DisneyWorldNanny
New member
So I was walking into Target tonight and I saw a car pull up next to me and couldn't help but notice they had an infant seat forward facing... I have yet to see this one in use- I saw it in a parked empty car once and it mademe sick but I didn't think of leaving a note. They had the infant strapped in and then put the seat really upright and then strapped the seatbelt over the front of the car seat...
It took everything I had to not walk back and say something so I went into the store for an hour. When coming out of the store I saw the same family leaving and I was walking past their van exactly as the lady was strapping the baby in...how could I not say something now... I thouht to myself- "ok, what are the chances of them pulling up and leaving at exactly the same time as me, say something!"
So I very nicely said to the lady who was strapping him in "excuse me, I don't mean to be rude but I'd like to help you with that car seat" She was the grandmother and was extremely nice and thankful for my concern. I told her that the seat was not designed to go that way and was very very dangerous for the baby...she did not speak good english and I asked for her permission to fix it. She said she wanted to me to help her....the horror story begins..
So- I hope you are all sitting down... The baby was strapped i as loose as possible by only the chest clip and the straps were all twisted. The car seat was an "Eddie Bauer" and very dirty...possibly expired or near to it. They had it propped upright with the hadle back flush with the car seat and then took the vehicle belt and kind of wrapped it aroud the carrying handle and over the baby's lap...
The lady looked so confused when I took the belt off and turned the seat rear facing but she watched carefully. First I showed her that she must buckle the whole harness- not just the chest clip...she seemed to not even know of the crotch buckle! it was a plastic puzzle buckle which I don't even have experience using but it was easy enough...I was just glad no pieces were missing and that the harness wasn't all screwed up! I reached down under the cover for the front adjust strap and I was thinking to myself "please be there please be there!" and it was...I told her how important it was to keep the chest clip at his armpits and showed her how tight the straps should be. I explained that if the straps were not tight and the harness clip was too low that he could be thrown out of the seat in an accident... I hesitated to say anything that harsh but she needed to hear it.
There was no base present so I showed her how to buckle it in correctly with the seatbelt using the belt slots on the seat- I was so scared for a minute because I had to peel back the cover to find them- I was like "Oh my God, what if there aren't any belt guides and there's no base!"
The baby was close to a year but very small and had over 2 inches of shell but I explained to her that they needed to buy him a new seat soon and to make sure to take it straight to a fire department to get it installed. I also explained that he must face backwards until he is 2 or longer if he isn't too heavy for the seat- I didn't even tell her it was an option...just told her that's how to keep him safe. She was so grateful and said "God bless you" as I left... It''s so scary to think he's been riding around like that for a while...possibly since birth.
Crazy part was the mother was sitting in the front passenger seat of their van the whole 10 minutes and didn't say a word...just watched. At least grandma cared.
It took everything I had to not walk back and say something so I went into the store for an hour. When coming out of the store I saw the same family leaving and I was walking past their van exactly as the lady was strapping the baby in...how could I not say something now... I thouht to myself- "ok, what are the chances of them pulling up and leaving at exactly the same time as me, say something!"
So I very nicely said to the lady who was strapping him in "excuse me, I don't mean to be rude but I'd like to help you with that car seat" She was the grandmother and was extremely nice and thankful for my concern. I told her that the seat was not designed to go that way and was very very dangerous for the baby...she did not speak good english and I asked for her permission to fix it. She said she wanted to me to help her....the horror story begins..
So- I hope you are all sitting down... The baby was strapped i as loose as possible by only the chest clip and the straps were all twisted. The car seat was an "Eddie Bauer" and very dirty...possibly expired or near to it. They had it propped upright with the hadle back flush with the car seat and then took the vehicle belt and kind of wrapped it aroud the carrying handle and over the baby's lap...
The lady looked so confused when I took the belt off and turned the seat rear facing but she watched carefully. First I showed her that she must buckle the whole harness- not just the chest clip...she seemed to not even know of the crotch buckle! it was a plastic puzzle buckle which I don't even have experience using but it was easy enough...I was just glad no pieces were missing and that the harness wasn't all screwed up! I reached down under the cover for the front adjust strap and I was thinking to myself "please be there please be there!" and it was...I told her how important it was to keep the chest clip at his armpits and showed her how tight the straps should be. I explained that if the straps were not tight and the harness clip was too low that he could be thrown out of the seat in an accident... I hesitated to say anything that harsh but she needed to hear it.
There was no base present so I showed her how to buckle it in correctly with the seatbelt using the belt slots on the seat- I was so scared for a minute because I had to peel back the cover to find them- I was like "Oh my God, what if there aren't any belt guides and there's no base!"
The baby was close to a year but very small and had over 2 inches of shell but I explained to her that they needed to buy him a new seat soon and to make sure to take it straight to a fire department to get it installed. I also explained that he must face backwards until he is 2 or longer if he isn't too heavy for the seat- I didn't even tell her it was an option...just told her that's how to keep him safe. She was so grateful and said "God bless you" as I left... It''s so scary to think he's been riding around like that for a while...possibly since birth.
Crazy part was the mother was sitting in the front passenger seat of their van the whole 10 minutes and didn't say a word...just watched. At least grandma cared.