Should ALL parents get their car seats checked? *UPDATE: YES!*

I think this is one of those questions that has an obvious answer from a public health standpoint, but I am kind of curious -- is it really irresponsible to not get your seat checked?

I am not a CPST, but I am on here frequently and am learning a ton about car seats. I buy easy-to-install seats, read the seat manual and the car manual, watch CPST- or manufacturer-made videos about how to install the specific seat, and ask on here if I have questions. I have even downloaded and read the CPST training manual.

I have never actually gotten the seat checked, though. Should I? When I read that the vast majority of parents think their car seat is installed correctly, but it has at least one "critical misuse," I get nervous. But on the other hand, are we talking about people who just consider themselves well-educated and able to read a manual and are surprised that it's harder than it looks? Or are we talking about people who have read all the "common car seat mistakes" articles, spend time on car seat blogs, and watch CPST installation videos?

Every now and then, I think I should really just follow the advice of the PSAs and get it checked out. (This one gets me every time! [ame]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WBV7i5JeAfY[/ame] Darn those judgmental toddlers!) But then when I go to the NHTSA website to look up a seat check site, it only gives me a map and there are no markings for where the locations are. Maybe it's because I surf the net on my phone and not at a computer?

Anyway, techs, after you got interested in car seats but before you were a tech, were you able to competently install an easy to use seat? Is it just flat out irresponsible to not get the seat checked, or is the "everyone should do it" campaign more a matter of "there's no one demographic to target because misuse is so widespread, so we have to tell everyone to do it or else no one will" kind of thing?

****UPDATE*****

Okay, so, inspired by all of your comments, I decided to bite the bullet and go to a car seat clinic with my in-laws to get the seat for their car checked. They were running a bit behind schedule and so I went into the fire station to use the restroom and when I came out the tech was already talking with my in-laws and looking at my daughter in her seat. She asked me a few questions, and then asked us to take my daughter out of her seat. Then she checked a few things on the empty seat, remarked that my RF tether was okay because it was Britax, etc.

Then she turned to me and asked if I was the one who had installed the seat. When I said that I had, she said, "So, are you a future CPST? Like, you're going to take the course to teach others how to do this? Because I gotta say I'm not finding anything concerning at all. This is exactly how it should be."

:dance:

I nearly burst out of my skin and I told her that YES, I wanted to take the course and that she'd made my day by telling me that. We talked about where and when it was offered. Then while I was helping my mother-in-law as she was practicing the install, I overheard our tech telling another one that she was going to get my contact info to give to [name of the person who runs their local training] and she used the word "perfect" several times to describe my install with the other tech.

It was awesome!

So yes, I'm totally on-board now. Every parent should get their car seat checked. Whether you learn something new and empowering for the future or whether you get made to feel like a friggin' rock star for what you're already doing, it's totally worth it!

I'd get my seat checked if I could find a certified tech in the area. So far only police officers and fire fighters. I did have the police check one of my old seats at a public event but they didn't do much. They were impressed by how tightly I had it installed and said it was great. But they didn't check for correct installation.

I had a fire fighter check mine when dd was in a bucket. He didn't do much just said of all the cars he check that day (I was the last one) that I was the only one he didn't make changes too the install. He didn't undo it and redo it though.

Later on when I got a convertible for dd I had a certified tech come out to check my install & my sis installs on my nieces seats. We (like you op) had read the manuals & watched the YouTube clips & sure enough, even though we were 100 % sure we were wasting our time having the tech out, all 3 seats were not installed correctly.
The tech was great she showed us how to instal each seat 2 times & then had us undo it and redo it 3 times. I am so happy I had her out.

Peace of mind

Re: Should ALL parents get their car seats checked?

Absolutely. I have been to a few car seat checks in my area. Even though every time I had been doing things right I still feel better knowing that my seats were checked by a certified tech.

Re: Should ALL parents get their car seats checked?

When I was a tech, I would use downtime at seat checks to have the other techs check my seats. Another set of eyes never hurts. Once I found out my seat was missing a required part.

Re: Should ALL parents get their car seats checked?

I would not call it irresponsible to choose not to get your seat checked - if you are reading your vehicle and seat manuals, keep up with changes and updates here, make a point of learning about your type of seatbelts, LATCH rules, and all of the things that longtime board members do, you are probably as qualified specific to your own situation as a more "casual" tech (firefighter who had to cert for his job or something.)

Doesn't mean you might not learn or catch something if you did get the seats checked - I can't argue with the other posters that more eyes are good. I just wouldn't go as far as to say it is "irresponsible."

Even techs sometimes catch errors on other techs so it doesn't hurt to have your seats checked. I would guess yours are fine but we like seeing that since it is rare.

You should get them checked simply because it's SO rare for techs to see correctly installed seats, you could blow their mind

I'm getting my seats checked when we take Aubrei to the specialist at Primary Children's Hospital, they have a Safe Kids checkpoint there. The last car seat check I bothered to go to resulted in me correcting a state trooper (tech) on not just three of my seats, but my friend's Radian as well. It didn't leave a good taste in my mouth so it would be nice to talk to someone that will at least read my manual before telling me I'm wrong.

Even after being here for a while and being completely confident in my installs, I benefited from a check. I can't remember if I had anything wrong, big she have me some hands on tips for installing that are very hard to learn over the internet.

Maybe I'm not the best person to answer this because I've only been to a check once but I felt like I knew more about my seat (and it wasn't a rare seat) than the tech. It was installed correctly and the tech did add some shelf liner between it and the leather seat (but I think that has now fallen out of favor). This was a safe kids check. I've read enough stories of police/firefighters giving wrong or not best practice advice that I wouldn't trust them to know more than a parent who is self-described carseat nut.

I'm confident my seats are correctly installed. Have there been problems with the seats at times? Sure--I can think of at least once where someone unbuckled DDs seat (the installing seatbelt) and I didn't know and once where we made it half a mile down the road and realized the harness wasn't buckled. Mistakes can happen to anyone and so it's important to stay vigilant. I do wonder how frequently bad advice is given and blindly followed. I think a check can be an important part of carseat safety but I'd like to know exactly what I'm talking about first so I can question anything that doesn't fit with my understanding of proper use or best practices.

Re: Should ALL parents get their car seats checked?

I got it checked before DS was born and then when I moved him to a RF convertible.

The only place around here I've found that truly has techs only offers them one day per week from 9-12, 1-3. That's impossible with my work schedule unless its a break or summer. I think that really limits who can get it done, but it always seems busy if I happen to drive by.

I just read here, ask questions and read the manual.

Re: Should ALL parents get their car seats checked?

I had my CCO checked once and she threaded the seatbelt incorrectly. She is a good tech but I think she wasn't familiar with the seat and made a guess instead of reading the manual. I guess what I would do is take it to get checked but know that all techs are not created equal. Some might teach you something new or really help and others might tell you something wrong. Never hurts to get a second opinion though. I like being well informed enough though to know when something might be wrong though. Or you can always come back there and ask!

Re: Should ALL parents get their car seats checked?

The only seat checks I have been to I knew as much as the tech did so they just told me "good job". At that time I had some questions and they couldn't really answer them.

If it is a safe kids with a good tech then, yes, it would be nice if most or all parents could get their seats checked. Around here when police or fire departments do it I really don't know if the people are certified because they often give some iffy advice like turning at 1 and booster at 4.

Re: Should ALL parents get their car seats checked?

It totally happens sometimes that the parent knows more than the tech. Not all parents are equally educated (or uneducated as the case may be) and the same thing applies to techs.

However, yes, I wish ALL parents, no matter how sure they are that they're getting things right, would get their seat checks. Always be wary if the tech suggests something that goes against the manual, but most of the time I can spot errors or places for improvement even with the most car-seat-savvy parents. I get a lot of parents come through who boast that they're on "Car Seats for the Littles" and they know a lot of things (like about ERF and the importance of a top tether) which other parents don't know, but I can still almost always find at least one "critical error." Sure, there are fewer critical errors compared to the parents who don't research or read their manuals, but it never hurts to have an extra set of eyes.

I think it was Judi one time that looked into my car and noticed that I had my RF Radian in recline mode. I had been switching it back and forth for different kids and forgot that I'd had it reclined for forward facing use in my Suburban. Ok, so that may or may not be a critical error, but I'm a tech, darnit, and I know better.

Even at checks, we always have two techs look at every install. And sometimes I miss something too.

I actually think more cso style parents should get their seats checked. It helps teach the techs that best practice does happen. I love having parents that want me to work with them rather than for them!

If you live in an area with no evening seat checks, ask for them!

Re: Should ALL parents get their car seats checked?

nannykates said:

I actually think more cso style parents should get their seats checked. It helps teach the techs that best practice does happen. I love having parents that want me to work with them rather than for them!

If you live in an area with no evening seat checks, ask for them!

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That's true! You get so jaded at the stuff you see at checks, you get excited to see a newly-one year old still RF, or a 6 year old in a booster. Seeing someone come in knowing best practice and not having to go through the entire spiel to try to change their minds is huge!

I would absolutely get a check if I had access to a quality CPST. I did go to our state police local office which has techs once, but he didn't even take the seat out of my car. I had a Recaro at the time and asked if he had experience with Radians since I was considering buying one. He had never heard of them, so I haven't been back.

Re: Should ALL parents get their car seats checked?

I just wish all techs would follow the new curriculum... their job is to read manuals (or look stuff up, even if you know the seat inside and out, you model good manual-reading behavior for the parent to copy) and educate (have mom/dad/caregiver do or at least help with the install and harness tweaking). Too many times, I've been to checks here where the parents stand around outside while techs act like they know everything and install seats in ways that make it seem to the parents like they could never do it (Imagine standing outside while a lady steps into your Chicco base and pulls the belt all the way out...or two guys climb into your Nautilus and make you feel like you could never be strong enough to do THAT again, especially after you've trusted them to rethread the harness and they rethread it wrong ).

But still, go. You as an educated parent might teach THEM something about your seat they don't know. Think of it as public service, but backwards, lol.

Re: Should ALL parents get their car seats checked?

LISmama810 said:

You should get them checked simply because it's SO rare for techs to see correctly installed seats, you could blow their mind

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At the first seat check I went to, the tech saw my properly installed, tethered RFing Boulevard (for my then-10 month old) and I thought she would hug me, she was so excited. They told me that out of all the cars they checked that day, mine was the first to have a correctly-installed and used seat. She actually called several others over to see it and made a big deal about it, which felt a little weird.