Is this even possible?

armywife12 · Mar 20, 2008

Hello everyone, this is my first post so try and bare with me a bit. I got into a discussion with a mom online about rear facing. She claims that she was riding in her car with her 7 month old and somehow his ankles got caught in between the car seat and the back of the seat. He now has 2 severely sprained ankles and she wants to turn him around now. Her pediatrician told her that 10 of his patients have had the same thing happen. Her next door neighbor is a police officer and says he is a trained tech as well. Both him and the ped checked the seat before hand for proper installation and they said it was great. How can this be possible? My son's Marathon is installed correctly and the thing does not move. There is no way my son would be able to push so much against the seat that his feet would get stuck. I am trying to give her the benefit of the doubt but I just can't see it happening. This is all the info I know and don't think I can find anything else out about the incident. I've tried googling info and came up with nothing. If this has happened more than once, I would assume it would be made public. Maybe the doc helped install all these seats and did them all incorrectly...lol. Any imput or opinions would be great. I need help solving this mystery

TechnoGranola · Mar 20, 2008

Did this happen in an accident? or is she saying it happened while driving around normally?

arly1983 · Mar 20, 2008

I can't see this in my mind in a properly installed seat.

fyrfightermomma · Mar 20, 2008

Honestly...if this seat was installed correctly meaning it doesnt move an inch in any direction, then the MOST space the child would be able to create by pushing on the seat is 1 inch, and I just cant see a 7 month old managing to push wiht enough force to push the seat away and coordinate getting BOTH feet stuck..I really can't. And at 7 months, most babies legs arent even long enough (even in a bucket seat) to be able to reach the seat back let alone get stuck BELOW the edge of the carseat.

Maybe it happend, but I honestly cant say I've ever seen it (and I am an EMT and an emergency room nurse AND a tech and in all 3 areas have NEVER seen a childs feet get stuck) I'd find it odd the doctor has seen that many...

A good point to make to her is that kids are 4 times more likely to suffer catastrophic injuires from forward facing carseats. Even *if* he gets his feet stuck and gets sprained ankles that is much better than having a funeral. Rear facing is infinitly safer....a good quote "break a leg, cast it, break a neck, casket". If she were to get into an accident with a child that young forward facing (not only is it illegal in alot of states) its almost certain he would get injured.

Maybe she needs to switch to a convertible where his feet will be farther back from where the seat and carseat meet (rear facing of course).

Honestly, sprained ankles are NOTHING to the injuires he would sustain forward facing..

And once again, I honestly cant see this happening. My childs rear facing seats i could pull on all I want and push on the seat back, there is no way I could get it far enough away from the seat to even wedge their feet in if I tried

Jeanum · Mar 20, 2008

Loose install or ?? I just can't picture it unless it was a really large, leggy 7 month old in an infant seat who somehow had got his feet caught when the seat was clicked onto the base? Even that scenario seems like a real stretch to me, though, no pun intended.

armywife12 · Mar 20, 2008

technogranola said:
Did this happen in an accident? or is she saying it happened while driving around normally?

This was just while she was driving down the road. At first I thought it was an accident but she corrected me and said she was just driving. The 7 month old is 30 inches so he might have been able to touch the seat back. I believe he is in a convertible seat because she was going to turn him around. It definitely is not adding up.

Defrost · Mar 20, 2008

She got a PEDIATRICIAN to come out to her car and check her install??

I want my kids to go to THAT ped. That's some dedication! And he's seen this TEN TIMES? Wow - that's a pretty major problem! Amazing we've never heard of it before.

My Astro Van has very springy, cushiony vehicle seats. My kids could "bounce" their seats when RF once their legs were long enough, even with a very good install. So yeah, I can concede the possibility that a child could push against the seat enough to make a gap. What I'm not able to understand is how a child could be pushing against the seat with enough force to create a gap and then manage to get his feet caught at the same time - he'd have to have his feet IN the gap before he "let go" and seat rebounded onto his ankles. And how could he have his feet in the gap before he created it?

joolsplus3 · Mar 20, 2008

I suspect her brain is playing a trick on her (I don't want to say she's knowingly lying)...sometimes when we want to justify a certain behavior (turning a kid forward when it's against everything that is known about safety), we'll really, really believe in the most outlandish stuff (to the point of thinking our ped has said something that impossible), just to support our point of view. :twocents:

TechnoGranola · Mar 20, 2008

armywife12 said:
This was just while she was driving down the road. At first I thought it was an accident but she corrected me and said she was just driving. The 7 month old is 30 inches so he might have been able to touch the seat back. I believe he is in a convertible seat because she was going to turn him around. It definitely is not adding up.

That is a mighty tall 7 month old, and so depending on the vehicle and what type of seat, I suppose his feet could touch the seat. Would a 7 month old even have the strength to move the seat enough? (even with a bouncier vehicle seat?) I can see a toddler having the strength, but a 7 month old often is just getting the strength to stand....

thepeach80 · Mar 20, 2008

Sorry, don't buy it. AJ was 37" when he went ffing full time (34 mos) and that never happened to him. Evan is still rfing now at 39 mos and I don't even see how this is possible. How do you know a 7 mos old has sprained their ankles anyways? I guess if you had an early crawler maybe? I've NEVER heard of this, ever.

armywife12 · Mar 20, 2008

thepeach80 said:
Sorry, don't buy it. AJ was 37" when he went ffing full time (34 mos) and that never happened to him. Evan is still rfing now at 39 mos and I don't even see how this is possible. How do you know a 7 mos old has sprained their ankles anyways? I guess if you had an early crawler maybe? I've NEVER heard of this, ever.

Her ped said he almost broke both ankles and they are in braces. My son is 7 months and I stand him up all the time so it would be easy to find out but I don't see it as being possible either. If I sat in my son's seat and pushed against the seat, I doubt I can get the seat far enough from the back to make a gap. It is too far fetched, unless the seat was installed incorrectly. She insists it is not though.

krystin_21a · Mar 20, 2008

My 11 month old can not even reach the back seat. The only way, and this is really stretching it, that I can see a foot getting caught is my son likes to hang his feet out the side of his MA. Since the MA isn't perfectly straight across maybe a shoe got caught between curved part and the seat. That is really stretching it though and a foot would really have to work to get stuck there.

tl01 · Mar 20, 2008

Of course I was not there... but with my Britax seat installed rock solid in my car... I can't see how anyone could put anything between the seat and the vehicle seat. I had to uninstall the seat once b/c the harness adjuster was stuck under btwn the seat and vehicle seat and I could get it out...and that's just a belt. Hmmm... I'd like to see her install in her car.

My Radian... I could possibly see this happening b/c our Radian in one car where we install it.. doesn't really sit flush up against the vehicle seat back. I can get it pretty close but the RFing base makes it stick out just a little. Still though, I think my 36" tall DS would have a hard time getting his feet stuck down there.

TechnoGranola · Mar 20, 2008

I had a thought...she said that both a tech and a ped checked her seat and the install was good...maybe it was, but how loosely is her child bucked in? Maybe the baby has a ton of freedom to move around and shuffle his body. In a circumstance where there is room between the restraint and vehicle seat back (and it's obviously possible to have space as per tl01's report and certain restraints in my vehicle have a space), the baby might be able to do it if his straps are loose.

As an aside, how the heck does having a ped check your seat help? Are all peds techs nowadays??

Mylilboyblue · Mar 20, 2008

My son is 8 months and tall and he couldn't do this in either his SS1 or the RA we have installed in our cars. It just doesn't seem plausible. I don't want to call the woman a liar, but it just doesn't sound right.

Mommy2Marcus · Mar 20, 2008

I also do not see it to be possible. My RFing 17 month old could not even push hard enough to move the seat back far enough & he has to BEND his legs or cross them while he is RFing. So I really do not think it could happen unless he was really crazy strong..which I dout....or the seat is just horribly wrongly installed, which seems more like the case! Sorry! I would try to get her to keep him RF if at all possible. Share this video with her & maybe it will help her see it's better & safer RF than FF will EVER be!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmUWg7QrC8

tcottawa · Mar 20, 2008

Ummm, she is making this up.:twocents:

HEVY · Mar 20, 2008

I have three thoughts.

One: Maybe the child has hypermobility, my dd used to hook her feet around the corners of the seat. Maybe he was sliding them in and they got caught :scratcheshead:

Two: Maybe the seat wasn't installed properly. I had a tech not install properly, it does happen.

Three: She is embelishing the story so she can justify doing what she wants. I'm sure there are a few, but most likey, a ped is not gonna check your seat. Not to mention he had so many patients have this happen, if he did then thier techs and police officers don't know how to install seats. I would ask for her peds name and ask him yourself or inform her of wanting to ask him so you can "better understand" how this could happen.

TXAggieTech · Mar 20, 2008

What kind of seat was it? I am worried about catching our nanny's DC legs on the rebound bar of her companion when she gets longer. Even then, this doesn't seem possible.

waterbaby · Mar 20, 2008

Sounds like she's trying to justify turning her 7 month old around to FF (for whatever reason) and it lying to throw people. Sorry to be so skeptical, but there's red flags left and right and she's "covering all the bases" as far as so-and-so said it was okay. It's not. And I find it hard to believe it all myself.

Is this even possible?

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