Maybe this is more of a vent on my part than a question, but since most people on this forum know more about car seats than the average Joe, I was wondering how you handle these situations.
My neighbor has 3 kids, ages 9, 6 and 4. The 4 year old just turned 4 last week. As she did with her other kids, she "rewarded" the 4 year old by getting rid of her convertable seat and putting her in a backless booster. (I am not sure of her height and weight, but she is tiny) She got rid of the 9 year old's booster altogether, although given his height I am nearly positive to this day he would still not pass the 5 point test. The reason I know this is because we were talking outside the other day and she asked if I still had my kids in "those giant" car seats (one still is in a Regent, the other I just moved out). I am obviously not a CPST and I explained what I have learned on this forum (and other sites) and why I kept them in the seats I did. She kind of had this condescending laugh and described me as being "fanactical" about this and that I spend too much time reading about this stuff on the internet.
I understand she is an adult and is obviously capable of making her own decisions but I really think she is flat out wrong putting her 4 year old in a backless booster. It's not like she doesn't have the room in her car or the money. When I mentioned this conversation to a couple of my coworkers their responses were basically that I explained my position and just stay out of it.
I feel so bad for the little 4 year old especially. At what point do you just "stay out"? As techs do you feel because you have the credentials that you have duty to educate these type of people? I am curious. I am not trying to be nosy or a jerk to my neighbor but it is also kind of annoying hat some of my neighbors think I am fanactical just because I chose to keep my kids in a 5 point harness longer that most people around here.
TIA. As I said at the beginning, maybe I just needed to vent.
My neighbor has 3 kids, ages 9, 6 and 4. The 4 year old just turned 4 last week. As she did with her other kids, she "rewarded" the 4 year old by getting rid of her convertable seat and putting her in a backless booster. (I am not sure of her height and weight, but she is tiny) She got rid of the 9 year old's booster altogether, although given his height I am nearly positive to this day he would still not pass the 5 point test. The reason I know this is because we were talking outside the other day and she asked if I still had my kids in "those giant" car seats (one still is in a Regent, the other I just moved out). I am obviously not a CPST and I explained what I have learned on this forum (and other sites) and why I kept them in the seats I did. She kind of had this condescending laugh and described me as being "fanactical" about this and that I spend too much time reading about this stuff on the internet.
I understand she is an adult and is obviously capable of making her own decisions but I really think she is flat out wrong putting her 4 year old in a backless booster. It's not like she doesn't have the room in her car or the money. When I mentioned this conversation to a couple of my coworkers their responses were basically that I explained my position and just stay out of it.
I feel so bad for the little 4 year old especially. At what point do you just "stay out"? As techs do you feel because you have the credentials that you have duty to educate these type of people? I am curious. I am not trying to be nosy or a jerk to my neighbor but it is also kind of annoying hat some of my neighbors think I am fanactical just because I chose to keep my kids in a 5 point harness longer that most people around here.
TIA. As I said at the beginning, maybe I just needed to vent.