Frustrated with mixed info!

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cay22

New member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #1

My moms group just had a tech come in and speak to the group about carseats. I was very excited because a lot of moms have thier kids under 4 in boosters for "convience" and many have their under 2 FF in a seat that could be RF. Well I thought she would be as passionate as the people here about ERF and HWH. I even sent out a bunch of links to the group before about the importance of ERF and 5pt vs booster to get people talking. Well she came in and said that you should turn your child at 1 yr and 20lbs! She even said it was DANGEROUS!!! to have them RF past that and covertable seats (RF) were only for kids UNDER 1 and Over 20#!!! Then someone asked about 5pt vs booster and she said there is no difference in safety! She said the only harnessed boosters for over 40 #'s were for special needs! Well my 3yr old is in a Regent and has no special needs! I told her that was not true and she said you really did not need a 5pt after 40#s, only when they are small and if they will not stay in a booster. Well maybe I am wrong but now I look like and idot to the group! The moms with 3yr olds in booster kept asking if they would get a ticket and she said they would not so they should be fine. I was shocked that she was so laid back about going aginst the law. It is not the threat of a ticket that made me get a 5pt HWH but the thought of my son flying around my car in a rollover or really bad accident! I am so frustrated right now! The booster moms came up to me and said "see my child is just as safe as yours! There kid is not even 40# yet!!! Now I will never be able to convience them to HWH let alone ERF!!! I so want to get certified so maybe they would listen to me. Am I just off my rocker and over pertective?
-Aleasha
DS#1 3yrs 41# 42in Regent
DS#2 19mo 30# RF Marathon

 

keri1292

Well-known member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #2

You need to get her tech numbers and REPORT her!!! She is encouraging them to break the law and has no regard for their safety. Where are you? Maybe you could find a REAL tech to talk to your group. That's insane! :thumbsdown:

 

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cay22

New member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #3

I am in SE MI. Anyone from this board around here?
-Aleasha

 

lovinwaves

New member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #4

Wow, are you sure she was certified? Or maybe her certification has run out? All of the new Techs are taught to keep the child rear-facing until the limits of the restraint.

How frustrating. I would not have been able to keep my mouth while she was talking. That would have had my blood boiling :thumbsdown:

 

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Synchro246

New member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #5

That would be uber frustrating! I can only imagine how you might feel in your place in your moms group

 

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cay22

New member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #6

I did speak up some, letting them know my son will be RF until max of the seat. I did not know how much to interject because she is the neice of a member and I thought most people would listen to her because she was "certified". She said she got her certification about 1.5yrs ago, she works for AAA. At least I know that there is one other person I convinced to ERF! I guess that is one safer child, better than none.
-Aleasha

 

Shaunam

New member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #7

Not all techs are created equal. :thumbsdown: That's just awful, awful advice! Even if you do report her, she's just convinced all those moms that what they are doing is safe and that you are a nutcase for keeping your kids rf'ing and harnessed.

 

monzogary

Senior Community Member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #8

cay22 said:

I am in SE MI. Anyone from this board around here?
-Aleasha

Click to expand...

I'm in SE MI, but I won't be a tech until after I take the course next month. I would be more than willing to help out after that if you are close enough to me. I am about 45 min west of Detroit.
JLMK what area you are in.

 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #9

OMG -- it's higly doubtful I'd have been able to sit through that without standing up & announcing that I would be reporting her (insert crass explicative) to the state coordinator through the national CPS board :soapbox:

 

Stresch

New member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #10

If you are in Michigan, she is not telling them to break the law. As long as the kids under 4 are in any sort of seat (boosters included) they are legal.

 

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cay22

New member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #11

The way I read MI law is that they must ride in a "child restraint device" until 4. If you look up the def of a CRD I thought it has to have its own restraint not the seatbelt? A booster is not a CRD because it uses the seatbelt? I know MI does not have a booster law but they are trying to pass one.
-Aleasha

 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #12

In NY a booster is a legal restraint device.... Unfortunately, most states with booster laws don't make a legal distinction -- that does not excuse a "tech" from failing to make a SAFETY distinction (especially for children that young!)

 

Stresch

New member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #13

Someone else can correct me, but I am almost 100% positive that a booster is a child seat according to state law. I remember looking it up to try to keep my nephew out of a booster at 2.

 

elle7715

Member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #14

I'm in SE MI as well, about halfway between Detroit and Flint. What a horrible tech! I would report her immediately. And as far as I know, a booster is legal for kids under 4. Not smart, but legal.

 

Stresch

New member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #15

Yeah, my point was that if you report her, don't say she was urging parents to do anything illegal, because she wasn't. At least not in Michigan.:thumbsdown:

 

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cso1997

Active member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #16

Wow...I wouldn't have been able to keep quiet either. How sad that she mislead so many parents but hopefully they are intelligent enough to do some research on their own with the links you sent out. Wow...why even be a tech if you don't give a care about the safest way!!

 

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chickenman

New member

• Aug 21, 2007

• #17

1.5 years ago , doesnt it need to be renewed every two years? so maybe she is coming up renewl and needs uptodate information, and just to be honest what was she saying implying people to do, and was breaking the law? in cali i have heard of parents of 2.5year olds getting tickets for having them in boosters, i believe the minimum is 3.

today my daughter needed shots, so out of curiosity i asked him what is the best way to explain to a parent about why they should keep there child rearfacing for as long as possible, he said its true about the neck and spine and verterbraes are not developed enough at that age, but he said we have come to a compromise since the child would be scrunchedm and uncomfortable that he suggests 18 months or so.

and on another note some woman from colorado came into the store day, and was blown away by everything i said about car seats, and that she knows there installed incorrectly then, she even asked someone at the fire department who said he was a tech, and she had the car seat only installed with the lower anchors (ma ff), and i said what about the top tether, she had no clue where that went, and i explained to her, how it was a system, and you cant use the lower anchors without the top tether. So i hope when she gets home she reads the manual, but she lives in a very small town of colorado and nothing is really close. But at bru they called the boulevard the cadillac of car seats.

its hard especially for parents when they arent even on the same page about things, if one wants to turn them ff and one wants to keep them rf its really hard on the child and parent. I even had somone ask today if they should import a car seat from europe to work on a stroller because the us version has been delayed. I nicely told her that it would be an illegal car seat because it has not passed our federal standards. It was the maxi cosi cabrio.

 

azgirl71

CPST Instructor

• Aug 21, 2007

• #18

I would report her for giving incorrect information on RF recommendations. I realize that her cert is up in 6 months and she may not have learned that info in her class, but that is no excuse. My instructors told us over and over again that we needed to make sure we always look for upadated information. It was our job as a certified tech to help keep infants and children safe and if e did not stay p to date on info we were not doing all we could as a tech.

 

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jen_nah

CPST Instructor

• Aug 21, 2007

• #19

While she wasn't give out any information that would be considered illegal (boosters are CRD). I would report her for give out bad & misinformed information. You said she works for AAA I would also contact her supervisor to inform them of the unsafe information she is giving parents. That could be a huge liability on their part esp if she is doing it on their time as a rep for them.

There are a lot of techs out there that are not up to date on information. They don't stay current on research/data & new findings. Plus they don't keep their skills fresh. They go to the 32hr course and then that is it. They get certified and don't really do anything else beyond their job scope with that certification. A good tech is someone that is passionate about CPS. Those are the ones that push ERF/HWH/etc... To me she doesn't should like she is passionate about keeping children safe in the vehicle.

Send all these parents these links and say "Now tell me your child is just as safe as mine."

http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest_2002/videos/test2002/frontcrash/maxicosirodi.mpg