50+lb 2.5y/o in a 40lb harnessed seat still....

chasingboys · Oct 7, 2007

My friend has the "wonderful" AOE 3-1 carseat and her quite large 2.5y/o is still harnessed in the seat. I told her that she cannot use the harness anymore, that she needed to get another (higher weight) harnessing carseat. She said, "No, this carseat goes to 100lbs". UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH. I flipping hate the 3-1. She is not the first person (that didn't know) that I have told about the only going to 40lbs harnessed thing. Why do they do this, there are thousands of kids out there in this seat that shouldn't be!

She still doesn't believe me btw and stated that they just spend a lot of money a couple years ago on two 3-1's and they don't want to buy another seat! I told her that just using the seat as a booster was better than using the harness past 40lbs (I'm not sure if she's done this or not though) What do you do in this situation? I'm having a really hard time just letting this go.

Is there a petition going to get easier to read/understand labels put on these carseats?

Leila · Oct 7, 2007

Michelle, is she in CA too? If so, it looks like CA has a proper usage clause in their car seat laws. If she's using the harness for a child over the weight limit that's not proper usage and therefore illegal (if I'm reading the laws right.) For some people, the thought of doing something illegal is enough to make them finally do the right/best thing.

http://www.inventiveparent.com/lawsreg9.htm#California

wildeyes · Oct 7, 2007

Leila said:
Michelle, is she in CA too? If so, it looks like CA has a proper usage clause in their car seat laws. If she's using the harness for a child over the weight limit that's not proper usage and therefore illegal (if I'm reading the laws right.) For some people, the thought of doing something illegal is enough to make them finally do the right/best thing.

http://www.inventiveparent.com/lawsreg9.htm#California

i read through that link, and i have to agree with you. push comes to shove, i would buy the kid something safer if i had the money. i had to buy my ex-mil a seat for dd b/c she didnt believe me either, and ex fil is a cop

laurenrachey · Oct 7, 2007

Ugh sorry. Does she have her manual. Ask her to go find it so you can show her. If not order one, or take her to a freakin BRU and read the shelf tag, because it does state on the BRU tag that it harnesses to 40, boosters to 100. How irritating though. Also look into whether you have a proper use law. And a minimum booster age, if so she would be "forced" to buy a new seat to comply with the law.

carseatcoach · Oct 7, 2007

Page 10 of the manual lists the weight limits, and page 42 states "When your child is over 40 pounds (18.1 kg) or over 43" (110.1 cm), and over 1 year old, you must remove the harness and the base and use this seat as a belt-positioning booster."

Edited to add: I know we all know that, but IME sometimes it helps to actually quote page numbers and exact wording.

Katina128 · Oct 8, 2007

What about having her call Dorel when she's with you?

VoodooChile · Oct 8, 2007

Ugh, my sil is the same way--she insists that her GarGo "goes to 100 lbs" with the harness! Plus she has dn super-reclined in it. I don't even want to go near her car. She doesn't listen b/c she has 3 kids and knows everything, and I'm just an overprotective car seat freak. @@

chasingboys · Oct 8, 2007

she's one of many in my playgroup that roll their eyes at carseat safety and think I'm crazy for spending $270 on a Regent when I could have just put him in a $40 booster seat. I feel so bad for her kid. I even went into how the harness can break through the back of the seat in the event of an accident because she's too heavy for it. It had no effect. Like I'd lie about something like that! Jeez.

Shouldn't someone sue the company for misleading information? It has to be a legal no-no to word things the way they do!

mackjaz · Oct 8, 2007

Chasingboys, I hate to say this, but I'm not sure what else you can do, short of calling the cops. You've given her the info, and she's chosen to ignore it. There will always be a certain percentage of the population who refuses to listen to information like this.

Maybe you could:

A: pull back - maybe it'll finally sink in and she can think it was her idea

B: have somebody else talk to her.

Hopefully there won't be a tragedy in the meantime, but you've done what you could do.

50+lb 2.5y/o in a 40lb harnessed seat still....

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