I was in BRU today and walking down the carseat isle when I overheard a dad asking a salesperson for help. He said he had just bought a Britax FR85 and a Boulevard for his two kids and needed help installing the seats. The salesperson said she couldn't install his seats, but could show him on the display bench how to install it. She asks him if he needs it rear or ff'ing and he says ff'ing. So she puts it on the test bench and shows him how to install it using LATCH and then she tells him after he tightens the LATCH straps that he can go ahead and use the seatbelt at the same time! She then procedes to install it with the seatbelt over the LATCH install! This is when I walk over and ask if she just said it's ok to install with both LATCH and the seatbelt? She said yes, and that she tells all the customers this, and that some people don't have LATCH and would be using the seatbelt anyways so what's the problem with using both together!!!! I tell her that this is definately not ok and that it says so in the manual and that installing it this way has not been safety tested and would void the warrenty. I tell them I'm a birth and postpartum doula (not just some random crazy person) and the dad is really interested in what I'm saying. I ask him how old his baby is and he says 13 months and about 25lbs! I tell him he should definately keep her rf'ing as it's way safer than ff'ing and that the AAP recommends rf'ing till 2 years old or the limit of the seat. The salesperson says it's ok to ff at 1 year old since that what it says on all the carseat boxes. I say that is just the minimum limit, but not best practice and that no tech would recommend ff'ing a 13 month old that is 10lbs under the weight limit of their seat. She said she had never even heard of the AAP recommendation and had been working at BRU for 3 years! I ask the dad what seat his daughter is in currently and he says a Graco infant seat of some sort and he "thought" it had a 35lb limit. I explain to him that it's not outgrown till she either reaches the weight limit or has less than 1" of shell above her head. He then tells me that she definately has more than 1" above her head but that he was getting concerned since her legs were having to bend in the seat! I explain how the goal is to protect the head/neck/spine in a crash and that there's no data showing increased leg injuries in rf'ing kids, but there's definately data showing increased injuries in ff'ing kids. I tell him how older kids can sit rf'ing quite comfortably with their legs criss crossed, out to the side, or even up on the seat. The dad is very impressed with my knowledge and thanks me a bunch. He says the extended rf'ing makes sense. I tell him to make sure he reads his manual and tell him about the rf'ing tether and show him how to connect it and how it prevents rebound. I ask the age of his kid that will be riding in the FR85 and he says 4 1/2 :thumbsup:.
I'm glad I could make a difference!
I'm glad I could make a difference!
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