Vent Ughhh went to seat check

lovemy2kidstw

New member
Ok, so they were having a seat check in a town about an hour fro m where I live so I decided since I needed to do some shopping anyway, we would go. Well turns out I ended up educating the cop/ tech :(. He checked DD's seat & asked if I installed it myself. I said yep & he said that's really good. Ok then he goes over to DS & says you know since he's over a year old (17mo). We recommend them be forward facing... WTF?! I said yeah I know he can legally be forward facing, but rear facing is much safer & that is why I specifically bought his seat to RF to 40 lbs. He said well as long as he's happy & comfortable RF then it's fine. Facepalm! He tried to tell me that I couldn't RF tether so I had to explain that yes I could. Britax is one of the few seats you can do that with. He said that 90% of people who come in their seats are installed wrong & I was one of the 10% that had it right.
 
ADS

ame0312

New member
i should go to one around here since we moved just to see what people have to say... since nobody here knows me :) sure id leave educating them instead of them educating me... lol!
 

MommyShannon

New member
Yikes! DD2 just turned 2 and when the doc went through the checklist of do's and don'ts she made sure we still had her in a forward facing harnessed seat. I told her she's RF. She commented that since she is 2 it's fine to FF and that she would probably appreciate that too. I just nodded.
 

tam_shops

New member
I *really* do not get how anyone that has been certified in the last 6-7years would not *get* that ERF is safer. My oldest is 6yo. I knew about ERF from BBC before I had him. I knew that RF to the max of the height/weight of the seat was *safer* and should be done as long as possible.

HOW can someone that is actually certified not *get* that!? Really? I get the tether thing, each seat is different, not all seats allow it, perhaps it was missed/forgotten from the class. But, ERF, what's not to get?

tam
 

Cath3114

New member
I would have gotten his name and certificate number to report it. Not to necessarily get him in trouble, but to make the organization aware.
 

gagenivy

New member
When I went to have my daughter's seat checked, the tech sat down and read the entire manual. Then after that told me I can't top tether while RF her. There was some other stuff I can't remember off hand but I remember thiking what a waste it was for both of us:(
 

lovemy2kidstw

New member
tam_shops said:
I *really* do not get how anyone that has been certified in the last 6-7years would not *get* that ERF is safer. My oldest is 6yo. I knew about ERF from BBC before I had him. I knew that RF to the max of the height/weight of the seat was *safer* and should be done as long as possible.

HOW can someone that is actually certified not *get* that!? Really? I get the tether thing, each seat is different, not all seats allow it, perhaps it was missed/forgotten from the class. But, ERF, what's not to get?

tam

My thoughts exactly!!! Is that not one of the main highlights of the course? Why would I buy a seat that RF's to 40lbs & not use it to the max? What irritates me is that someone who doesn't know better would take this as " well the cop/ tech who is an expert said it was fine so it must be safe". :(
 

Meg

Well-known member
I had a similar experience when I went to a seat check in my town last year. The officer kept asking if I was really a tech-in-disguise :)rolleyes:) since everything was correct, he told me I could FF my one year old, told me my 4 year old should move to a booster, he re-installed the seats by himself while i filled out the paperwork, and then when I got home and took the kids out of the car I realized he had installed my little guy's seat incorrectly and he never locked the seat belt. :eek: The experience really put me off from local seat checks.:(
 

Phineasmama

New member
That's why I never go to local seat checks :rolleyes: I might not be a tech but I know darn well how to get a good install with my seats and I don't want anyone messing them up.

Just like some of the ridiculous information I've gotten while browsing the car seat aisle at BRU!!! Those employees 9x out of 10 have absolutely no friggin idea what they're talking about.
 

Cath3114

New member
Phineasmama said:
Just like some of the ridiculous information I've gotten while browsing the car seat aisle at BRU!!! Those employees 9x out of 10 have absolutely no friggin idea what they're talking about.

I actually posted about this on their FB wall yesterday. When I didn't get an answer (but they responded to other comments), I mentioned it again today. Another one of my friends chimed in on it too about an associate suggesting she FF her 7mo because he's "a big boy". I proposed giving associates basic training, or if that was cost prohibitive, not allowing them to give any car seat advice. They asked me to send an email and include my contact info so someone could call me.

If anybody else wants to chime in on it, please do. Especially techs! Maybe they will take it seriously if enough comment and email. At the very least, it's getting the message out, since they have over 1 million likes.
 

moonmommy

Senior Community Member
I *really* do not get how anyone that has been certified in the last 6-7years would not *get* that ERF is safer. My oldest is 6yo. I knew about ERF from BBC before I had him. I knew that RF to the max of the height/weight of the seat was *safer* and should be done as long as possible.

HOW can someone that is actually certified not *get* that!? Really? I get the tether thing, each seat is different, not all seats allow it, perhaps it was missed/forgotten from the class. But, ERF, what's not to get?

tam

Not all techs are created equal. Some only get certified because they have to for their job, and some have ignorant biases that they still hold onto even after certification. One of the techs in my certification class very snobbily said that when she has kids, she wouldn't be keeping her 2 year old RF. I went to a CPS conference last year, and when one of the techs told another one that his child was 2, the other tech said "so they're forward facing, of course." Even one of the instructors in my area was SHOCKED that I still had my son RF at 3. Luckily, there are a few other VERY passionate, VERY educated, very pro-ERF and very awesome CPSTs in my area that I get to work with at seat checks.
 

morlando27

New member
This is why I didn't renew my certification. The other techs, including the CPST-I who organizes the local events, were giving outdated advice and discouraged me from giving info on current best practices.
 

lovemy2kidstw

New member
morlando27 said:
This is why I didn't renew my certification. The other techs, including the CPST-I who organizes the local events, were giving outdated advice and discouraged me from giving info on current best practices.

It just frustrates the crap out of me because it wasn't like he just said " he could legally be forward facing now". He said " we actually recommend turning them at one year, he's plenty big enough to be forward facing". :(. & then he said" well as long as he's comfortable & not complaining then I guess you can leave him like that". I wanted to say " yes because. If he fussed that would be so much worse than a broken neck from FF to early"! I'm just at a loss to why a "tech" would tell someone to FF when the seat goes to 40 lbs.
 

tinytreasures

New member
I *really* do not get how anyone that has been certified in the last 6-7years would not *get* that ERF is safer. My oldest is 6yo. I knew about ERF from BBC before I had him. I knew that RF to the max of the height/weight of the seat was *safer* and should be done as long as possible.

HOW can someone that is actually certified not *get* that!? Really? I get the tether thing, each seat is different, not all seats allow it, perhaps it was missed/forgotten from the class. But, ERF, what's not to get?

tam

This is why I refuse to take the classes. The teacher is awful. I had to go to a 3 hour training for foster care and she had no idea what she was talking about. She was telling people that is was Okay to have some movement in the sit when I asked how much was okay. She said a inch or 2. So everyone walked out of that class with bad info. Plus she said you could never leave the handle up on a infant seat no matter what. Said there is no reason to leave them ERF, because they could break their legs.
I was so sad to see she was the teacher because, I would have loved to take the CPST class.
 

CTPDMom

Ambassador - CPS Technician
I *really* do not get how anyone that has been certified in the last 6-7years would not *get* that ERF is safer. My oldest is 6yo. I knew about ERF from BBC before I had him. I knew that RF to the max of the height/weight of the seat was *safer* and should be done as long as possible.

HOW can someone that is actually certified not *get* that!? Really? I get the tether thing, each seat is different, not all seats allow it, perhaps it was missed/forgotten from the class. But, ERF, what's not to get?

It is VERY possible that anyone certified in the last 6-7 years not be aware of ERF. Many people who are certified do so as a mandatory requirement of their job. Their class instructor might not mention ERF, just local law. Sad, but true. Then they will do the CEUs necessary to recert, and only that. And that's how you get a tech with no ERF knowledge. It happens, sadly more than you'd think!
 

VoodooChile

New member
Aw, man! We actually have a course here this summer that I'm considering taking (if I can get child care handled), but now I'm wondering just what I'd hear in it!
My main concerns aren't that, of course, but my physical limitations, which I won't derail this thread with.
 

yetanotherjen

CPST Instructor
My thoughts exactly!!! Is that not one of the main highlights of the course? Why would I buy a seat that RF's to 40lbs & not use it to the max? What irritates me is that someone who doesn't know better would take this as " well the cop/ tech who is an expert said it was fine so it must be safe". :(

Because unfortunately there are still some instructors who don't stress it very much or give the example that they made the parental choice to ff before 2
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
Guys... don't use experiences like this as a reason to shy away from certification, use them as a reason to get certified! It's proof positive we need more techs out there teaching true best practice.

It's easy, working in vehicles with atrocious installs, to get jaded about things. But OTOH, I can't possibly ever imagine telling a parent to make their child LESS safe! Sorry you had that experience, OP :(
 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin
Staff member
This is why I didn't renew my certification. The other techs, including the CPST-I who organizes the local events, were giving outdated advice and discouraged me from giving info on current best practices.

Hi-

While we have not removed technical professional forum access from technicians who are no longer certified, we do require that you replace your CPS Technician title if your certification has lapsed for any reason.

If the option to switch is no longer available in your User CP group memberships area, please PM me or Admin to help.

Thank you!
 

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