I checked my trainer's seat yesterday. His 2.5 year old is probably 32-34 pounds, FFing in a Scenera (12/19/05). The seat wasn't actually installed somehow. The dad swears it was that morning, and he's never lied to me or mislead me. It wouldn't surprise me that it wasn't clicked tightly, or if it was unbuckled by the kid as he was getting out.
It's a 1996 GM, Oldsmobile I think? Decidedly the car they try to avoid using. Anyway, lightweight locking latchplates in the back, sewn in the front. The child is behind the passenger. The seatbelt behind the passenger is actually missing the locking latchplate part. Can't put the child behind the driver because the driver's seat doesn't stay up on its own, so the dad has a board flat on top of the backseat to prop the driver's seat up.
The locking clip was on the seat, so I pulled that off, used it to lock the seatbelt, and showed dad how to make sure the seat is in (the seat gets moved back and forth a lot). I showed him how to use it and told him to just not remove the locking clip. The seat is in solidly (it's rocking the car, it had been tipping around turns, of course since the seatbelt couldn't lock at all). I untwisted the straps as best I could, but there was still one twist in there. I have no idea how, I went over that strap from end to end. Infinitely better than it had been, but not perfect.
Their other vehicle is a 2004 Ford Windstar with lightweight locking latchplates (intact) or LATCH, so they won't need the locking clip there. I told him about flipping the belt if necessary.
Having the child next to the flat board on the backseat has me worried, but I don't know that there's anything to do other than restrict the kid being in the car, which they do already. I haven't touched a sewn buckle since my class. I didn't check to see if it retracted at the lap or shoulder. I nearly used it since I couldn't find the locking clip right off the bat.
Mostly it's the board that really concerns me. How to keep the seat up but the child safe? Is there something else to do re: the locking clip, the placement, etc. I didn't weigh the son, I've seen him, he's a solid kid and while he's not tall he can't weigh less than Piper. I didn't push the ERFing, generally I would, but at nearing three and the weight limit for the Scenera, I thought just teaching dad how to install it properly in his vehicles would be my mitzvah for the day.
Any ideas of what to do? If anything? The car has no AC, it's obviously on its last legs, they use it for the kids as rarely as possible (oh, there's a 7 year old in nothing. I told dad of the law, I've only met that son once I don't know at a glance how big or heavy he is to know if he'd pass the 5 step test or not, regardless of NC law). Is there something safer than can help hold the driver's seat up? And to double check myself, the locking clip was the way to go, right?
Wendy
It's a 1996 GM, Oldsmobile I think? Decidedly the car they try to avoid using. Anyway, lightweight locking latchplates in the back, sewn in the front. The child is behind the passenger. The seatbelt behind the passenger is actually missing the locking latchplate part. Can't put the child behind the driver because the driver's seat doesn't stay up on its own, so the dad has a board flat on top of the backseat to prop the driver's seat up.
The locking clip was on the seat, so I pulled that off, used it to lock the seatbelt, and showed dad how to make sure the seat is in (the seat gets moved back and forth a lot). I showed him how to use it and told him to just not remove the locking clip. The seat is in solidly (it's rocking the car, it had been tipping around turns, of course since the seatbelt couldn't lock at all). I untwisted the straps as best I could, but there was still one twist in there. I have no idea how, I went over that strap from end to end. Infinitely better than it had been, but not perfect.
Their other vehicle is a 2004 Ford Windstar with lightweight locking latchplates (intact) or LATCH, so they won't need the locking clip there. I told him about flipping the belt if necessary.
Having the child next to the flat board on the backseat has me worried, but I don't know that there's anything to do other than restrict the kid being in the car, which they do already. I haven't touched a sewn buckle since my class. I didn't check to see if it retracted at the lap or shoulder. I nearly used it since I couldn't find the locking clip right off the bat.
Mostly it's the board that really concerns me. How to keep the seat up but the child safe? Is there something else to do re: the locking clip, the placement, etc. I didn't weigh the son, I've seen him, he's a solid kid and while he's not tall he can't weigh less than Piper. I didn't push the ERFing, generally I would, but at nearing three and the weight limit for the Scenera, I thought just teaching dad how to install it properly in his vehicles would be my mitzvah for the day.
Any ideas of what to do? If anything? The car has no AC, it's obviously on its last legs, they use it for the kids as rarely as possible (oh, there's a 7 year old in nothing. I told dad of the law, I've only met that son once I don't know at a glance how big or heavy he is to know if he'd pass the 5 step test or not, regardless of NC law). Is there something safer than can help hold the driver's seat up? And to double check myself, the locking clip was the way to go, right?
Wendy