3 YO in an infant seat

Training never covered this one.

I watched a very heavy 3 (maybe 2.5) YO drive away in an infant seat.
At first grandpa had it forward, then (since I was putting my kids in the car next to his) I mentioned those seats go backwards and asked if he needed help. I figured there was a baby coming to sit in it.

Well, it was a heavy 3 (or 2.5?) year-old. He was a bit frantic since the parents had taken the other seat and this was all he could find.


Not sure the best solution here, since nothing really seemed safe!
Even if I'd had a spare it would have been a backless, so hardly better (we keep those spares in the car). But I had the van.

Ugh! That truly is a no-win situation. I hope, because of your intervention, that he'll look into it and make sure parents leave him a proper seat next time.

Yeah, honestly, in a situation like that I think the best you can do is give them some information and let them sort it out. If there was a Walmart or something there I might have suggested they walk to the store and get a Maestro, Chase, Guide, or Sureride. I wouldn't make any guesses or suggestions as to what might be the best thing to do outside of getting a seat before driving again. Let them be totally responsible for what is going to be a bad choice no matter what they do.

If you carry business cards, you could give him one with a few appropriate seats jotted down on the back and let him know that he can call you if he or the parents need help with current or future seats. Then drive away.

It boggles my mind that people will drive with other people's kids in seats they KNOW are wrong for non-zombie-apocalypse reasons. My own mom, who is fairly safety conscious and had me in a car seat back in 1979, once put my oldest in a combination seat in harness mode and then put the seatbelt over like booster mode because she didn't know how to install it. I was two blocks away at MIL's house. She could have phoned me. :banginghead:

Keeanh said:

It boggles my mind that people will drive with other people's kids in seats they KNOW are wrong for non-zombie-apocalypse reasons. My own mom, who is fairly safety conscious and had me in a car seat back in 1979, once put my oldest in a combination seat in harness mode and then put the seatbelt over like booster mode because she didn't know how to install it. I was two blocks away at MIL's house. She could have phoned me. :banginghead:

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Mine too! My mother transported my 3 year old in a booster so she could use his nautilus for my 10 month old niece! The nautilus was on the highest setting for my older kid even. She knows better, but thought it was ok because my brother said it was fine and he is a state trooper. He knows nothing about car seat safety or just ignores it. His now 11 month old is forward facing, but in a convertible seat because they're safer than a ff only seat. Ok. Sorry to vent! OP, there really isn't anything you could have done. I don't think I would have had the nerve to speak up to a stranger.