hedgefun
New member
Sorry in advance for the length of this post! Also, I'm hoping I'm posting this in the right spot. I wasn't sure if here or coffee break would be the right place.
One of the guys I work with is a part time police officer. We were talking about car seats and kids yesterday at work. He seems really into CPS. I told him I was planning on becoming a certified CPST [once I find a class that fits my schedule] so I could participate in seat check events and make sure my knowledge remains up to date. I suggested that maybe we could sign up for a class together.
His response was that it isn't necessary to become certified because, "It's not that hard, you just need to make sure the seat is tightly secured to something immovable in the car. Now most cars have those connectors, so it makes it really easy. We help people all the time at the PD."
My response was, "Well, part of it is making sure the seat is secured tightly, but there are other aspects such as who should be RF, FF, and in a booster. There are also differences between manufacturers of vehicles and car seats as to when the LATCH anchors can and can't be used. Also, sometimes the car seats can legally be used in a way that's not the safest practice, such as FF at 1yo & 20lbs. These are the types of things I'm hoping to learn in the CPST class."
He didn't seem convinced. I'm hoping I can gently bring things up when I work with him (which is only every 4 weeks or so) which will convince him that there are other aspects to CPS than "oh it just needs to be tightly secured to something."
On the upside, he was telling me how long his son (who is now 16-ish) was in a booster and I was impressed. That's why I think there might be some hope in convincing him!
One of the guys I work with is a part time police officer. We were talking about car seats and kids yesterday at work. He seems really into CPS. I told him I was planning on becoming a certified CPST [once I find a class that fits my schedule] so I could participate in seat check events and make sure my knowledge remains up to date. I suggested that maybe we could sign up for a class together.
His response was that it isn't necessary to become certified because, "It's not that hard, you just need to make sure the seat is tightly secured to something immovable in the car. Now most cars have those connectors, so it makes it really easy. We help people all the time at the PD."
My response was, "Well, part of it is making sure the seat is secured tightly, but there are other aspects such as who should be RF, FF, and in a booster. There are also differences between manufacturers of vehicles and car seats as to when the LATCH anchors can and can't be used. Also, sometimes the car seats can legally be used in a way that's not the safest practice, such as FF at 1yo & 20lbs. These are the types of things I'm hoping to learn in the CPST class."
He didn't seem convinced. I'm hoping I can gently bring things up when I work with him (which is only every 4 weeks or so) which will convince him that there are other aspects to CPS than "oh it just needs to be tightly secured to something."
On the upside, he was telling me how long his son (who is now 16-ish) was in a booster and I was impressed. That's why I think there might be some hope in convincing him!
