Confessions!!!!!

I think it would be fun and educational if we all confess to the things we did before we knew they were wrong!

Ya' know how they say people learn from their mistakes?

Well maybe some others can learn from all of ours! LOL

Pictures would be great! I don't have any but I will be the first to confess:


Confession:

Until DD was about 3- I never knew the car seat needed to be tight in the car!!!

We also turned her FF at 9 months old!! I can't believe we did this now but she weighed the 20lbs so "it was alright".

We did always get the harness tight and always had her buckled in, just not the car seat buckled in properly. LOL.

Funny I look at myself now and would crap my pants if anybody FF my 9 month old baby!

Once we drove for god knows how long with DD car seat not EVEN BUCKLED IN!!! She must have undone it at some point!

When I owned the Camaro, a RF seat would not fit in the back and a then-friend needed a ride so I put it in sideways and put the buckle over it. Horrible horrible....

Oh, and I am so guilty of the winter coat in car seat NO-NO

Under the Pediatrician's advice, DD was turned FF @ 4 months because I couldn't get the hand-me-down OHS in tightly RF: Ped said it was safer to have it tight FF than loose RF . . . once I learned about CPSTs who can help achieve correct RF install, I gave the Ped a copy of the AAP policy statement....

DD's older half sis rode in a backless booster @ 4 yrs old.
DD's older half bro rode up front in just the seatbelt @ 6 yrs.

Our dogs were allowed to sit on our laps.

:thumbsdown:

I bought the same OHS that nanny kids' mom had. FFed at 1 year because nanny kids' mom did. Skinny 7 year old in lapbelt only with no head support, and heavy 10 year old also in lapbelt only with no head support while 1 year old was in the front seat (with lap-shoulder belt and head support, no airbag). But other than the driver's and front passenger's seats, there were no shoulder belts and no head support in my 86 Caravan.

Let an 11 year old talk me into letting him sit in the front seat in front of the airbag. Neither he nor his 9 year old brother were in boosters, though both probably should have been.

Failed to buckle an infant (4 months?) once but that was an accident and a miscommunication with her mom, not because we didn't know better. We were loading the triplets in through the cargo hatch of her Oddy. She took one kid out and started buckling. I took kid #2 out, went back for kid #3 while mom buckled #2. Brought out #3 and placed her in her seat, expecting mom to buckle while I went back for the diaper bag. Mom thought I buckled her. We got to the pediatrician's office and kiddo had almost fallen completely out of the seat (from wiggling).

Overall I am satisfied with my infant/convertible seat usage. I always read the manual and the seat was always as tight as I could get it even before I knew about the one inch rule. Kiddos always met the legal age requirement for FFing (though I'm not 100% about weight, but pretty sure). Always used new seats and the straps were always snug and chest clip properly positioned. All kids were always buckled, and one to a buckle.

My kids are 31, 29 and 24.

Oldest son FF in OHS seat at 6 months (but no one else I knew even used a carseat.)
I double buckled two 4 yr olds in one lap belt on a regular basis (preschool carpool). Eeek!
I let kids sleep in back seat laying down with lap belt diagnal across their bodies.
I nursed second child in a car in the back seat on the freeway on a vacation in San Francisco. We were with other people, she was screaming, I knew I shouldn't take her out of her carseat (even way back then) but the driver was freaking out and there was NO place to pull over.

Well, I had DS FF at 9 months, strap covers, and DD had a snuzzler. BUT , their seats were always properly installed and their straps were nice and tight with the chest clip in the right spot. I get points for that dont I? Oh, and probably the worst of all... He had a Comfort Sport :thumbsdown:

Warning: All these pictures contain misuse.







(The baby on the left is my nephew and I have permission to post this picture)

This previous thread is very much a confessional (inspired by a certain celebrity's misuse at the time) http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=5818

I used aftermarket products (headrests, MightyTite, strap covers).

I used a harness that originated below the child's shoulders (for a FF kiddo).

I left the handle up on my infant seat when it wasn't allowed by the manufacturer.

I left a harness too loose because it was such a PITA to adjust (no front harness adjuster on a FF seat).

I left a harness too loose because it was such a PITA to adjust (Century SmartFit Plus harness).

xxluckychicxx said:

Well, I had DS FF at 9 months, strap covers, and DD had a snuzzler. BUT , their seats were always properly installed and their straps were nice and tight with the chest clip in the right spot. I get points for that dont I? Oh, and probably the worst of all... He had a Comfort Sport :thumbsdown:

Warning: All these pictures contain misuse.

Click to expand...

What seat was that? It doesn't look like an EFT but it's an Evenflo with the dumb double memory harness thing and yellow buckle.

Even though when we bought our first seat to foster we bought an MA because it would go from 5-65 pounds (good thing we got a long, heavy, 6 month old who actually fit)...

We used a mighty tight to install in dh's truck
We buckled over heavy coats
We ran out to get a HBB for A at just over 3 years as a back up seat because that is what he was in at his previous foster home (it is now a back up to the back up in my father's car)
We braced the RF MA against the front seat in the truck to make the install tighter

Jeanum said:

This previous thread is very much a confessional (inspired by a certain celebrity's misuse at the time) http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=5818

Click to expand...

HAHA that's weird I had the same idea as someone else! That was in 2006 though.........that was back in the day when I was still mis-using car seats.

Never installed carseats tight enough (all you have to do is buckle them in, right?). At least it was in a Dodge van that had locking latchplates (even though I had no idea).

Installed a friend's carseat with latch and seatbelt (when latch first came out and she got her new car)

2 year old in a booster

baby under 12 months FF in an OHS. I was babysitting and all the Mom asked was did I have a carseat. I wondered if he was FF or RF but thought he was 'big enough' (he was a BIG baby)

when the same baby was smaller and in his infant seat, I was watching him at 1 house until his regular sitter could pick him up and take him home (college age babysitter, NOT nanny). We thought the carriers needed a base (which we didn't have) so we wedged the carrier on the floor between the driver's seat and the back seats (it was only 1-2 miles away)

used integrated child seats with a REALLY loose harness...it sometimes wouldn't go all the way back in (it was a 3pt t-shield that went over child's head)

never had any idea of child's weight when using a harness (but her shoulders were below the top slots of the Graco cargo)

Had a FF carseat completely tip over w/2 year old because i forgot to buckle in the seat and I went around a corner

braced DD's SS1 in boss' van with front passenger's seat to make sure it was 'tight'

used harness covers and head supports in my SS1

helped former momboss install a regent for her 26 pound 18-20 month old.

let DD nap in her SS1 at work, and zipped up the carseat cover to keep her warm. Took DD and 10yo charge to toy store only to realize once we got there, I'd never buckled DD

backless boosters for everyone!

5 year old (i'm sure less than 40 pounds! he was only 50 pounds at 8 or 9) in seatbelt only (though 90% of the time I insisted he use a booster)

I have a memory of going with MomBoss and her DS, her best friend & DD, and another friend's DD (all 3 kids were 2-3 years old) to a concert or disney on ice thing. I remember squeezing all 3 kids in the 3rd row of the van...most likely in backless boosters because that's just what we used (when we weren't using the incredibly loose t-shield integrated seats). And of course the van had a center lap only belt

I know I also had 3 kids in the backseat of my 95 escort all in backless boosters (1 of which I used when I was a child!)...with a center lap belt. When I learned of lap belt not being so safe, I think I started putting the 3rd child in the front w/ booster (the kids were all 5-7 (and legally didn't need any seat, and rode seatless with their parents).

Dd had a AM head support, then a snuzzler later when she was older, then had a bundle me when she was a year old. Oh, and when she came home at 4 lbs 13 oz, she was in a 5lb minimum seat. However, she was never in an expired seat. She was forward facing at 16 months (when I bought her MA) because I couldn't get her MA installed correctly rear facing in my car. I turned her back around 6 months later when I found this site. I should have just left her in the safe seat! She didn't outgrow it until May of this year at 30 months.

I turned my son forward at 1 year

Used locking clips with every installation even though all cars he was in have locking switchable seatbelts.

Left the handle up - it was a Safety1st, it never occurred to me to look and see whether I was supposed to or not.

I used a 7-8 year old FP convertible seat that I can't remember the name of right now. The cool one with the metal clip lockoff that was so easy to use. When I took the cover off, the foam fell off the seat.

Oh, I was bad. This may take a while. LOL.

I bought my first car seat at a yard sale. It was a Century OHS, a Grow-With-Me I believe. I knew to ask the lady if she had the manual but she didn't and dropped the price to $5 because of it so I bought it anyways. Proceeded to use this seat for an 18 month old (FF of course ) while his barely 5 y/o sister sat in just a seat belt.

Bought three more yard sale seats, an Evenflo On My Way that even I should have known wasn't safe - the handle was all scratched up and the straps were stained like nothing else... and a Graco LiteRider (just the seat, not the stroller) that I deemed a 'good' seat because it 'looked' like the bucket seats I saw parents with all the time. The third was a Cosco Explorer II shield booster... because I thought A was outgrowing the OHS since it was so hard to squeeze her in with her big puffy coat on . She was three.

The youngest child I ever FF was 11 months old in the OHS, actually I have never had a RF child in my car, by the time I learned about ERF I didn't watch any kids that were small enough.

M was in nothing with me from ages 5-7, at 8 went into the shield booster without the shield, and I finally got my head on straight when she was 8 1/2 and bought her HB turbo. She and my neighbor who was the same age also rode in the front seat of my car ages 5-7.

I had no idea what a locking clip was for or when to use it literally until the first day of my CPST class. I used it 'when I felt like it' regardless of the car or seat belt... so a lot of times the OHS was in my car with the seat belt completely unlocked.

Guilty of thinking lap only belts were safe...

Pretty much the only thing I got right was which direction the seats could actually face (I knew infant carriers didn't FF) and surprisingly I got the straps tight and the chest clip in the right place.

I will never forget putting A in her Bolero for the first time, that was when I knew there was more to this car seat thing than I ever thought, it was just so... *right*! Pathetically, the Bolero will always have a special place in my heart for that, LOL.

eta my misuse pics... I have another somewhere of A in a puffy coat in the OHS but it's not scanned.

I had dd in an overhead shield Cosco Alpha Omega, I did keep her straps tight and the seat installed right and she did rear face originally until 15 months which I thought was illegal even though it seemed safer - so I turned her after winter was over so we would be legal. I did turn her back rear facing at 18 months though when I found out it wasn't illegal and was actually recommended, I also got her a Marathon then.

I put dd in a Evenflo Big Kid when she was 3.5 on a cross-country road trip instead of her Marathon because I thought she would be more comfortable. However when I learned that wasn't a good idea I only used it for friends kids who were really old enough for it and dd remained harnessed until she was 6.

Oh I am going to have to get the pics from my other computer later... Oh where to begin
My oldest: born in 2002
FF my oldest around 8 months, because doc said he could because he was 20 pounds, walking for a month already and a strong boy
Straps were never tight, chest clip was always around nipples though, Strap covers, mighty tight, Extra stuff in the carseat(like cozy thing), Hard toys dangling fromt he seat, seats moving when I turned a corner , I moved my son to a low back booster at 3 years and 40 pounds because a tech at the time said it was fine , used a garage sale OH seat that was expired until a tech confiscated it and gave me a comfort sport. Winter coats on in the careseat(but, again a tech told me it was fine)

My youngest:

Seat always in tight(thanks to a tech teaching me) and chest clip fine, straps pretty tight all the time.
Used strap covers that were the size of the whole straps
Winter coat on in the car(again a tech said it was fine)
FF at 15ish months(i keep forgetting if it was 13 or 15 months) when he got to 20 pounds.


Oh but, then when my youngest was around 25 months, I found out better and turned him RF again and put my oldest in a HBB until I got a regent from the kyle miller foundation(then, we were stuggling big time). My youngest rearfaced till about 44 months. Oldest was harnessed then from around 4 to almost 6....(would have longer, but found out when he is in a harness he gets carsick worse :-( ). My youngest will now be in a harness till he outgrows one...(the way he grows he could be in one till he is 10)

My nephew who was 5-9 years old(who is super tiny) was in a lap belt only in my vehicle!

My friends kid who I watched(first daycare kid) was in a snugride that slid all the time when I was driving(same age as my oldest son).... Oh the things I didn't know then.... That scares me!

Thank God we were never in an accident because I am 99% sure there would of been some serious injuries or even death. Luckily the only 2 accidents were my husbands and the kids and I were not in the vehicle.

Oh and we used 2 of the carseats that were in an accident(major)-not occupied at the time for a good year until I found out we weren't suppose too.

I let my older nieces and nephews (7-12) at the time ride in the same seatbelt(doubled). YIKES!

Oh if I only just read the manuals....

Oh, this makes me feel so much better knowing that I wasn't the only ignorant parent!

I can echo most of the OPs confessions.

~Have purchased a garage sale seat. It looked nice and clean and had all the parts. Luckily it was only for an extra at grandma's so really didn't get used much.

~I didn't know about the less than 1" of movement rule. I always buckled in the seat and used a locking clip(since I didn't know about locking retractors) but the seat was never actually tight.

~I was SO EXCITED when each of my kiddos reached the 1yr mark and promptly turned them FF(they weren't even 20lbs). They were just so much happier FF and I could see their cute little faces.

~When DS outgrew the harness of his AO at age three or four he went into a HBB. In my defense, that was 4-5yrs ago and HWH seats really weren't the thing back then. All the harness seats I had seen only went to 40lbs.

I'm so grateful that last year when DD outgrew the AO by height at 4yrs I started researching and found this site. If not, I'm sure my 7.5yr old would be out of a booster by now so the 4yr old could have started using it. All my kiddos are/will be ERF, HWH and boostered a good long time now!

~ Turned my oldest around at about 13 months, way before he was 20 pounds.

~ Got a used OHS seat from DHS w/no manual for him at about 13 months, used until he was about 3.

~ Buckled him into the harness of the CarGo, but routed the seatbelt over him like a BPB. I thought more was better.

~Switched to the BPB mode of the CarGo before the min weight limit, at about age 3.5.

~Bought a Protek and used it for him when he was about 3.5 as well.

~Used locking clips when not needed, but on the wrong side.

I did have my seats installed tightly though, usually I would sit in the seat and my mom would tighten the belt. And, I did know the old 2 finger rule and kept the clip at armpit level.

I have always been a bit of car seat freak.
I bought and used a lap shield booster for over year for a five year old I nannied (even new to the child safety thing I knew the seat belt really needed to touch him SOMEWHERE.) One car seat check changed that and over the next 3 years I purchased 7 car seat to use with the children I nannied. They were always installed tightly with snug harnesses. The baby even rearfaced until 20 months because he was tiny.

Then with my kids:
DD1's SR was purchased at the neighbors garage sale. I was pretty certain they had never been in accident and it was complete.

DD1 FF at 1 year because I hated putting her in RF in a two door car.

Purchased a Evenflo vangaurd OHS at a garage sale for a back up seat. $5, did not know the sellers, had no manual and the harness was routed wrong. But it was not expired and was clean.

Used a cosco Harnessed HBB as a booster when DD1 hit 39.5 lbs. Bought a TB after a few weeks because of fit. She was 3.5 yrs.

FF DD2 at 18 months at Pedi's recommendation. Switched her back after 6 months when I found this board.

The worst part was I KNEW better. I knew about ERF and Sweden. I knew DD1 should have been harnessed longer (but was unable to convince my DH that a Regent was NOT overkill until I found the Kyle Miller video). A lot of it I did out of pressure from family and Friends to "let my kids grow up". Here I have to support I need, Thank you!

I hope this doesn't come across as smug because I don't intend it that way. There were a few things I would advise against in a carseat clinic -- I replaced manufacturer strap covers with aftermarket ones that were approximately the same size and thickness, and I turned my child at approximately 2.5 years and 28 pounds -- but overall I'm satisfied with my carseat usage, even before I was super-educated on the subject.