How do you tell someone that their car seat is not install correctly?

lourdes

Well-known member
I have a day care, from all the kids that I have I know for sure that 2 of them have their car seats install really bad, 1. Is a 2y/o that weights 42 pounds, he is currently riding in a Maestro ( I inform his mother that the Alpha Omega thy he was is had a 40 pounds limit) it is install in the center with latch in a Nissan Pathfinder, is has like 5 inches of movement and it needs to be install with seat belt in that position. 2. Is a 3 month old ho rides in a Chicvo Keyfit 30 install with latch in the center of a Mitsubishi Outlander, it has like 3 inches of movement and it needs to be install with seat belt in that seating position. So how can I say something without "offending" them?
 
ADS

mom of six

Active member
You could try the "You know, I am a car seat geek and I have noticed that your car seats are not installed as well as they could be. I love your kids so much I would hate to have anything happen to them. Would you mind if I showed you how to install them better?"

This way there is a positive spin on what they have done and you are letting them know you just want to make it better. For us car seat geeks there are somethings we just "know" it is hard to understand why others don't just "know" that too. I have been surprised about how clueless people really are. Back in 1992 I worked in a home day care for a summer and we would sometimes take kids to the library for reading time. This was the height of the locking clip era so I taught my employer and her other employee how to use them. Lainy, (the employee) commented that one day when she had turned a corner one of the car seats had tipped over in her car with a kid in it and she wondered how that could be safe. She had no clue about locking clips.

There is an excellent booklet available about safe installation of car seats. I learned about it here. They are free. Here is the link: https://www.usaaedfoundation.org/Safety/safety_544_child_safety_seats

Maybe you could have a pile of these sitting on the counter near where the kids get dropped off or picked up.
 

lourdes

Well-known member
Yeah, the booklet is a good idea, I have another parent that is driving me and my back nuts! I have explain in a lot of occasions how to install the car seat RF and FF and they just don't do it right, and they think it is right, the keep doing the same mistake, I install the car seat RF and when they have to reinstall it for any reason they do it FF thru the RF belt path........ I told them that they need a car seat installing boot camp!!! But at least they want to do it right, they just don't get it! Next week they will being a video camara to record what I do, specially since I will be moving to the states and they need to learn this before I leave
 

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