Fixed a friend's misuse today!

lpperry

Active member
Friend's came over today with their 7 month old in his infant Chicco seat. When they left, they put him in his seat, but they buckled him in and I noticed something odd. I don't know if I can even explain it.

The strap that goes over the hips and buckles into the buckle at the bottom--they put it under his legs. I showed them how to put him in correctly. They were happy to know the correct way because they said it was hard to get his legs in there like that! I'll bet!

I am glad he's buckled correctly now! I have never seen someone buckle up a child like that. That is why I never ever let anyone else buckle up my child without checking them, even if they have kids!
 
ADS

Laurette

New member
I have a friend that did this with her first child. And yeah, what would be the point of that strap if you put the leg over it?
 
I also saw that for the first time the other day and thought the same thing!!! People can be creative, I thought I had seen it all! I was in Target and noticed a baby in a SnugRide didn't have straps over her hips! I excused myself and actually just said to the mother "I don't mean to be rude but I see that your infant's seat is not buckled correctly" I figured it was worth the risk of her being rude for the baby's sake and she was very concerned and asked me to explain how to do it. I showed her and she was like "wow! that is much easier! I had no idea we were doing is wrong" :rolleyes:

I took the opportunity to show her how to tighten the straps (it was a brand new rear adjust that came with a travel system) I explained the importance of the straps being snug, fixed the "belly clip" and also explained that although you see it everywhere- it is not safe to have the seat up on the cart... she was shocked and moved it down into the basket immediately.

I did unbuckle the baby after showing her and explained that she should do it herself as it's not my child and I wanted her to be comfortable with doing it correctly etc. and she did.

I also told her briefly that she should rear face her daughter (8 wks old at the time) for as long as possible etc. and she said she had already heard that which I was happy to hear but she had no idea that it meant "as old as 2" :eek: I guess the whole "long as possible" thing means something different to non- car seat geeks.... I told her to please take at least an hour or two to do some online research and she said she was going to and was going to force her husband to also. I also said that I recommended she take her seat to the fire station asap to be installed correctly etc.

She was very grateful and obviously listened to every word which was great! I told her about the 1 inch rule and weight limit of her seat so she asked what I recommended for the next seat later in the year and expressed that she was on a budget so I recommended the MyRide if it safely installs in her car. I pointed it out as we were close to it and she wrote it down to research with her husband yay! it made my day of course :thumbsup:
 

canmom

New member
I have seen this a few times too... really doesn't make sense to me but somehow every parent I have dealt with didn't have a clue it was wrong. One father I'm sure had a tear in his eye when I showed him the proper way.
 

mamajava

Senior Community Member
We had a parent come into one of the monthly checks with a Dorel infant seat. Child was 14 months old and 28 pounds I believe. He was still in this seat...:eek:...and on top of it was buckled like how you explain! So not only was he over the height and weight of the seat, but he wasn't buckled properly AND since he was 14 months old, he had rode in this seat like this since he was born. OY, some parents! :rolleyes:
 

cookie123

New member
I can't see how anyone would think that was right. At least you think they'd check the manual to see if they were having a problem getting kiddo in there.
 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
Seen that a few time. I give dad a doll to see what he will do, and and had that happen 3-4 times, then I teach from what I see. Never seen that with a baby though.
 

Raegansmom4

New member
Just looking at the manual would correct a lot of misuse, I'd guess. I can't count the number of parents who have actually admitted they never read the manual at all - not to mention the number who probably lied and said they read the manual!
 

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