help! FF 8mo!

D

danielle.nichole

Senior Community Member

• Aug 8, 2007

• #1

So I work in the infant room of a child care center and one of the moms (who is also a teacher in the toddler room, so we are friends and talk ALL the time) has an 8 month old daughter in my class.

I walked out to their car with them this evening after a staff meeting and was shocked to see that her baby was already forward facing. I said "I should kick your butt! I can't believe she is forward facing!" - and then she responded with "Well the manual said to turn them around at 20lbs." - I was so shocked and upset, I didn't have much to say except "No, thats the minimum weight you can turn them around, and you want to keep them RFing as LONG as possible" -but she was in a hurry to pick her husband up from work, so we didn't have time to chat more about it.

It was so sad for me to see, it was all I could do to not cry on my way home. I am still very choked up just thinking about this.

Can ya'll link me to some articles that I can print out and put in diaper bags tomorrow at awork? I would appreciate it greatly!

 

ThreeBeans

New member

• Aug 8, 2007

• #2

What state are you in? It may also be illegal.

 

Ali

New member

• Aug 8, 2007

• #3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qef1TXZ05Dg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMFPSStXfqE

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx

http://www.thecarseatlady.com/car_seats/rear-facing_seats.html

http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm

And I PM'd you!

 

CRS

Senior Community Member

• Aug 8, 2007

• #4

Some of these links to articles/info and vids may help?

Video Footage:

Crash test of a Forward-Facing child
Side camera Crash test of a Rear-Facing child
Overhead view of a Rear-Facing child
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo

Additional information on rear-facing:

Why rear-facing is important
Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2006
Is Your Baby Ready to Face Forward in the Car?
MSNBC: Toddlers Should Face the Rear Longer
Rear-Facing Car Seats: What You Need to Know, by Kathleen Weber
Rear-Facing Seats
Car Time - Stage 1: Safe Travel in a Rear-facing Infant Seat
Rear-Facing Car Seat Rules - Why You Should Consider Extended Rear-Facing
Child safety in cars - Literature review
SafetyBeltSafe Technical Information (Scroll down to the section on Rear-facing vs. forward-facing)
Safety For the Growing Child - Experiences From Swedish Accident Data
Danger with children - The researchers' facts about children and car security (Swedish)
Pediatric cervical spine injuries: report of 102 cases and review of the literature
How Long Should Babies Ride Facing the Back of the Car?
Why Rear-Facing is Safest
Rear-Facing - Unmatched Safety

 

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danielle.nichole

Senior Community Member

• Aug 8, 2007

• #5

We are in Texas.

 

MomToEliEm

Moderator

• Aug 8, 2007

• #6

Alsmost all non-expired carseats now say that the carseat cannot be used prior to 1 year of age and 20 pounds, so since she is using the seat at 8 months forward facing, that is going against the manufacturer's instruction (provided she has a restraint that is worded that way).

Do you recall what kind of seat she was using? Maybe if we knew, we could point out in the manual where it says the baby must still be rear facing.

Hopefully if you can provide the woman with enough information (without stuffing it down her throat of course and being mean about it), then she will hopefully listen to you.

 

D

danielle.nichole

Senior Community Member

• Aug 8, 2007

• #7

She was in either a Titan or a Triumph (not one of the advance ones either) - its times like these that make me wish that I was already certified as a CPST. (I was told there is a class coming up in September, but haven't found any info on it yet)

I printed out a bunch of papers and plan to give one set to her tomorrow, another on Friday and another on Monday.

 

MomToEliEm

Moderator

• Aug 8, 2007

• #8

From the evenflo website:
-----------
https://plweb.evenflo.com/faq_detail.aspx?faqid=4534
Question:
What is the weight and height recommendations for the Triumph car seat in the United States?

Answer:
The convertible seat is for a child who weighs 5-30 pounds and is at least 19 inches (48 cm) for rear facing and 20-40 pounds and less then 40 inches (101 cm) forward facing. The child should at least be 1 year of age for forward facing.

------------
Unfortunately, this is all it says for the Titan (no mention of age requirement minimum for forward facing)
Question:
What is the weight and height recommendations for the Titan I/V car seat in the United States?

Answer:
The convertible seat is for a child who weighs 5-30 pounds and is at least 19 inches (48 cm) for rear facing and 20-40 pounds and less then 40 inches (101 cm) forward facing.

 

Last edited: Aug 8, 2007

MomToEliEm

Moderator

• Aug 8, 2007

• #9

I just pulled up the Evenflo Titan instructions (http://www.babyage.com/icons/localhost/products/multimedia/30701_3671661.pdf) and on page 1, it states:

If your child weighs between 5 and 30 lbs (2.3 and 13.6 kg), AND is at least 19 inches (48 cm) tall AND the topof the child's head is at least 1 inch (25 mm) below the top of the child restraint seat back AND is less then one year old, you MUST use this child restraint rear-facing.

If your child weighs between 20 and 30 lbs (9 and 13.6 kg) AND is at least 1 year of age, you can use the child restraint either rear - OR forward-facing.


If she is using the Titan, then she is using the seat incorrectly per the instructions.

 

C

chickenman

New member

• Aug 8, 2007

• #10

CRS said:

Some of these links to articles/info and vids may help?

Video Footage:

Crash test of a Forward-Facing child
Side camera Crash test of a Rear-Facing child
Overhead view of a Rear-Facing child
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo

Additional information on rear-facing:

Why rear-facing is important
Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2006
Is Your Baby Ready to Face Forward in the Car?
MSNBC: Toddlers Should Face the Rear Longer
Rear-Facing Car Seats: What You Need to Know, by Kathleen Weber
Rear-Facing Seats
Car Time - Stage 1: Safe Travel in a Rear-facing Infant Seat
Rear-Facing Car Seat Rules - Why You Should Consider Extended Rear-Facing
Child safety in cars - Literature review
SafetyBeltSafe Technical Information (Scroll down to the section on Rear-facing vs. forward-facing)
Safety For the Growing Child - Experiences From Swedish Accident Data
Danger with children - The researchers' facts about children and car security (Swedish)
Pediatric cervical spine injuries: report of 102 cases and review of the literature
How Long Should Babies Ride Facing the Back of the Car?
Why Rear-Facing is Safest
Rear-Facing - Unmatched Safety

Click to expand...

in the video of the front crash video of the maxi cosi priori, is that the us one of the european model? they were not using a top tether or isofix, which would dramatically changed how far the head and car seat moved forward, but its still very scarry and real what could happen to a child if the accident were at a high rate of speed

 

CRS

Senior Community Member

• Aug 8, 2007

• #11

chickenman said:

in the video of the front crash video of the maxi cosi priori, is that the us one of the european model? they were not using a top tether or isofix, which would dramatically changed how far the head and car seat moved forward, but its still very scarry and real what could happen to a child if the accident were at a high rate of speed

Click to expand...

Yes it's the European version, point still stands though - the head moves a horrific amount foward from the sheer weight of it.

 

D

danielle.nichole

Senior Community Member

• Aug 9, 2007

• #12

I printed several articles today to show her and she skimmed over one and basically said "thanks for your concern, but i'm not turning her back around" - her reasoning is that if the baby needs something, she can't give it to her when she is RFing and driving by herself. Also, she said that the two carseats don't fit in the backseat of the 2door Civic when the baby's seat is RFing. (whateverrrrrrrrrrrrr) I also mentioned to her that besides it being unsafe, it was also ILLEGAL to have her FFing, and she said "well, I would fight it if I ever got in trouble for it, its not fair!"

I am way bummed out about this.

 

spokaneCPST

CPST Instructor

• Aug 9, 2007

• #13

CRS said:

Yes it's the European version, point still stands though - the head moves a horrific amount foward from the sheer weight of it.

Click to expand...

I agree - and we see tons of people using untethered seats, due to older cars, lack of knowledge, or no tether anchor in the desired seating location.
Renee

 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member

• Aug 9, 2007

• #14

I do hope I don't offend anyone, but honestly that makes me feel sick -- knowing that someone who doesn't even care enough about her own child to practice the bare minimum of safety recommendation is an ECE teacher....
:soapbox:
Sometimes you can only do so much, unfortunately. I would call the police on her everytime you see the child in the vehicle (if it is illegal). Repeatedly.

 

CRS

Senior Community Member

• Aug 9, 2007

• #15

danielle.nichole said:

I printed several articles today to show her and she skimmed over one and basically said "thanks for your concern, but i'm not turning her back around" - her reasoning is that if the baby needs something, she can't give it to her when she is RFing and driving by herself. Also, she said that the two carseats don't fit in the backseat of the 2door Civic when the baby's seat is RFing. (whateverrrrrrrrrrrrr) I also mentioned to her that besides it being unsafe, it was also ILLEGAL to have her FFing, and she said "well, I would fight it if I ever got in trouble for it, its not fair!"

I am way bummed out about this.

Click to expand...

That sucks dude. I can TOTALLY sympathise with how you're feeling - doesn't it break your heart? I can't convince people to do stuff if they've already that they're going to do it regardless. I can however, educate others on this kind of thing and help someone ELSE! You can do that too - dont' give up!

 

Erika Ruth

New member

• Aug 9, 2007

• #16

I really pray that she doesn't get into a car accident. Children should not suffer for their parents being dorks.

PLUS, it is EASIER to hand things to your kids when they are RF, You can toss it over the back of the seat, and it slides down to where they can grab it... (Much easier, than trying to get it to a HAND!)

Erika

 

ThreeBeans

New member

• Aug 9, 2007

• #17

Given her attitude, I would report her to the police.

 

Jessie78

New member

• Aug 10, 2007

• #18

Wow, just....wow. How scary. It's amazing when you come up against attitudes like that.