Car Seat Techs..

Baylor

New member
What is the worst car seat/ install you have ever seen?

And do you what percentage of the seats you check are properly installed?
 
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Cryssy Jane

New member
Hmmm I'd have to say seatbelt + latch (in a non latch car) + velcro and a plywood board takes the cake for me.

As far as percentage, I can't really say. But I do about 1 public check per month and a few private checks a month since January and I've only come across a small handful of seats that were correctly installed. A good chunk are pretty close, but some are way out there.
 

hrice

New member
Hmmm I'd have to say seatbelt + latch (in a non latch car) + velcro and a plywood board takes the cake for me.

As far as percentage, I can't really say. But I do about 1 public check per month and a few private checks a month since January and I've only come across a small handful of seats that were correctly installed. A good chunk are pretty close, but some are way out there.

Ok...I have to ask...where did they put the LATCH?

I saw one the other day that had each LATCH hook attached to the outboard top tether anchors (one to each side) in a sedan. WTH?!
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
6 day old infant, not buckled into the harness, and seat just sitting on the vehicle seat, not buckled or latched at all. But, Mom came to a seat check, was taught how to install (which she was sure she couldn't possibly do), and Baby left 100 times safer.
 

Baylor

New member
6 day old infant, not buckled into the harness, and seat just sitting on the vehicle seat, not buckled or latched at all. But, Mom came to a seat check, was taught how to install (which she was sure she couldn't possibly do), and Baby left 100 times safer.

Man...


Hmmm I'd have to say seatbelt + latch (in a non latch car) + velcro and a plywood board takes the cake for me.

As far as percentage, I can't really say. But I do about 1 public check per month and a few private checks a month since January and I've only come across a small handful of seats that were correctly installed. A good chunk are pretty close, but some are way out there.

What was the plywood for?
 

Gypsy

Senior Community Member
Percent with ZERO misuse? maybe 2%
Percent with minor misuse (aftermarket products, harness a little loose but not critical etc.) maybe 10%.

The worst I've personally seen was three grandmas who tied their grandson into his seat with parachute rope because they couldn't figure out the harness.
I got three HUGE grandma hugs that day!


The next worse was a grandma who had a forward facing scenera with the lap and shoulderbelt wrapped around the FRONT of the seat under the child's feet. I showed her with one hand on the top of the Scenera as I pushed it towards the front of the car and the entire seat was undone and where the child's head would have been was right in her headrest. She was so upset with herself and glad I showed her the right way.
 

lorismurph

Senior Community Member
Oh, so many. An infant only seat installed Forward-Facing.

A phone book to help level the seat (that thing slid all over when the pages of the book slid on each other).

Seats not buckled at all.

I had one that was a Graco Bucket. Dad didn't like the movement at the back of the base so it was a seatbelt install with the latch somehow hooked up under the seat at the back.

Convertibles routed through the wrong belt path (often).

Oh, this one: An approx. 3yo girl sitting Forward-facing in an Evenflo bucket. The handle was by the top of the seat (by her head). They just set it on the seat of the car and put the belt over her. Then, they put the shoulder belt behind her. Talk about projectile!
 

Baylor

New member
Oh, this one: An approx. 3yo girl sitting Forward-facing in an Evenflo bucket. The handle was by the top of the seat (by her head). They just set it on the seat of the car and put the belt over her. Then, they put the shoulder belt behind her. Talk about projectile!

OH MY GOSH...
 

Cryssy Jane

New member
Ok...I have to ask...where did they put the LATCH?

I saw one the other day that had each LATCH hook attached to the outboard top tether anchors (one to each side) in a sedan. WTH?!

Man...

What was the plywood for?

Yikes!!!:eek:


Yes, what was the plywood for? LOL

Latch straps were connected to some random bar that had a divot in it to hook. Plywood was used to make the truck seat longer to fit the car seat. Velcro to hold the carseat to the board.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Probably a tie for me.

Filthy, expired OHS seat, installed through rear-facing belt path, forward-facing, no tether, seatbelt not buckled, used on bottom (non-reinforced) slots well below the shoulders with super-loose harness. For a 1 year old.

Or, 18 month old, 35 lb. child, in Graco TurboBooster without screws, seatbelt routed incorrectly.

I've been doing this a year and a half now. I think I have seen about 3 perfect installs, and one near-perfect. I almost always find at least one mistake. Thankfully the parents I usually see at my private checks are much more educated, and often either see me before baby is here or bring baby in the infant seat and bring the convertible to learn to install it properly, or have done extensive research and have only minor misuse, not the super-scary kind. Usually.

The worse misuse comes from public check events where people just drive up with their seat in the way it's in. It makes me feel good when I can help fix it. It makes me sad when I can't.
 

Angela

New member
I had one mom that had been to a check before, but the tech obviously didn't educate her how to do it. Before I even saw the seat I told her that we usually like to have the kids there to check them in the seat. She said she knew it wasn't safe and wasn't going to put her child in it until it was checked. I'm glad she didn't bring him! The seat was installed rf in the center seat. All 3 seatbelts were threaded through the rf beltpath, plus LATCH. She had 3 noodles under the seat and the seat was pretty much laying on the vehicle seat. That was definitely an interesting one. I usually get pregnant couples that don't have the seats installed yet, and those are my favorite because I can educate them early!
% of misuse: I have NEVER had a seat correctly installed. There have been several minor misuses (latch upside down, aftermarket products, loose install, etc), but I have never had a check where everything was correct.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
Too many bad ones to mention. Probably the two that stand out in my mind are the FF infant seat in the front seat (the first car into the clinic at the end of my certification class) and the newborn on the mom's lap. At least they knew to come get a seat.

As for the percentage right, I'd say...maybe 5%? Keep in mind that most of those are infant seats without the babies in them yet, so that's based purely on installation, not use.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Hey, wait, wasn't that plywood mine? LOL I agree, though, it was the worst. I've also seen some Regents installed really poorly (using the LATCH to connect it to the seatbelt itself), I've seen LATCH for other seats connected to the seatbelt, I've seen an infant seat only half routed with the seatbelt.

5126131189_a805e562dc.jpg


Like the national misuse rate, I see about 98% misuse. Well, of installed seats. 90% of my clients are expecting parents who have never installed a seat before. Half the time we pull it out of the box together.

Wendy
 

Baylor

New member
I had one mom that had been to a check before, but the tech obviously didn't educate her how to do it. Before I even saw the seat I told her that we usually like to have the kids there to check them in the seat. She said she knew it wasn't safe and wasn't going to put her child in it until it was checked. I'm glad she didn't bring him! The seat was installed rf in the center seat. All 3 seatbelts were threaded through the rf beltpath, plus LATCH. She had 3 noodles under the seat and the seat was pretty much laying on the vehicle seat. That was definitely an interesting one. I usually get pregnant couples that don't have the seats installed yet, and those are my favorite because I can educate them early!
% of misuse: I have NEVER had a seat correctly installed. There have been several minor misuses (latch upside down, aftermarket products, loose install, etc), but I have never had a check where everything was correct.

That is what scares me.. Even with what you guys helped me with.. I know I could still not have it in right.
 

fyrfightermomma

New member
LATCH straps tied in knots to each side of center seat belt. So one side knotted to buckle stalk. Other side knotted to belt. Top tether clipped to actual male end of the buckle with hole in it :confused: Not sure where dad was trying to go with that
 

Mae

Well-known member
That is what scares me.. Even with what you guys helped me with.. I know I could still not have it in right.


We've been over this, Baylor. We are pretty confident that you have them in correctly. Have you contacted Monstah yet? She's offered to find a time to meet up with you.

You are overthinking this way too much. Incredibly too much. If you've read the car seat manual, read the car manual, and you've asked here and posted pictures of your threads, I'm sure you are completely overthinking this.


Contact a tech in your area. Here is a list of the techs on this board that are public.

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=59135

Thanks for posting this. It's been posted at least four seperate times now. Monstah has also offered to help her out.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Overthinking is almost as dangerous as underthinking.

Some of the most dangerous installs I've seen were done by parents who were clearly trying to "improve" on their carseats/installs.
 

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