How to convince mom not to put 11 month old in a weird booster seat?

_juune · Oct 30, 2012

I'm in Europe.
This mom on the message board has this Chicco 3max seat from her older child [can't find a decent link in English]. She writes the seat is 8 years old. Aaaand the seat is certified for use with seat belt as a booster from 9 kg(!). No word in the manual about for how many years it's usable/when it expires. Manual here. Apparently it's at least possible to lock the seatbelt in the belt guide. Am I crazy for thinking it's not a good idea to put an 11 month old in that??? Can a seatbelt even stay put on a tiny 9 kg baby's shoulder?
How do I convince the mom not to put her 9 kg baby in that seat??? Any linkable studies? I can't even reason that the baby won't sit still, because the belt can be locked in the belt guide.

Added: the law over here says about this much: "a child under 150cm must be in a child seat". Rather unspecific.

Kappy · Oct 30, 2012

Wow, Chicco even puts it's recommended age range as 1-12 years. Oh, my!

I can't imagine wanting to put an infant in one of those, because a baby or toddler will NOT sit still if they have the ability to move!

ketchupqueen · Oct 30, 2012

Send her the info page from carseat.se?

christineka · Oct 30, 2012

Is there an impact shield available for the seat? I can understand a booster being rated down to 9 months with that shield. (I don't agree, but that's normal in Europe.) European car seats don't expire like american seats do. They have to meet the current EU standards. If not, then the seat shouldn't be used.

ketchupqueen · Oct 30, 2012

Yeah I wondered if it has a shield too, but I didn't see anything about one... Most manufacturers in Europe recommend discontinuing use after 10 years.

Phineasmama · Oct 30, 2012

My 13mo would be climbing all over the back of the car!

safeinthecar · Oct 31, 2012

It used to be very common in Europe for boosters to start at 9-12 months and 9 kg. I used to have one from Britax when dd2 was about a year old. She never rode in it of course, but I played around with her in it in the driveway and in all honesty she couldn't wiggle out of it any easier than she could a 5 pt harness ( she could indeed get out of a 5 pt, she could also remove her pants!!! While in a 5 pt. The kid was quite resourseful) .

Despite not having an advantage in the wiggle out department, she very quickly caught on to what the big button on the seatbelt did. I doubt I could have made it to the end of the street the first time I buckled her into it before having to stop and put her back.

So, easy access to the seatbelt release is the first reason. The second one is that boosters are no longer made for this small of a child by any euro manufacturer. They just aren't safe.

_juune · Oct 31, 2012

I think I'll go with the not recommended to use for more than 10 years and that the baby might have very easy access to the seatbelt release button. And add a very gentle bit about baby being safer rear-facing. Sadly Swedish kind of seats are just too expensive for most people where I live [and good convertibles RF to 13kg are not much cheaper], therefore pushing that will likely just end in a bad argument

And no, that seat has no shield. From what I understand the seatbelt can be "locked" or clamped in the shoulder belt quide. It seems that it is intended to be phased out [whew], because it doesn't appear on Chicco's main site; but it's still sold in at least two local online stores; and it's also certified under the latest European standard R44/04.
Added: mhh, I read the manual again and I can't find the place that I yesterday interpreted as the seat belt being lockable. Funny ...

_juune · Oct 31, 2012

christineka said:
European car seats don't expire like american seats do. They have to meet the current EU standards. If not, then the seat shouldn't be used.

I know that Euro seats don't expire. Still, at least some of them have in their manuals "not recommended to use for more than X years" [my iziCombi has this, and I remember quite clearly MaxiCosi Mobi having that info, too], while others have nothing.

How to convince mom not to put 11 month old in a weird booster seat?

_juune

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ketchupqueen

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safeinthecar

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_juune

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