BRU should employ a tech

laurengt · Feb 4, 2012

Or at least train their employees in CPS. The sales guy came over to "help" and recommended a Frontier for my 25 month old and when i said that I want to keep him RF he said "you said he's 2, right? You can turn him around now." he wasn't rude and I made a few points without "preaching" before I went on my way. What would you do in this situation? Next step? I hate for people who don't know better to take that advice or other advice like putting a 2 yo in a booster (just for kicks I did put him in the frontier and he was swimming in it). Where ones anyone know where BRU stands on CPS?

I went there to see if I could find any seats that had the same/ similar shell height as the Radians. We had a safety first aio in my moms car but DS has gotten too tall for it and I was hoping to avoid the Radian price tag on a new seat. I did find one that came close: safety first alpha elite 65. With the prices compared Ill just get a Radian R120 anyway.

Brigala · Feb 4, 2012

Honestly, that's nothing. When my step-daughter went shopping because her 9 month old baby had outgrown her infant seat, the BRU employee sold her on the Toddler Safe Seat (a FF only seat) and assured her it was the safest car seat money could buy.

According to the AAP, a 2 year old should ride forward facing. Now, I happen to disagree with the AAP and I go with NHTSA's guidelines instead which indicate a child is safer rear-facing to age 4. But the BRU employee wasn't wrong in saying you could flip your 25 month old to FF. It just depends on whose guidelines you're following.

Generally, some of the worst CPS advice comes from the mouths of BRU employees. But it kind of sounds like you got one of the better ones.

laurengt · Feb 4, 2012

OMG a 9 mo FFing!

Agreed that it could have been worse and he was really nice. I don't so much mind the nod that he can FF at his age but the jump to a booster. It seems pretty drastic.

Mags462 · Feb 4, 2012

In my dream world ANY store that sold child car seat restraints would need to have a CPST on staff to answer questions

Of course i realize that will never happen but it irks me that stores are not more proactive about keeping children safe..... but that's just me

VoodooChile · Feb 4, 2012

The employees at the BRU by me just read the boxes and tags, and spew accordingly. They tell parents things like "Oh, he's 30 lbs? Here, try this booster..." or "Make sure you get this one for all this added side impact protection b/c it's been tested more..." Although I guess I prefer the latter to the former. I'm just glad I know they're so poorly trained so I don't ask them for help; pity most parents don't know when they ask.

Lemonade · Feb 4, 2012

laurengt said:
OMG a 9 mo FFing!

Agreed that it could have been worse and he was really nice. I don't so much mind the nod that he can FF at his age but the jump to a booster. It seems pretty drastic.

But you said he recommended the FR? That's not a booster, that's a harnessed booster, which is completely different than recommending a dedicated seatbelt booster. I turned my DD, who is average sized, at 24m and put her in a FR. She fit well and it was a comfortable seat for her with lots of room to grow. If a child who is 24m and 25lbs and is going to be FF, then the FR is great recommendation.

Brigala · Feb 4, 2012

laurengt said:
OMG a 9 mo FFing!

Agreed that it could have been worse and he was really nice. I don't so much mind the nod that he can FF at his age but the jump to a booster. It seems pretty drastic.

AH. You missed that point in your OP. You only mentioned the Frontier, which is fine for a 2 year old (if said 2 year old was going to be FF anyway, which mine wouldn't be).

The minimums on the Frontier in harness mode are 2 years and 25 lbs.

I'd flip about a 2 year old in a belt positioning booster too.

laurengt · Feb 4, 2012

VoodooChile said:
The employees at the BRU by me just read the boxes and tags, and spew accordingly. They tell parents things like "Oh, he's 30 lbs? Here, try this booster..." or "Make sure you get this one for all this added side impact protection b/c it's been tested more..." Although I guess I prefer the latter to the former. I'm just glad I know they're so poorly trained so I don't ask them for help; pity most parents don't know when they ask.

Yeah, he was just reading off the boxes/ labels. He wasn't giving advice counter to current laws or the minimums on the seats either. I'm not in an uproar about the experience today but if I were someone who was not knowledgable about seats or CPS at all, then I could have ended up with a seat that might not be appropriate for my child. It just made me disappointed.

Baylor · Feb 4, 2012

Last time I was there the guy told me I can only rf til the child's feet touch the back of the seat.

They do need better trained helpers or ones that give no advice at all.

auto correct hates me

bethng · Feb 4, 2012

Well the BRU near the Tacoma Mall does have a tech employeed. ME! But I only work tuesday nights to teach the classes.

laurengt · Feb 4, 2012

bethng said:
Well the BRU near the Tacoma Mall does have a tech employeed. ME! But I only work tuesday nights to teach the classes.

:0)

robbertbobbert · Feb 4, 2012

bethng said:
Well the BRU near the Tacoma Mall does have a tech employeed. ME! But I only work tuesday nights to teach the classes.

Bah! I didn't know you worked there.

I was there last week and somebody told me I should put 16-month-old C in a Frontier and 2 yr 8 month C2 in a parkway.

I just kind of stared at him.

monica-m · Feb 4, 2012

The last time I was at BRU I had to intervene when an associate was trying to sell the mother of a FF 4 year old a BLVD 70 because it was the safest thing out there because, you know, it has metal on it. I steered her to the combination seat section and she ended up with an Argos. The associate was very annoyed and was rolling her eyes at me when I said that all seats were equally safe. She disappeared shortly after I identified myself as a tech.

bethng · Feb 4, 2012

robbertbobbert said:
Bah! I didn't know you worked there.

I was there last week and somebody told me I should put 16-month-old C in a Frontier and 2 yr 8 month C2 in a parkway.

I just kind of stared at him.

hmmmm....wonder who that could have been. So many new people there now. I cant keep up. Did you tell them why that would not be an option? And nobody in baby gear gets ANY training on car seats and proper use etc..... IMO you should not give out advice on which seat best fits your needs unless you are highly educated or a tech.

tentoes · Feb 5, 2012

I've been asked 3x by a car seat/stroller section employee to come work at my local BuyBuyBaby. The second time was after convincing both car seat employees to turn their FF kiddos back around (one was 6 months old, the other was 13 months). Once they heard why- and heard from my friend who was there that she turned her 1. year old RF again- they were sold. I'm still strongly considering a part-time job there. Though half the car seat section may not get sold then

or maybe I should apply at BRU, where they know even less than the BBB employees..

robbertbobbert · Feb 5, 2012

bethng said:
hmmmm....wonder who that could have been. So many new people there now. I cant keep up. Did you tell them why that would not be an option? And nobody in baby gear gets ANY training on car seats and proper use etc..... IMO you should not give out advice on which seat best fits your needs unless you are highly educated or a tech.

It was a younger white guy? I didn't catch a name.

I explained why they are BOTH still rear facing. He then told me that rear facing past 1 is dangerous, and past 3 is deadly, because she could smash her skull with her knees and die.

I honestly laughed at that. Because a nearly 3 year old is going to DIE being RF, we should probably put her in a booster.

He also told me wearing C1 in the Beco is unsafe.

Some good came out of it, though. Another family heard me and we talked about RF for a few minutes after the guy wandered away. He had talked them into a Frontier for their 12mo and they left with a MR.

bethng · Feb 5, 2012

robbertbobbert said:
It was a younger white guy? I didn't catch a name.

I explained why they are BOTH still rear facing. He then told me that rear facing past 1 is dangerous, and past 3 is deadly, because she could smash her skull with her knees and die.

I honestly laughed at that. Because a nearly 3 year old is going to DIE being RF, we should probably put her in a booster.

He also told me wearing C1 in the Beco is unsafe.

Some good came out of it, though. Another family heard me and we talked about RF for a few minutes after the guy wandered away. He had talked them into a Frontier for their 12mo and they left with a MR.

wow. I am speechless. I have an idea who that could be. Dont know him at all though. I am going to bring this up to the baby gear supervisor though. She needs to know that people in her dept are giving out dangerous information.

HaileysMommy · Feb 5, 2012

Stuff like this makes my blood boil!

One&Done · Feb 5, 2012

This is why I'm so glad I found this website when I was pregnant.

MichiganMomma(Kim) · Feb 5, 2012

I agree, they were helpful but did not understand exactly what and why I wanted what I was looking for. I was very specific. A little training and they would be a huge help to their clients!

BRU should employ a tech

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