neighbor improperly using infant carrier in car

mommyof2miracles · Nov 1, 2008

ok.....our neighbors who are very nice people......are not using their infant carrier properly when in the car. Last week while i was gettting into my car I glanced over into their minivan to see their car seat set up.....they have 3 kids.....ages 2 months, 3 and 6. The 6 year old is in a high back booster....the 3 year old is in a backless booster (which I am against those too....ones without a 5 point harness...) but I noticed there was NO base for the infant carrier. They ahve 2 cars so I thought maybe it was in the car.....looked when hubby got home...it wasn't there. (we lives in condos so we are fairly close together and can see a lot....lol.

Well....I saw her hubby yesterday taking baby out of car...and today saw her taking baby out of car.....he was just buckles in the backseat in his infant carrier with no base!!!

ok.....should I say something to them and how?
I am just really concerned about the baby being transported like this.

Thanks

crunchierthanthou · Nov 1, 2008

For most seats, the base is just a convenience feature. It often reduces misuse because you don't have to reinstall it every time you use the seat. Currently, all infant seats except for 1 can be installed without the base (Compass). Although, until recently that also applied to the Evenflo Embrace. Unless it is either of those seats, it is fine to install without the base as long as they can get the correct angle, the seatbelt is locked and the seat moves less than 1" in any direction at the beltpath.

desiree_leigh · Nov 1, 2008

Not the OP here, but did they change that for the PP Primo Viaggio? I thought it required a base (totally could be wrong though!)

BookMama · Nov 1, 2008

crunchierthanthou said:
For most seats, the base is just a convenience feature. It often reduces misuse because you don't have to reinstall it every time you use the seat. Currently, all infant seats except for 1 can be installed without the base (Compass). Although, until recently that also applied to the Evenflo Portabout. Unless it is either of those seats, it is fine to install without the base as long as they can get the correct angle, the seatbelt is locked and the seat moves less than 1" in any direction at the beltpath.

Hmm, I'm pretty sure the Portabout has always allowed baseless installation. It's hard to tell just by looking at it, though, because the baseless belt path is through two slots that run the seat belt under the baby's legs. (I have a 2004 Portabout, and it definitely allows baseless installation.)

crunchierthanthou · Nov 1, 2008

desiree_leigh said:
Not the OP here, but did they change that for the PP Primo Viaggio? I thought it required a base (totally could be wrong though!)

page 24 of the manual has instructions for installation without the base. I'm not sure when the changed. You can see the belt guides in front of the handle, too.

BookMama said:
Hmm, I'm pretty sure the Portabout has always allowed baseless installation. It's hard to tell just by looking at it, though, because the baseless belt path is through two slots that run the seat belt under the baby's legs. (I have a 2004 Portabout, and it definitely allows baseless installation.)

am I thinking of the wrong Evenflo? Either way, they now both allow baseless installations.

edit: Embrace! It was the Evenflo Embrace.

The current Evenflo seats are the Discovery and Embrace.

desiree_leigh · Nov 1, 2008

Thanks Crunchy... shows what I know

or... shows what you know!

mum2two · Nov 1, 2008

I would be more curious as to why the 6 year old is in a high back booster and the 3 year old in a backless booster (if I read the OP correct?)....

BookMama · Nov 1, 2008

crunchierthanthou said:
am I thinking of the wrong Evenflo? Either way, they now both allow baseless installations.

edit: embrace! it was the evenflo Embrace. http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=60327

I just checked the manual CD (had to look

) and you're thinking of the Evenflo Embrace. Both models listed do NOT have a beltpath for baseless installation. Maybe they've changed the model (i.e. added a beltpath) since the latest instruction manual came out last summer.

crunchierthanthou · Nov 1, 2008

BookMama said:
I just checked the manual CD (had to look ) and you're thinking of the Evenflo Embrace. Both models listed do NOT have a beltpath for baseless installation. Maybe they've changed the model (i.e. added a beltpath) since the latest instruction manual came out last summer.

we cross posted/edited. You are correct.

and no, they still don't have belt guides as far as I can tell by stock photos on evenflo.com.

LISmama810 · Nov 2, 2008

mum2two said:
I would be more curious as to why the 6 year old is in a high back booster and the 3 year old in a backless booster (if I read the OP correct?)....

It could be that they have low seatbacks, and the 6-year-old needs the head support whereas the 3-year-old doesn't yet. (Just a possibility.)

In any case, while having the 3-year-old in a booster (of any type) isn't best practice, it isn't necessarily misuse.

My only concern with the infant carrier is whether they're installing it properly every time, but there's really no way to know that.

neighbor improperly using infant carrier in car

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