April
Well-known member
I just need some suggestions/options on how to handle this situation. I have a niece who will be 3 in December and she has downs syndrome. She is very small and baby-like/sized. Looking at her you'd probably think she was about 11 months or so.
My SIL was watching her today. The Dad of my niece is my SIL's brother. He's a jerk by the way. She called me and asked if I would come check how the parents had installed her car seat in my SIL's car. So I went over (brought my scale cause my brother and SIL don't have one). The seat is a Graco ComfortSport. it was installed outboard passenger side, forward facing, no tether (illegal here in Canada). The seat had about 5 inches of movement side to side, not surprising because they're not locking seatbelts and had no locking clip on.
So I go inside and measure her torso, 11.5 inches. Weigh her.....17.5 lbs!!! Oh my goodness. So I went back out, turned the seat rearfacing, luckily I had brought pool noodles, attached the locking clip, moved the crotch strap in and tightened the harness.
The seat expires Dec, 2010, but it was in pretty rough shape. It looked like a garage sale find. The cover was ripped and it was just in bad condition all around.
I had printed off some info about rf and extended rf, so my SIL stuck it in the baby's diaper bag for her parents.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to be there when the parents came back, but I had armed my SIL with some knowledge. She mentioned that because my niece is so small, its illegal to have her FF. He (the jerk Dad) said that they can't have her RF because they would have to put the seat in the middle of his truck (back seat). She said "So that's what you should do then." Then he reinstalled it in his truck FF and drove away
My question is, how far should I take this? The Dad is not going to listen to me. The Mom might, but she's my SIL's SIL so I don't know her that well. Do you think I should call the Mom and see if she'll listen? We decided today that we're going to buy her a new seat for her birthday. Probably a TF or EFTA. She'll probably be 8 before she's 50lbs. My concern is that if I tick them off they're not going to listen to a thing I say. We tried taking the "its illegal" route but he didn't seem to care. He is a gambling addict and owes everyone and their dog money anyways.
Should I just focus on the rf'ing to 22lbs aspect right now and then the extended rf'ing later? I would think she won't be 22lbs for close to a year from now. Is it too much to buy them a new seat for her birthday?
All I want to know... WWYD in this situation?
Thanks in advance.
My SIL was watching her today. The Dad of my niece is my SIL's brother. He's a jerk by the way. She called me and asked if I would come check how the parents had installed her car seat in my SIL's car. So I went over (brought my scale cause my brother and SIL don't have one). The seat is a Graco ComfortSport. it was installed outboard passenger side, forward facing, no tether (illegal here in Canada). The seat had about 5 inches of movement side to side, not surprising because they're not locking seatbelts and had no locking clip on.
So I go inside and measure her torso, 11.5 inches. Weigh her.....17.5 lbs!!! Oh my goodness. So I went back out, turned the seat rearfacing, luckily I had brought pool noodles, attached the locking clip, moved the crotch strap in and tightened the harness.
The seat expires Dec, 2010, but it was in pretty rough shape. It looked like a garage sale find. The cover was ripped and it was just in bad condition all around.
I had printed off some info about rf and extended rf, so my SIL stuck it in the baby's diaper bag for her parents.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to be there when the parents came back, but I had armed my SIL with some knowledge. She mentioned that because my niece is so small, its illegal to have her FF. He (the jerk Dad) said that they can't have her RF because they would have to put the seat in the middle of his truck (back seat). She said "So that's what you should do then." Then he reinstalled it in his truck FF and drove away
My question is, how far should I take this? The Dad is not going to listen to me. The Mom might, but she's my SIL's SIL so I don't know her that well. Do you think I should call the Mom and see if she'll listen? We decided today that we're going to buy her a new seat for her birthday. Probably a TF or EFTA. She'll probably be 8 before she's 50lbs. My concern is that if I tick them off they're not going to listen to a thing I say. We tried taking the "its illegal" route but he didn't seem to care. He is a gambling addict and owes everyone and their dog money anyways.
Should I just focus on the rf'ing to 22lbs aspect right now and then the extended rf'ing later? I would think she won't be 22lbs for close to a year from now. Is it too much to buy them a new seat for her birthday?
All I want to know... WWYD in this situation?
Thanks in advance.