twinkletoes
New member
I've been wanting to do this for ages now - so many of my friends use their car seats incorrectly (mostly car seat straps are too loose or too loose and twisted
I care very much for my friends and their children and just want their children to be as safe as possible - I work with young babies and children and want all children to be as safe as possible.
when a friend left I noticed their childs straps were loose - but her response was that her child can tighten if herself - however, when you allow your child to pull on the adjuster harness when already strapped in the seat, they are lifting it up and this is not as effective - but the child is also leaning forward, so is not able to tighten as much as it should - so I still noted this to my friend as well as showing her I could put my whole hand through the harness..with slack! I was trying to mention that it was still too loose but this didn't go down very well at all ... my friend responded by letting me know that if it were tight it wouldn't be comfortable.. she said it was 'fine'.. and just said the chest clip needed to go up higher, that's all... she was really upset with me.
Is it normal to get this kind of response? I really upset my friend by mentioning anything at all. now I feel bad and know i've upset her - my dh said I should just keep quiet - this isn't the first time someone has tried to give advice out of caring and it didn't go too well at all but if you see something that isn't correct and you know it can cause injury then wouldn't you say something? I seriously thought my friend would have come around to her child's side of the door to double check the harness , but since she didn't I was just 'letting her know' it wasn't tight yet! I guess I should have said, 'is this tight enough'? instead of saying, it's not tight enough she was adamant that it was tight enough - so I kept quiet after that. but she was also upset that I was saying something in front of her child; like I was undermining her authority and judgement as a mother, but not everyone knows that the car seat straps need to be tighter - this same friend had shoes on her child that were very stiff and thick soled - her then one year old would constantly trip all over the place, so I mentioned that softer shoes were better for a one year old; that didn't go down very well either I know I would have really appreciated the advice; but we are very different individuals.
sometimes I wish I didn't know what I know already
anyway, I would just feel better if I were a certified tech - as much as I know about seats, i'm not 'certified' and that matters here in the US.
thanks in advance -
I care very much for my friends and their children and just want their children to be as safe as possible - I work with young babies and children and want all children to be as safe as possible.
when a friend left I noticed their childs straps were loose - but her response was that her child can tighten if herself - however, when you allow your child to pull on the adjuster harness when already strapped in the seat, they are lifting it up and this is not as effective - but the child is also leaning forward, so is not able to tighten as much as it should - so I still noted this to my friend as well as showing her I could put my whole hand through the harness..with slack! I was trying to mention that it was still too loose but this didn't go down very well at all ... my friend responded by letting me know that if it were tight it wouldn't be comfortable.. she said it was 'fine'.. and just said the chest clip needed to go up higher, that's all... she was really upset with me.
Is it normal to get this kind of response? I really upset my friend by mentioning anything at all. now I feel bad and know i've upset her - my dh said I should just keep quiet - this isn't the first time someone has tried to give advice out of caring and it didn't go too well at all but if you see something that isn't correct and you know it can cause injury then wouldn't you say something? I seriously thought my friend would have come around to her child's side of the door to double check the harness , but since she didn't I was just 'letting her know' it wasn't tight yet! I guess I should have said, 'is this tight enough'? instead of saying, it's not tight enough she was adamant that it was tight enough - so I kept quiet after that. but she was also upset that I was saying something in front of her child; like I was undermining her authority and judgement as a mother, but not everyone knows that the car seat straps need to be tighter - this same friend had shoes on her child that were very stiff and thick soled - her then one year old would constantly trip all over the place, so I mentioned that softer shoes were better for a one year old; that didn't go down very well either I know I would have really appreciated the advice; but we are very different individuals.
sometimes I wish I didn't know what I know already
anyway, I would just feel better if I were a certified tech - as much as I know about seats, i'm not 'certified' and that matters here in the US.
thanks in advance -