Car seat crazy tooo Certified..

Baylor

New member
How much time passed between becoming really interested in Car seat safety and your certification?

Did you feel that you walked out of that certification with all you needed to know to provide safe checks?
 
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Kac

Ambassador - CPS Technician
Deep down I have always been car seat crazy. I have always been interested, but once my friend was killed in a crash, I started to research the car seats that I had in my car for kids that I babysit. So it was almost 2 years from when I started researching to when I got certified.

I definitely think that I have the knowledge from my class and here to do checks. The only thing I doubt is people trusting me because of my age, and I look very young. I have no children, so sometimes I'm less relatable I guess. I am more than confident in my installs for sure though.

I also realize that there is so much that I learn from here on a daily basis. Things change and new car seats come out, so I think it's a continuous learning.
 

christineka

New member
I got into car seats about 4 years ago. I've learned a lot on this and another board. I went into the certification pretty much knowing it all. The rest of my classmates pretty much knew nothing. I'm not real confident in their abilities, but they will make most kids safer, even if they don't know so much.

I would have gotten certified earlier, but I had family responsibilities that were more important.
 

Angela

New member
I got certified about 3 months after joining here and about 5 months after becoming interested in seat safety. I know I wouldn't have done so well in class if it wasn't for this board. :love:
After certification I felt ready for community events, but definitely not private ones yet. I actually did a presentation about 1 month after getting certified. It was a little nerve racking, but I felt comfortable enough with it. I definitely didn't feel that I knew everything there is, still don't. I learn something new on the board everyday.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
I don't think most techs are ready to do checks *on their own* until they've done a bunch of events with other techs. You can get perfect scores on your tests (and most people who read here probably will) and ace the hands-on exams, but it's installing lots of seats in lots of cars and working with lots of parents that gets a tech ready to fly solo.
 

zactayaus

Well-known member
I have pretty much been "car seat crazy" since my oldest was born over 20 years ago. I have always loved car seats. I didn't become interested in getting certified until I joined here about 3? years ago. I then searched for courses to take but when one finally became available in my area I couldn't do it because I was 9 months pg. I waited a whole year for the course to come around my area again and jumped on it. DS3 had just turned 1yo. I became a tech last April. I have worked at several seat checks with many of the people I had my course with along with some of the instructors and we all work awesome together. I feel very confident in my abilities to install seats but I know that I don't know every thing and that I learn new things on here all the time. I don't do private checks (well except for friends and family). I just feel much more comfortable in a group setting with others that have more experience then me. I also like the fact that there are people there that may be more familiar with a particular vehicle or seat and can lend you a hand if need be.:)
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Yeah, took a couple years from the time I found a good online board to the time I found a class I could take easily. And then, the more often you work with others, generally the more you learn (sometimes it's from seeing poorly-trained techs do things wrong, then coming back HERE to ask how to do it right, but hey, it's all learning :cool:)
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
I've been carseat obsessed for 8.5 years (though not always knowledgeable) and a tech for 4.75.

Walking out of the class I felt completely overwhelmed with hands on checks and didn't do any on my own for quite a while. This is kids lives we're talking about. It's one thing to sit here and give advice, it's another to actually teach a parent to install their seat, and get it right.

Wendy
 

Baylor

New member
Wendy, That is exactly how I am feeling about it. I am so excited to start learning more and get certified but I would not feel qualified to do it all on my own right after taking the class. I think it would be irresponsible to think I knew it all at that point.

I think this is a gradual knowledge. You just can not know it all in one class, and while I know the BIG NO NO's I am sure there are lots of little ones I have yet to come across.

I read so much here each day. I love the long threads where the techs are talking through steps or a situation and adding to what may help or not help.. that is where I learn the most.
 
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sweetfeet

New member
I've been car seat obsessed since my almost 9 year old was a baby. I have no desire to become a tech. I'll happily do what's best for my children and I'll guide my friends and relatives who want help, but I don't feel like I could personally handle doing public seat checks.

I just wanted to pipe in as someone who cares, but doesn't want to take that next step. :D
 

Baylor

New member
I've been car seat obsessed since my almost 9 year old was a baby. I have no desire to become a tech. I'll happily do what's best for my children and I'll guide my friends and relatives who want help, but I don't feel like I could personally handle doing public seat checks.

I just wanted to pipe in as someone who cares, but doesn't want to take that next step. :D

Thanks for that. I really want to be certified. There is nothing better to me than to do something you are passionate about. Right now I am home with my kids and so it is the perfect time for me to take this step.
 

SignCuer

New member
I started being obsessed with children 12 years ago, started realizing about car-seats last year, found this site last year and got certified in December! :D
 

ElfJewel

New member
I have been interrested since my brother was born (he is 11 now). I took care of him a lot and was always putting his seat in my car. I learned a lot on my own and he was always in tight, and I figured out that he shouldn't wear his coat. By the time I had my kids I did most things right. I got really interrested last year when I got my van. I found this site and learned about ERF. All of my kids are safer now, and any friends that come in my car. I just got certified last week.
 

Stacy

New member
I just wanted to pipe in as someone who cares, but doesn't want to take that next step. :D

^ +1. I did at one point consider getting certified, but honestly I am not cut out for it, nor do I desire it anymore :shrug-shoulders:.

I didn't think twice about car seats until my (now) 2.5 year old was outgrowing her infant seat and I researched car seats for the first time. Now I am into car seats the way some women are into shoes and purses :p!

Kudos to those who do get certified and make a difference for the rest of us, though!
 

turtlemama

New member
I just really, really got into car seats around the beginning of last year when I started looking for a bucket while I was pregnant with ds3. I don't even know how it happened but I just got fixated on car seats and now am pretty much obsessed with it. I know this is what I want to do in life, even if it may not be a paying job.
Of course I don't know a whole heck of a lot, but I do know more than anyone else in my CPST class right now. (I keep annoying the instructors with my "I thought it was this way?" questions, and then they are like "hmm" lol) I aced the first 2 quizzes and didn't need the book for the 1st one and only needed it for one question on the 2nd one. I'm actually surprised how easy it is, but I know it would not have been easy if I hadn't found this board first.
I owe a great many thanks to the techs and other advocates here because I have read a lot and learned most of all I know from this board. I also try and look up as much as I can online and watch all sorts of crash test videos.
I will probably also not do private checks right away. I did want to at first, but now that I am in the class and learning even more, I don't think that would be the best way to do things at this time. I'm not so sure what I will do once I do get certified now since my plan was to hang up flyers for my apt complex and go to the hospital across the street to offer help. That would involve private checks though. They really stress liability issues in the course and I definitely don't want to make a mistake and put someone's kid in danger. I'd feel awful if something happened because I missed something important, and I'm sure the parents would be really pissed too.
I suppose I will have to wait and see what happens after I get certified.
 

trippsmom

CPST Instructor
I erf'd my son anyway. In Sept 09 I was in a wreck. I joined here in Oct 09 after I'd searched here to find the replacement seat. I became a tech in Mar 10.

I am a people person. As a former dance instructor and private majorette instructor I find it extremely easy to comminicate and educate one on one with someone, especially grownups and in person. After teaching children as young as 3, I can pretty much communicate with adults on any level. :duck: :eek: My check event after my class went so smoothly. I loved it. I love them still, even private ones.
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
I started babysitting/transporting as a teen, and I know my installs were always tight. That was ten-plus years ago. I've always been strict about using seats to the best of my knowledge. But when I really learned about carseats was the end of April of '09... I stumbled across an OT post on another board about EH, which linked both here and KDM. Read it, and within days started purchasing/ordering seats to reharness *all* of my kids. Went a little overboard, lol. I joined here almost immediately to ask questions, read about ERF and was like, "Um, that's interesting, but I don't think we're interested in that. Just here for EH info." I intended to get my info, get my kids safe, and leave.

Anyways, needless to say I stuck around. It was almost exactly a year later that I got certified. Like others, I already knew the bulk of what was taught in the class, but I tried really hard to approach it with an open mind and not be a know-it-all. Some of the rules they taught us were bizarre or outdated (like you can only use 1 large or 3 small pool noodles, max,) but for the most part the class was consummate, albeit basic.

I will duck the tomatoes and say that I did do private checks straight out of class. Almost all of those have been for my charges' parents, and my personal viewpoint on it is that they will either have a certified-but-not-hugely-experienced tech looking at their seats, or no one. (They will NOT go see a tech on their own.) And since they all have issues (loose installs, LATCH borrowing/sharing, lack of tether, FF seats installed via RFing belt paths, missing Turbo screws, etc, etc, etc,) which I am able to correct, I have peace about it. I have not seen every combo that is out there, but what I don't know I will ask about. I also have the advantage, with these parents, of seeing them daily -- so in the event I realize I made a mistake, I have opportunity to correct it. We also don't have a ton of events here, at least not that I've found, and particularly not when I'm available to work them.

Further, there are a lot of techs who have no experience other than the class who DO do private checks, and give poor advice. I know it's not a popular opinion (and perhaps it's my inexperience speaking) but there are a number of kids riding significantly safer than they would be if I refused to look at their seats because I haven't been working public checks for years. :twocents:

OTOH, I'm not out agressively advertising myself. I will help anyone who asks, I will mention to friends with kids in carseats that I'm a tech, but I'm a far, far piece away from getting calls and referrals from strangers and charging for installs.

Lastly, I will definitely say that no, the class was not all I needed to provide safe checks. Reading on this board is huge and experience with seats, vehicles and parents is huge. If I'd only ever taken the course, I wouldn't be comfortable checking without backup in place.

I will end by saying that I don't totally disagree with Wendy and chicka -- they are wiser and far more experienced than I am. It scares me a bit that some of the people in my class went home and started doing checks the next week, with only each other to rely on. But, they will have kids leaving safer than they arrived, and they are better than the alternative, which is often nothing. I apply the same rationale to myself. JMO.

ETA: I reread my post and feel like it came across as both cocky and self-important... which was not my intention. I wanted to share a counterargument to the "no private checks until you have lots of group experience" mindset. I personally don't feel that kids should be left in situations that we *know* are unsafe simply because we may not have handled a multitude of situations. For techs who are hands-on familiar with cars and know their stuff, I feel that it's better to make that child as safe as you can than to refuse to help a family whose child is riding in an unsafe situation because your knowledge may be limited.
 
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msg221

Well-known member
I didn't seriously start researching car seats until my friend was pregnant with Nour and Zain. It was around January 2008 when I started helping her to research some before putting them on her baby registry. The real car seat craziness didn't begin until after I bought seats to keep in my vehicle for the kids, plus by that time, Ethan had also been born and we were babysitting him too. It was September 2010 before I was able to take a CPST course that fit into my schedule.

I have done private checks before, but for close friends only and it was with seats I was familiar with. I would still prefer to get more experience at car seat check events so I'd get exposure to more kinds of seats.
 

sparkyd

Active member
I wanted to share a counterargument to the "no private checks until you have lots of group experience" mindset. I personally don't feel that kids should be left in situations that we *know* are unsafe simply because we may not have handled a multitude of situations.

I definitely think that people who have *only* taken the tech course are highly unlikely to be qualified to just start helping anyone and everyone with their seats, and it scares me that people do that - but I don't think that is what you are describing in your situation. Someone that has a lot of knowledge going in (often from here and personal experience), does well in the course and generally speaking can install a car seat properly, is definitely going to be of help to people that ask for it. I don't see anything wrong with helping friends and acquaintances early on if you feel comfortable. The most important thing is being aware of what you don't know so that you know when to check the manual or tell someone you'll get back to them with the correct information. It's the people who go off half-cocked thinking they actually know it all that scare me. We've all seen them and heard the stories. Those people don't even realize that they don't have all the answers and they don't make any effort to keep up to date on new seats and best practices.

So generally speaking, you really do need to do supervised group clinics for awhile to truly become competent. Actually, my certification requires that I install a minimum of 10 seats per year that have been checked by an instructor. But can you help people early on if your comfort level allows it and you are aware of your limitations? Absolutely.
 

Ninetales

New member
I really only got into car seats about 18 months ago when I was pregnant with my daughter. I was amazed by how much there was to know and learn, and I became very passionate about it. It's only the past few weeks that I've really been thinking about getting certified for a few reasons. I'd like to feel really confident in my own installs and when I give advice to friends, and also because there just aren't many techs in my area at all, and the ones I've encountered seem to be really outdated or misinformed. There are never any check events, only appointment checks at fire/police stations and some hospitals. I'd like to someday (not right away) be a resource for people who wouldn't think to go looking for a tech or event, but see a drop in one and check it out.
 

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