help! 1 y/o in BPB!

danielle.nichole · Oct 18, 2007

I work in a child care center, and today at work I just about died. One of our little boys in the infant room (turned one on October 2nd) was picked up by his father while we were outside on a buggy ride, I let him go with his dad, and about 10 minutes later dad comes back because they left his sippy cup.
He goes to get his son out of the back seat, and he is in a belt positioning booster, with a seat belt that has ALL the slack out (it is an older car, retractor may have been broken) He was in this seat: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2484121

I have no idea what to say or do in this situation! The dad is a jerk, so I would rather talk to the mom about it, if we end up talking to the mom about it. Their son is NOT a small one year old, he is actually HUGE, but a BPB! Seriously?! There has to be SOMETHING that can be done.. Right?

Any suggestions on how I should handle this? The director of the center I work in thinks it is funny how car seat crazy I am, and would probably blow me off if I told them about what I saw. I don't know what to do, and I am worried about this little boys life!

HELP!

canadianmom2three · Oct 18, 2007

Well, he's likely not the only one who could use some education. Maybe you could put out some brochures etc. about car seat safety. I do think it would be worth mentioning to the mom, are you sure it was his seat, and his dad wasn't just being lazy putting him in big sibs seat to avoid the 'hasssle' of the harness (not that that would make it ok, but at least you would know he actually DOES have a proper seat)Otherwise, I always try and assume that people just don't know - the box probably said for kids 1 year and over, 30lbs and up, so maybe they thought it was fine, and HOPEFULLY they would appreciate knowing its actually not...

What I've always really wanted to do, is call the cops to come do an imprompteu (sp?) seat check at places like this, like at our DS's hockey games I see all the little kiddo's ages 3-6 climbing into their cars, very few boosters in sight, and think if only the cops could set up a check point right at the end of the driveway, that would be great

flipper68 · Oct 19, 2007

canadianmom2three said:
What I've always really wanted to do, is call the cops to come do an imprompteu (sp?) seat check at places like this, like at our DS's hockey games I see all the little kiddo's ages 3-6 climbing into their cars, very few boosters in sight, and think if only the cops could set up a check point right at the end of the driveway, that would be great

Except in Nebraska, carseat & seatbelts are secondary violations, so unless they also were speeding, it wouldn't matter.

As for the baby in the booster, I'd approach mom casually with, I noticed the other day that "Timmy" was using a booster. While I'm glad to see he was using a booster, It worries me because most kids under 4 aren't mature enough to STAY in a booster to ride safely. I was wondering if you have another seat for him or know of other seat options if he's too tall for a covertible (or there's another younger child who now needs it). Of course, if you have some info from NTSHA or Safe Kids about CR stages to give her, that would be great. It would be best if you can have the Safe Kids video & flyers "out" for a day or two AND get them in the newsletter, statement envelopes, etc.

danielle.nichole · Oct 23, 2007

canadianmom2three said:
are you sure it was his seat, and his dad wasn't just being lazy putting him in big sibs seat to avoid the 'hasssle' of the harness (not that that would make it ok, but at least you would know he actually DOES have a proper seat)Otherwise, I always try and assume that people just don't know - the box probably said for kids 1 year and over, 30lbs and up, so maybe they thought it was fine, and HOPEFULLY they would appreciate knowing its actually not...

I'm 100% sure it is his seat, as his parents share a car, and he doesn't have any siblings. Just a few weeks before his birthday he was in an infant carrier that his mom pulled off the base from the back seat and plopped in the front seat, sitting sideways, so he was looking at her.

It was all I could do to not chase them down the road after I saw that...

His dad is a JERK, who flat out doesn't care about the safety/well being of his kid (he gets irritated when we call him and tell him to take him home b/c baby has a fever and is puking everywhere, and then YELLS at us because his son's new jordan shoes are scuffed.)

He hasn't been back to school this week, so I haven't had a chance to do anything yet. Maybe I can get some SK flyers/brochures and attach them to all the daily notes for the infants, so every parent gets to see them.

Victorious4 · Oct 24, 2007

There are some great printable brochures @ http://cpsafety.com/ (scroll down the main page) as well as the AAP poloicy statement with easy to understand chart (page 3) + printables @ The Carseat Lady & SafetyBeltSafe (under the left side "Resources, Program Materials" column > Reproducable Materials)

help! 1 y/o in BPB!

danielle.nichole

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canadianmom2three

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flipper68

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danielle.nichole

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Victorious4

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