Safe kids seat check today...

MySillyKids · Mar 3, 2007

So i took my van to the "safety day" at our local place, and i swear i could of done a better job then they did. My seats were installed PERFECTLY (thank you gals!)

2 things that struck me as odd:

1) They MADE me move the harness slots to the VERY top of the regent, and the Safeseat. My 2.75 year old was fine on the second slot, and now its like above his ears, its seems odd. Same with my 1 year old. I thought it was supposed to be "at or above" the shoulder height not "Omg 2 miles away from where it should be" So, 2 year old was on 2nd slots in the regent, now at the top slots. (he has a 15 in torso). the 1 year old was fine in the second slots, now on the top slots. Is this right?

2) They made me secure it SO tight that i cannot get them in and out nicely anymore. Its a struggle to buckle the latches into the crotch strap. Is this right?

I seriously felt like they were FINE where they were. I did a better job re-installing the seats better than they did. I got the "Wow, you know alot about your seats, and how to install them!!"

Thanks GALS!! WOO HOO!!

LuvBug · Mar 3, 2007

most likely they deal with seats that say the top slots are the only ones you can use forward facing.
Since both of your seats are forward facing only ALL of the slots can be used. So they should be at or above.

As for how tight they are. They should be in their snug enough that you cant pinch any horizontal slack. I put DS in very very snug, my mom complains, but he never has!

MySillyKids · Mar 3, 2007

Ah Hah! That makes sense!!

I wanted to go and change them back to how i had them, 2nd slot heights on both the Regent and the SS2, because i knew better.

But that means uninstalling the seats, that i JUST put back in there. I'll wait a while. Both kids havent complained about it yet.

Thanks for the heads up!

Suzibeck · Mar 3, 2007

MySillyBoys said:
2) They made me secure it SO tight that i cannot get them in and out nicely anymore. Its a struggle to buckle the latches into the crotch strap. Is this right?

This is exactly why I loosen and tighten (loosen, take her out, put her in, tighten it down) the harness most of the time. When the harness is tight, it is a struggle to buckle it. And I find that when it is tight, it often doesn't give me that positive click to let me know it is latched tightly. My RA is a bit tighter than my MA because I just cannot get the MA as tight, but I still can't pinch the harness.

That is crazy that they put the harnesses on the highest slots, seems like that would not be as secure. You would think people doing seat checks would know. The only tech I've worked with has Britax for her own son, so she has been great with my seats. Mine have always been installed correctly too, also thanks to these ladies!

mamato2 · Mar 3, 2007

Hmmm as a favor to me (for helping get the talk and seat check at DD"s school off the ground) the woman who did the actual scheduling signed me up for a seat check!! I did not sign up as there were only 6 slots and didn't want to take one away from someone who REALLY needed it. I am happy to have my seats checked (who knows I 'could' be one of the 90 some % in Austin with my seats in wrong!) but DO worry that they will take them out and put them back in a less than satisfactory (to me) install.
Question, do they ALWAYS take seats out at checks? Or will they look them over and if they are good tell me so and leave them alone?
I've been thinking of tethering DD"s RA to the belt behind it. I might for the check just to see what they say!
C.

mamato2 · Mar 3, 2007

PS I can't imagine an almost 3 year old being in the Husky/Regent on the top slots. To me that is dangerous! I would think instead of making the straps so tight and telling you to leave them that way they would educate you on loosening and re-tightening each time the child uses the seat.
C.

joolsplus3 · Mar 3, 2007

Geeez, that's scary...I assume they didn't 'model good manual reading behavior', as some instructors remind techs to do, and they would have seen that the top slots aren't mandatory for FF. Feel free to loosen and tighten the harness every time you get the kids in and out, that's why you have a front harness adjuster in the first place (like shoelaces...sure you can cram your foot into a tied shoe, but isn't it easier to tie it after your foot is in it?

)

Aren't you glad you know so much just from being here? It's sad that techs aren't more up to date on basic rules for fairly common products (heck, the top slots aren't even mandatory in most convertibles any more, sounds like they all need some pretty basic re-education on manual reading and product features)

MySillyKids · Mar 3, 2007

Totally. Oh the damage they are causing today because parents TRUST them to do the right thing. They also gave me material dated 2005!!! I was like "you have to be kidding me, you're giving me 2-3 year old material?" She's like oh, thats odd, and walked away. She comes back like 20 min later and says, we are working on getting new stuff printed.

Yea, i'll go out and fix the seats. It didnt seem right to me. The "instructor" said he had been teaching the class for like 15 years. They told me to stop the harness on the regent at 48lbs, and to use the seatbelt. I was like you gotta be kidding me. I Told them that the Regent went up to 80lbs, and they were like No, no seats do that. He said that my kids are the SAFEST when the harness is THAT high, because i can get a tighter install. Even though they told me he was rock solid before they looked at it.

He was like searching SO much to find the RF limits on the Safe Seat 2. I told him it was FF only. He was like "oh".

YES, this was a SAFEKIDS seat check. They had the van there and everything. I was baffeled.

Oh yea they also told me that i can use the latch up to 48lbs, instead of 40.

I'm SO SO SO SO SO glad that i decided to enter the carseat world.

THANK YOU again! You ladies are SO SO SO helpful!

Way better than my local Safekids!

MySillyKids · Mar 3, 2007

mamato2 said:
Hmmm as a favor to me (for helping get the talk and seat check at DD"s school off the ground) the woman who did the actual scheduling signed me up for a seat check!! I did not sign up as there were only 6 slots and didn't want to take one away from someone who REALLY needed it. I am happy to have my seats checked (who knows I 'could' be one of the 90 some % in Austin with my seats in wrong!) but DO worry that they will take them out and put them back in a less than satisfactory (to me) install.
Question, do they ALWAYS take seats out at checks? Or will they look them over and if they are good tell me so and leave them alone?
I've been thinking of tethering DD"s RA to the belt behind it. I might for the check just to see what they say!
C.

They took out both of my seats. They wanted to check the DOM, and to see if there were any recalls on my seats. *I* had the final pull on the tether straps, and the LATCH straps, so *I* know that they are rock solid, Again. They said to me "go Mom Go mom Go" cause i was yanking so hard. lol.

AdventureMom · Mar 3, 2007

I've only participated in two seatchecks. At both of these and in my class, we were told to always take the seats out to check for expired seats and any recalls.

I actually had an instructor in my class tell me during practice installations that the Marathon only harnessed to 40lbs. I told him that I was positive that it went to 65lbs. We went around in circles about for ten minutes or so. He did not believe me. I showed him the literature, told him I had the same seat, etc - still didn't believe it - said it was impossible. He finally went and grabbed another instructor who told him that I was right.

He also knew nothing about the Regent either - had never heard of it. Only one instructor of the four that I had knew about the Regent...

Like Luvbug said, many of the convertible seats (except Britax) only allow the top slot to be used FF - there's a metal bar/reinforcement at that point to help withstand the force of a FF crash. But since Britax began reinforcing all of their slots, I think some of the other manufacturers may be doing the same...? At least that's what they told us in our class.

I'm glad you knew better but too bad about the others out there who don't know any better...

MySillyKids · Mar 3, 2007

Okay. This is enough to make me go out NOW and change it. I'll brb once i get it done.

Because if i dont do it NOW, then i wont get around to it. Its naptime for both kids.

Ugh. Wow. I just read through the 2005 material, its not TOO bad. but it could say some details that carseats go to 80lbs now.

They probally leave them at the top slots because then they dont have to take out the seats again. (they probally think its okay because at least they got their seats checked 1 time) I was told that several times today. Its safer, and they have "room to grow"

I took that as, room to FLY out of the seat because there's a few inches above him.

okay Going NOW

MySillyKids · Mar 3, 2007

Okay, they are fixed. I love that the SS2 doesnt have to be removed to adjust the slot heights!!

My hands hurt from the Regent re-install. The true sign of a good install. lol

They are rock solid again.

I'm thinking of calling the SAFEKIDS on monday and telling them about what happened, because NOW there are TONS of kids who are riding unsafe, in the cars becasue of the slot height issue. Because i guarentee you they did it to EVERYONE.

Patriot201 · Mar 3, 2007

AdventureMom said:
I've only participated in two seatchecks. At both of these and in my class, we were told to always take the seats out to check for expired seats and any recalls.

The past few times I have had seats checked, the techs barely did anything. One of them looked at the Snugride base, shook it with her left hand, and said, "It looks good. I can't do any better." Another time I had a Century Bravo LX checked and the tech said, "Looks fine. Perhaps you should consider tightening the tether a little bit, but it isn't necessary. It looks good." I think the last time I had a tech check for expiration dates was probably a good five years ago or so. Hmm...maybe I need to find a new tech!!

scatterbunny · Mar 3, 2007

I would definitely call SafeKids about the misinformation.

1) with forward-facing ONLY seats, all slots are reinforced for forward-facing, not just the top slots

2) the Regent HARNESSES to 80 pounds, and it does NOT become a booster

3) READ THE MANUAL

It's sad to me that someone can become an instructor 15 years ago and not keep up with current seats and rules.

thepeach80 · Mar 3, 2007

I assume they didn't 'model good manual reading behavior',

Grrr...I get mad when I see people I work w/ NOT reading manuals. I've had to save 2 Keyfits now from locking clips.

We also were told to uninstall the seat and make parent reinstall, even if it came in installed well.

I would call and mention it, especially if you know names of the techs who helped you. I'm hoping the new recert process will help keep people up to date on these things.

MySillyKids · Mar 3, 2007

You know they complained about the new recert. They were like "i dont like that its just like taking the First class ALL over again."

that was at the beginning of our seat check. By the time i was done, i was GLAD to hear that they have to re-learn everything.

They had the "rookie" guy re-install the seats. I'm glad that before i left, i gave it the "mommy" stamp of approval, seeing how these guys were not the brightest crayon in the box.

Alicia-N-2SafeBugs · Mar 5, 2007

Ug, ug, ug!!! The more I hear about techs around here the more discouraged I get! What is with this area!?!? Apparently, BRU is also telling people that the Regent can be used as a booster...they told a lady here that it can be used to 40 pounds and then has to be used with the seatbelt not the harness. DUH!!!! I've got my work cut out for me...

MySillyKids · Mar 5, 2007

Yea, i corrected him, and said "no the regent goes up to 80# Harnessed" he was like, "No, no seats do that" I was like Here. I handed him the manual. He skimmed through it and said "whatever"

I need to research who to call about "tattling" on them, and trying to get a "recall" of all the seats that they checked on saturday.

Safe kids seat check today...

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