Field trip chaperone??

We have a school field trip coming up this week, and I'll be going as a chaperone to transport kids (the kids in this class are 3, 4, and 5 yr olds). I always go on all the field trips because I've seen how other parents install their carseats, how they buckle in their kids, and how fast they drive--and I don't trust them to keep my kids safe.

I am usually given my assignment of which kids will be riding with me about 20 minutes before we are supposed to leave, so that I can run out and install their carseats in my van. But some of the seats look really old, or have harness straps that are twisted into little ropes (which also makes them nearly impossible to tighten/loosen), or they install terribly and are always missing the top tether strap. Or they have a super petite (and wiggly) 4 yr old in a backless booster. Anyway, it's always really frustrating to get the seats installed, and get the kids adjusted in them properly before it's time to leave. I want to know that the kids I am transporting are as safe as they can be while they are under my care.

So I was thinking...In my van, I can safely transport my own child (4 yr old), plus 3 others. Between my van and my dh's car, I have a Safeguard, two Britax Boulevards, and two Britax Parkways. Is there any way that I could just use my own seats??? They are good quality seats, would be properly installed, and could be adjusted to fit each child correctly. That would make me so much more comfortable!! I'm sure that I would need the other parents permission to use my seats instead of their own (for legal reasons), so how can I word that in a way that won't be offensive to the other parents??

**And I just want to add that these pathetic carseat issues aren't due to lack of money or access to good seats. These people are paying lots of $$ to send their kids to a private school, but for some reason they just couldn't care less about carseat safety.

Thanks for any advice!

I'm curious about the same thing. I have two Wizards, two Radians, a Parkway and two backless boosters (and one kid, LOL). I have an SUV now where I can easily fit my Radian and two Wizards in there. I'd love a van not too far down the road and I could fill the five spots back there with harnessed seats (especially if we get a Regent) and Piper's Parkway. Since I know and trust Piper I would put her in the Parkway and then fill her other four seats with kids (3-6 year olds). I would try to approach it with, "I'm a CPST and I have seats installed already, which means you don't need to move yours and you know that these are installed well and will be used properly." Provided people know what a tech is and that they would trust me on the seats, I would hope it wouldn't be an issue. We haven't had any field trips yet, though. I may even rent a minivan for the day so I can take more kids and know they're safe.

The parking lot at Piper's school is a Britax ad. Everywhere you look there are Roundabouts and Marathons. No Boulevards or Decathalons, and no Regents unfortunately, but a lot of other seats. I saw a kid being dropped off last week with his little brother waving from the back in a backless booster with the shoulder belt under his arm. I think the older brother couldn't be older than five or six, at best, so the younger brother was too young for the booster, never mind how he was sitting in it. I think one of the administrators saw me looking and saw me shake my head because she asked if I was Wendy and that she had gotten my volunteer info (where of course I said I was a tech and would love to educate parents).

Wendy

I agree with the above post. Just mention that you already have enough car seats installed in your vehicle that would fit there children, so they don’t need to bother taking there seats out. If the parents at your school are not concerned with car seat safety, then I would think they would have no problem using your seats. They might even think your doing them a favor saving them the *trouble* of uninstalling and reinstalling there seats.

I'd do what the 2 PP have suggested. In the past when I've had to drive for both preschool and kindergarten field trips and the parents have provided inappropriate seats, I've told the teachers that I would not install the seats in my vehicle and transport the children in an unsafe or illegal manner. I would use appropriate seats (the ones I brought) or I could not drive. Period. When I put it that way, the teachers were very happy to let me use my seats (they didn't want the liability, either). I've had to tell parents that I could not use the seat they provided for different reasons, too, and it went fine each time, and I was able on a couple of occasions to convince parents to obtain a more appropriate seat for their child. By saying, "I'm so sorry, but I can't transport little Billy in a backless booster- he doesn't meet the minimum weight requirement (or little Sally can't ride in a seat that's 13 years old in my vechicle, it's directly against the manufacturer's recommendations) and I would be liable if anything were to happen", you're sometimes able to shift the "blame" onto a third party and it's not such a confrontational experience.

Thanks so much for all the responses!! I'm definitely going to talk to the teachers about it the beginning of this week (the field trip is Thursday), find out which parents I need to talk to, and try first to push the convenience route for the parents. That way, they don't have to try to re-install their carseat in carline when they come to pick them up in the afternoon. If necessary, I'll pursue the other ideas about how I don't want the liability of an unsafe seat in my car. Thanks again for the encouragement!!

I've been frustrated by the carseat issues at our school for a long time, and I'm finally going to do something about it. I'm going to try my hardest to get babysitting help so that I can attend a course the end of this month to get certified as a carseat tech. I've already got the support of one of the teachers at the school, and I really think it could make a big difference. :thumbsup:

I'm so glad to have this website! What a wonderful resource for information !

It's great that you care so much about other people's kids, even when we see they don't care 1/2 as much. I don't drive, but I always insist that DH or I install the carseat before DS rides in any vehicle, I think even if it was a tech doing the install, I'd want to check it, but that's just me.