieve correct angle. But after lunch she got everyone together and said that it was brought to their attention about it and said still dont extend the base of the foot on a SNugride and put noodles or a towel underneath to achieve proper angle.

We were told to put the foot all the way back in and then make a pyramid of noodles.

 

[MommaWhitney]

I am so sorry you have to listen to that. Your class should be fun and full of correct information. Just try to ignore them and learn here.

My class was great. Everything was right on track with what I read on here. They were big on read the car and vehicle manual and parental choice. They mentioned some of the old school things incase we run into an expired seat and we dont have a replacement. Like the reinforced top slot. If someone came to me with that seat I could explain its expired and needs to be replaced but for the time being install it as safe as possible. But to me thats the only reason youd need to know that.
My only complaint is that our poor leader in our area is so overwhelmed with the work load in our area. So checks are few and far between. But she trys hard and if corrected about something doesnt totally treat me as stupid. She thought the nauti had a overall 6yr life but I told her how the bottom backless booster was 9yr. She was thankful for the info.

Just try and ignore them. Dont tick them off too badly because you need instructors to check off seats for recertification.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

 

[bnsnyde]

My book says R01/08.

At any rate, the seat check went great! Poured the whole time, but we had plenty of people show up!

There is now one more RF kid under 2 (19 months) in this world. And a "brand new" baby seat made in 2004 going back to the outlet store. And almost every seat was a Marathon. Weird. But that's what happened.

Can't wait to do this again!

 

[KaiLing]

My book says R01/08.

This bothers me. Are there any CPSTIs reading this thread who can comment on if this is something that could be reported? If it's just a guideline, not a requirement, fine. But if there's some sort of requirement that they use the 10/10 revision (2+ years!!) I'd be pleased if we could at least get the OP's coalition to know that next time the old books aren't to be used.

 

[spokaneCPST]

We were supposed to start using the new books in May 2011 (they were shipped out for classes starting then). I don't know why an instructor would continue to hand out the older books, as enough are automatically sent for each class unless the instructor asks for them NOT to be sent (ie., the instructor taught a class in July that had 15 seats, but only 8 people came. Instructor has a class of 5 in August - she has 7 books left from her July class, so she can request that no more be sent when she registers that class).

Really, the changes were minimal though - they have nothing to do with the misinformation being taught by the OP's instructors. I do agree that the most current materials should be being used, as that is a major way to reduce liability.

 

[disbugsmomma]

We were told to put the foot all the way back in and then make a pyramid of noodles.

Ok, so what would be the f-ing point of having an adjustable base then!? :banginghead: Idiots! :thumbsdown: