I helped someone today!!!!

DH and I have been taking a financial class. There was a couple there, that the wife loved my Britax cover. I got to telling her about my wreck and my experience with misuse of carseats. She has a 4 year old and a 2 year old. The 4 year old was in a Evenflo Booster and the 2 year old was in a Alpha Omega. Their truck was a 2001 Expedition. So anyway, we were talking and she is like, why don't you look at my seats. The first thing I noticed was a mighty tight on the AO and she actually took it off when I told her it was bad. Then I went to looking for the tether on the AO esp. since it was intalled in the middle position with a lap belt only. There was NO tether. She confessed to me that she bought it at a consignment shop four years earlier and it did not have any instructions. I told her all about the dangers of used seats and how this one was missing the top tether. Anyway, I talked her into moving the AO to the passenger outboard. I also warned her about the unusable top slots and that at least she need to go to the cosco website and get instructions. I reinstalled it for her and got an acceptable install with about 1/4 inche movement in the belt path. It was difficult because they had leather seats. I could tell she was thinking about replacing the seat. They were however, following the instructions for the booster exactly so one out of two is not bad. I am going to print out a bunch of info for her and give her this website tomorrow. Please tell me that I did it right. I worried about it all the way home. The whole no top tether and consignment seat gave me a start and kinda threw me off.

Awesome! I'm so glad she was receptive to your advice! Sounds like she really is trying to do the right thing, just need a little guidance on what the "right thing" is.

Arly,
I think you did awesome for the situation you were dealing with, short of going back into the store and helping her pick out a new seat right then I don't know what else you could have done. That is so nice that she asked you to come out to look at her seats (and obviously you are going to be seeing her again to give her the information). Maybe you will get to go carseat shopping afterall!

Good job! The seat may have been fine with the lapbelt, all seats in the US technically do pass with just a lapbelt, but good for you for helping out and giving her correct info on the used seat, and so much more! Hopefully she does get a new seat.

The lapbelt in her truck was a retractor one and it should have locked but it wouldn't lock. The plastic housing the belt was in was broken. I dug my fingers in the housing but couldn't feel any foreign objects. I have no idea why that belt wouldn't lock. My aunt has the same year and model (eddie bauer) expedition and I knew it should lock. Thats the reason why they had the tighty tight on it in the first place (she said it wouldn't go tight) Anyway, I lay awake last night and worried that I did something wrong. Oh, I worried!!

Also I noticed how much the each use of the booster seat matters. That you must use the booster right everytime. Hhhhmmm, what I am trying to say is that it seemed easier for misuse to happen. But then there are a hundred different ways to misuse a harness too. I guess its been years since I have been around a booster and when you are used to five-point harness it does seem less "sturdy". I expected to feel good that someone finally listened but instead I felt nervous and scared that I did something wrong.

It is nice helping people. I know it makes me feel all fuzzy inside. lol

Arly, I think you did everything right.