Why I hate it when people say

Aurezalia

Well-known member
"Keep your kid in a harness as long as possible!"

On the way home from dropping off my sister at her friend's house this afternoon, I passed an older Outback with 2 kids in the backseat. The younger child, appearing probably around 8 - 9 years of age, was in a car seat - looked like it was possibly a CarGo, maybe the Cosco high-back - and he was so tall that not only his entire head was above the restraint's back, but his shoulders were about to grow over the back as well. He was still in the harness. :eek:
He had clearly outgrown the seat by height, had almost definitely weighted out of it as well. This is why I hate it when people say, "Harness your kid FOREVER! It's much safer than boostering!" :thumbsdown:


(Incidentally, on the same drive, I also saw a truck transporting a couch in the bed - with people sitting on it. :eek:)
 
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Polola0628

Active member
Mmhm. I agree. Also, misuse is much more common with a harness (loose, belly clip, etc) and a booster is pretty much just the seatbelt :)
 

An Aurora

Senior Community Member
Crazy! There is a old pickup around there that I have seen, with an extra truck bench seat bolted in the truck bed, with a FF ComfortSport installed on it and a 2-ish year old girl that rides back there :eek:.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
Well, "as long as possible" implies that the child actually fits. Once the kid doesn't fit, it would no longer count as "possible."

Same with rear-facing. We tell people to do that as long as possible too, but we don't mean having a 90-lb kid's shoulders extend over the shell.

But, yes, I get your point. ;)
 

mykidsmylife

Well-known member
That is the issue, you hear people recommending to parents to keep their kids harnessed as long as possible but they don't explain when a seat is outgrown so the long as possible keeps getting passed to parent after parent.
I see it ALL.THE.TIME on another board. I don't know how many times I have to correct people.

There is a family here with a tall 6 yr old. He was in an over the head shield Graco Comfortsport. His shoulders were above the top of the seat. I explained to his mom the dangers she thought he was perfectly safe since he was under 40lbs.

Now he is in a backless booster with no head support, but hey at least the screws are in the armrest. @@.
 

Aurezalia

Well-known member
Well, "as long as possible" implies that the child actually fits. Once the kid doesn't fit, it would no longer count as "possible."

Same with rear-facing. We tell people to do that as long as possible too, but we don't mean having a 90-lb kid's shoulders extend over the shell.

But, yes, I get your point. ;)

I'm not talking as much about us here - as we qualify our answers with how exactly a seat is outgrown so the questioner knows - but more like people on BBC who know nothing about carseats but "Oh, buy a Britax, they're the best!" and decide to pass along their "wisdom" to everyone else. Makes a situation like this much more likely to develop. Here, we're more likely to say not to harness/RF "as long as possible," but to harness/RF "to the limits of the seat," which I think is a MUCH safer way of putting it.
 

Evolily

New member
There's plenty of misuse with boosters as well. (Shoulder belts behind backs, lap belt over the arm rests, toddlers in boosters, etc)

I agree, but rarely do I see seat belt misuse that would result in the child being ejected from the vehicle. OTOH, I frequently see kids in harness seats with just the chest clip done. We all know that chest clip will do nothing to keep that child in the vehicle!
 

turtlemama

New member
I made the mistake last year of giving my MIL two no back boosters for my older kids so she would seatbelt them correctly. I was too chicken to counter her on how horrible her car seat use was and put my kids in danger. Even with the boosters she was still putting the seatbelt behind their backs and had my 12 month old FF in an integrated seat without bothering to tighten the straps. Next time I go back home I plan on telling her they can't ride with her unless she has proper car seats, which I will probably have to buy.
 

MissAllyLou

New member
It is truly sad. Some people are just plain stupid. Makes me want to slap them.

I don't think it's fair (or appropriate, being as this is a car seat safety INFORMATION board) to say that. I think there are many cases of "when you know better, you do better." Calling parents 'stupid' when we don't know the circumstances is rather inappropriate. Maybe they don't have the manual to their seat, maybe they honestly didn't know there was a height requirement, maybe their child has special needs and can't handle a booster seat, but they don't know what else to do. That's why there are so many of US (CPST's) who have dedicated time, money, and passion to helping those parents who truly don't know what to do. I think it's safe to say that every single one of us knows at least one person who doesn't care, but I also believe that for every person who doesn't care, there's 2 out there who not only care but need help with the unknown.
 

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