Brigala
CPST Instructor
Ok, I'm going to try to be brief because there's a lot of background here. Ask questions if you need to.
My son's music teacher has a 3 year old and a 4 month old infant. This summer right after I got certified I talked her into letting me inspect her car seats. I was surprised to find that her daughter was in a long-since expired hand-me-down convertible with a missing top tether. I talked to her about why it needed to be replaced and talked her into going out and buying a Nautilus for her daughter. She was going to re-use her Baby Trend infant seat which is not expired, so I figured she'd be good for a while.
Later, after the baby was born I had a few Wayfair Radians available and I asked her if she was interested in getting one for her son, and found out that she'd bought not one, but two Nautiluses. Her plan was that if her son wasn't quite big enough for the Nauti yet when he outgrew the Baby Trend infant seat, he could use the old expired convertible for just a little while until he could use the Nautilus. *sigh* I talked to her about why that really wasn't a good idea, and suggested she try to return the second Nautilus.
Well, I talked to her again tonight and she hasn't changed her plans at all. She said she simply couldn't afford another car seat. There have been other indications that money has become really tight for them. I know her husband just got home from a deployment only days before the baby was born, so I wonder if he's essentially out of work. They have a nice house and everything but I know with this economy like it is they could be upside down in it... so I believe her when she says she can't afford it, but I don't know the details of her financial situation.
Anyway, I just had a True Fit Recline show up on my porch today from No Better Deal. It is in perfect, new/sealed condition. DOM is two years old (Jan '10), but don't they have a 7 year lifespan? So it would be good for 5 years?? I am thinking about just giving it to her for Christmas. I thought I'd attach one string and tell her she needs to give me the old expired seat to have it recycled. I thought I might also suggest that she try to sell the Nautilus unless she needs it as a back-up or other-car seat for her daughter. The True Fit will last most kids to age 5, right? Almost as long as a Nautilus in harness mode? So unless the Nauti were being used for her daughter it really wouldn't make sense to even keep both seats around.
DH is cool with me just giving the TF away. I don't need it. I bought it to play with and may or may not have ended up keeping it. Besides, I just made $60 profit on another seat I got and flipped through a local consignment shop, so I have money in my car seat fund and that's what the fund is for anyway.
My other option would be to keep the TF and buy a cheaper seat for her. Or just a different seat. How good is the TF in general for people who might be a little uninformed about car seat usage? Is there anything better? (At least now she knows the seat belts are supposed to be locked... I decided not to address the big fleecy Bundle Me that was in her Baby Trend today, though. Sigh.)
My son's music teacher has a 3 year old and a 4 month old infant. This summer right after I got certified I talked her into letting me inspect her car seats. I was surprised to find that her daughter was in a long-since expired hand-me-down convertible with a missing top tether. I talked to her about why it needed to be replaced and talked her into going out and buying a Nautilus for her daughter. She was going to re-use her Baby Trend infant seat which is not expired, so I figured she'd be good for a while.
Later, after the baby was born I had a few Wayfair Radians available and I asked her if she was interested in getting one for her son, and found out that she'd bought not one, but two Nautiluses. Her plan was that if her son wasn't quite big enough for the Nauti yet when he outgrew the Baby Trend infant seat, he could use the old expired convertible for just a little while until he could use the Nautilus. *sigh* I talked to her about why that really wasn't a good idea, and suggested she try to return the second Nautilus.
Well, I talked to her again tonight and she hasn't changed her plans at all. She said she simply couldn't afford another car seat. There have been other indications that money has become really tight for them. I know her husband just got home from a deployment only days before the baby was born, so I wonder if he's essentially out of work. They have a nice house and everything but I know with this economy like it is they could be upside down in it... so I believe her when she says she can't afford it, but I don't know the details of her financial situation.
Anyway, I just had a True Fit Recline show up on my porch today from No Better Deal. It is in perfect, new/sealed condition. DOM is two years old (Jan '10), but don't they have a 7 year lifespan? So it would be good for 5 years?? I am thinking about just giving it to her for Christmas. I thought I'd attach one string and tell her she needs to give me the old expired seat to have it recycled. I thought I might also suggest that she try to sell the Nautilus unless she needs it as a back-up or other-car seat for her daughter. The True Fit will last most kids to age 5, right? Almost as long as a Nautilus in harness mode? So unless the Nauti were being used for her daughter it really wouldn't make sense to even keep both seats around.
DH is cool with me just giving the TF away. I don't need it. I bought it to play with and may or may not have ended up keeping it. Besides, I just made $60 profit on another seat I got and flipped through a local consignment shop, so I have money in my car seat fund and that's what the fund is for anyway.
My other option would be to keep the TF and buy a cheaper seat for her. Or just a different seat. How good is the TF in general for people who might be a little uninformed about car seat usage? Is there anything better? (At least now she knows the seat belts are supposed to be locked... I decided not to address the big fleecy Bundle Me that was in her Baby Trend today, though. Sigh.)