I actually enjoyed it. I learned some things as well! I wasn't expecting to. I also corrected the instructors once or twice and vocalized my opinions on ERFing and EHing. And of course the instructor and I disagreed on where to put people in the car (she's of the "younger in middle" whereas I'm of the "least safe in middle."). But whatever. We talked about the "clik" booster a bit, the 65 pound harness limit of the FPSVD, how some seats go to 30 pounds RFing.... It WAS said that a five point is safest, and while it was said that RFing to the limit of the seat is good, they didn't come out and say "even if that means your child is well into their third or fourth year." The presentation said 18-24 months, but the instructor didn't say it. One person there didn't realize that you could tether without the lower anchors. And people wonder why I don't trust firemen to do carseats. Oy.
One thing that was new to me that I wanted to check on was that Dorel seats need to be tethered first, then installed? Is that all of them, or just the ones that are so old they have those horrible old tethers? They also said there's a three point Scenera? I think she was confused, unless she meant the OHS version. Another highlight was when one of the instructors said that the Companion had rigid LATCH. She even held them up and they flopped back down. Um, DUH, flexible!! Those are called alligator clips, not rigid LATCH. Another wonderful moment was when we were doing a who goes where challenge and I put the 2yo 27 pounder RFing outboard. The lady at the next table said, "But they're too heavy to RF." "No, they only weigh 27 pounds. Even the lowest convertibles go to 30 pounds and most now are going to 35." And these are techs?!
Other than that not too much new to me. I didn't know that the SS2 had built in lockoffs like the SS1 (she said the seat was pretty pointless and wished it went higher than 40 pounds, but didn't mention the rumor that it may be at some point). She said that Graco was coming out with the Sprout that would be a HWH combo in the spring, and that Graco is testing some toys specifically with their carseats.
That was it. One lady came up after class, she was the third instructor and went over new seats (she and I had a discussion right before that about the pros and cons of the Radians, she's a KDMF tech and was installing two later today). She asked where I worked. I told her I was a SAHM. She asked where I knew about all of these seats!? LOL CAR-SEAT.ORG, Baby! Plug plug plug. hehe
I'm doing a seat install tomorrow. Actually, cleaning up whatever the firemen did wrong. She said she didn't get a warm fuzzy from them. So now it's my turn to do it properly! She's got an 11 month old 17 pounder in a Roundabout. $10 says that's not tether anywhere.
Oh, speaking of Britax tethering, well, two things. One, I was the only person in the class who had tethered a seat RFing. Two, I called Britax a week or two ago and asked about the D ring kits for techs and left a message on Sarah's voicemail. I haven't heard back. Has anyone else had luck?
Also, while I've got a post started, for you senior checkers, how long did it take for you to become a senior checker after you put your application in? I put mine in a few weeks ago and I've heard nothing from SK.
Wendy
One thing that was new to me that I wanted to check on was that Dorel seats need to be tethered first, then installed? Is that all of them, or just the ones that are so old they have those horrible old tethers? They also said there's a three point Scenera? I think she was confused, unless she meant the OHS version. Another highlight was when one of the instructors said that the Companion had rigid LATCH. She even held them up and they flopped back down. Um, DUH, flexible!! Those are called alligator clips, not rigid LATCH. Another wonderful moment was when we were doing a who goes where challenge and I put the 2yo 27 pounder RFing outboard. The lady at the next table said, "But they're too heavy to RF." "No, they only weigh 27 pounds. Even the lowest convertibles go to 30 pounds and most now are going to 35." And these are techs?!
Other than that not too much new to me. I didn't know that the SS2 had built in lockoffs like the SS1 (she said the seat was pretty pointless and wished it went higher than 40 pounds, but didn't mention the rumor that it may be at some point). She said that Graco was coming out with the Sprout that would be a HWH combo in the spring, and that Graco is testing some toys specifically with their carseats.
That was it. One lady came up after class, she was the third instructor and went over new seats (she and I had a discussion right before that about the pros and cons of the Radians, she's a KDMF tech and was installing two later today). She asked where I worked. I told her I was a SAHM. She asked where I knew about all of these seats!? LOL CAR-SEAT.ORG, Baby! Plug plug plug. hehe
I'm doing a seat install tomorrow. Actually, cleaning up whatever the firemen did wrong. She said she didn't get a warm fuzzy from them. So now it's my turn to do it properly! She's got an 11 month old 17 pounder in a Roundabout. $10 says that's not tether anywhere.
Oh, speaking of Britax tethering, well, two things. One, I was the only person in the class who had tethered a seat RFing. Two, I called Britax a week or two ago and asked about the D ring kits for techs and left a message on Sarah's voicemail. I haven't heard back. Has anyone else had luck?
Also, while I've got a post started, for you senior checkers, how long did it take for you to become a senior checker after you put your application in? I put mine in a few weeks ago and I've heard nothing from SK.
Wendy
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