Why techs don't recommend rf mirrors

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rodentranger

New member

• May 14, 2010

• #1

How much does your kid's face weigh in a crash?
My butt weighs 115 lbs.

That's some pretty sharp plastic there.

 

Stacy

New member

• May 14, 2010

• #2

YIKES.

 

trippsmom

CPST Instructor

• May 14, 2010

• #3

I cracked mine las week and thought the same thing...

only my butt is like 60lbs heavier than yours.

 

JerseyGirl'sMama

New member

• May 14, 2010

• #4

trippsmom said:

I cracked mine las week and thought the same thing...

only my butt is like 60lbs heavier than yours.

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:ROTFLMAO:

 

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NatesMamma

New member

• May 14, 2010

• #5

I hate those Fisher Price mirrors. They all seem to have particularly rigid plastic, IMO. I've definitely seen more flexible, thinner mirrors out there. And they have that one (well, at least one) mirror with the huge battery pack and the big old remote that's meant to be clipped onto the driver's visor. :thumbsdown:

What about the more flexible mirrors? Do you consider them to be as bad? We have one from a different manufacturer, and I can bend it quite a bit without causing any damage. We had the battery pack FP one before I knew any better.

For better or worse, our mirror is here to stay I'm afraid. I just can't give my full attention to the road if DS is fussing (he amuses himself by making faces in the mirror) or if he coughs or is too quiet or whatever and I start worrying about what's going on back there. I'm hoping the ARB on his TFP would prevent him from smashing into the mirror anyway, and it's buckled with the extra webbing smushed down under the headrest, so I'm not *too* worried about it becoming a projectile. Though it's pretty light if it does.

 

mish

New member

• May 15, 2010

• #6

My question has always been this, If they baby hits the mirror and breaks it, wouldn't they also be injured by hitting just the seatback? The thin mirrors aren't protruding far enough for the baby to hit them, but not an empty seatback are they? I still recommend against them, I have just always wondered that.

 

monstah

New member

• May 15, 2010

• #7

During our tech class, the instructor had the Eddie Bauer mirror that is super common but it was broken and we asked how it broke. He said that during another class, someone insisted it wouldn't hurt to rebound into it so he smacked it against his forehead and (he wasn't meaning for this to happen) it broke and actually cut his head and he started bleeding.
I finally took my mirror down after that.

 

NannyMom

Well-known member

• May 15, 2010

• #8

mish said:

My question has always been this, If they baby hits the mirror and breaks it, wouldn't they also be injured by hitting just the seatback? The thin mirrors aren't protruding far enough for the baby to hit them, but not an empty seatback are they? I still recommend against them, I have just always wondered that.

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But the headrests are soft and are designed to be impacted. THe mirror is hard and isn't designed to be impacted. I would hit my child in the head with my van headrest. There is also 1 soft mirror I've found that I have hit the kids and myself with (in testing the safety of it ). I would never hit my kids in the head with those hard mirrors.

 

mish

New member

• May 15, 2010

• #9

I do agree that they wouldn't be fun to smack your face into. In the grand scheme of misuse/aftermarket products, I don't think they are the worst. I still think taking a headrest in the face would also hurt. Really, I'm not trying to be argumentative, I just think this isn't an issue I am willing to fight very hard with parents. Most of them take it down anyway when I mention the possibility of their baby hitting it.

 

cowgirlsmommy

New member

• May 15, 2010

• #10

Eek! That's the mirror I have in my car! What's the softest mirror out there?

 

Qarin

New member

• May 15, 2010

• #11

mish said:

I still think taking a headrest in the face would also hurt.

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My understanding is that the risk is in the mirror hitting the child, not the child hitting the mirror on rebound. The vehicle back and headrest are designed to stay connected to the vehicle, while these mirrors are attached with non-crash-tested straps which are very likely to fail with the weight of the mirror in a crash. The risk of the mirror is a projectile one, not so much a hard-face-landing one. Or so I have been given to understand.

 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

Staff member

• May 15, 2010

• #12

I forget exactly who it was, but there's a member here who was in a crash a few months ago, and her aftermarket mirror for viewing a RFing child came off and struck her kiddo in the head/face. The mirror was a softer/padded type that attaches to the top tether anchor in the car, IIRC, but it didn't stay put in the crash.

 

Mae

Well-known member

• May 15, 2010

• #13

Jeanum said:

I forget exactly who it was, but there's a member here who was in a crash a few months ago, and her aftermarket mirror for viewing a RFing child came off and struck her kiddo in the head/face. The mirror was a softer/padded type that attaches to the top tether anchor in the car, IIRC, but it didn't stay put in the crash.

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Here:

brightredmtn said:

As my brain is slowly coming back from the concussion I have more to add.

I had one of those mirrors that hook onto the top tether anchor. I figured that since it was hooked onto the car it wouldn't be a potential projectile. WRONG! It ended up on the floor of the car behind DS. DS does have a very small bruise on his forehead and I can only think that is from the mirror hitting him . It was very soft so not too bad but still.

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From This Thread.

 

leighi123

Active member

• May 16, 2010

• #14

We have one thats a large foam square covered with fabric. The mirror itself is the super flexible, very very thin kind (kinda like the one of those plasitc 3-ring binder divider type material).

I've never actually put it in the car though, its in his room!

 

yetanotherjen

CPST Instructor

• May 16, 2010

• #15

I'd rather see a rfing mirror than a child turned ffing.

I made my mirror using cardboard, mirror type sticker, foam and fabric. The reflection isn't the clearest but it works

 

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njmommy

New member

• May 16, 2010

• #16

this post makes me nervous. we just got a mirror by safe fit, its a plastic mirror. i just cant drive without being able to see the baby. im so paranoid that she will stop breathing or choke on spit up, etc. and I wont know.

my mom told me when i was younger i almost died in my carseat because i was choking on my snow suit cord (yea totally unsafe on its own, but thats the 80's for ya!) anyway she had a mirror and noticed & pulled over right away to pull it out.