What is it with most parents (a vent)

Why are so many parents so eager to move their kids to FF, move them to boosters, get them out of carseats altogether???

I asked a carseat question on one board only to find out that almost all of them with 3 year olds had their kids in boosters already. One child was only 2 and in a booster. Some of these kids are definitely not 40 lbs. No one seemed to understand why I wanted to keep my son in a 5 pt harness.

DS rode RF until he was 2.5 and most people looked at me like I had two heads if I mentioned it.

Why is it so important to some parents to get kids out of car seats as quickly as possible??? Here in ID, they have to be in them until 5 (maybe 6?) yet I see so many kids out before that. And, even tough that's the minimum, the kids are so much safer in at least a booster. I just don't get it.

I think people are in such a hurry because it's easier for them if kids aren't in car seats and can buckle themselves. I don't understand it at all.

Because some parents don't like to do the minium, just the same reason i'm looked at like i have 2 heads when some one hears i'm still breastfeeding my 2 year old, and i'm only giving her the minium requirement of the world health organization...

One of my best friends thinks i'm just nuts b/c my kids are all still in car seat and i'm replacing 2 of the car seats for no reason (one is expired the other is a booster seat i want dd in a harness again). Her kids were out of car seats at 4 years old and it's a waist of $ to keep them in them... Her kids are find, she doesn't want me to tell her what would have happend to her kids had (heaven forbib) she been in an awful car acident when they were in an adult seat belt... drives me NUTS!!!

It's the norm here too. By age 6, a lot of kids don't use the booster anymore because their parents say they don't need one anymore. 8 yrs. is the law. Very frustrating.

yep that's just how it is here too, my ds 6y/o just started school today, i'm so dreading the pick up time when i see SO many parents let them just jump in the front seat... and off they go!!! And the teachers don't say a word...

my mom went to a baby shower the other day and the girl got 2 infant carriers, and a britax regent. she displayed the regent saying that "this is for the baby as soon as she turns 20 pounds so she can sit frontwards!". i told my mom if she talks to her, to return it for a convertible seat which she will get more use out of! wouldnt a 20lb baby be way too tiny in a regent?

i remember a BIG topic in playgroup when my oldest was a baby and i knew nothing about carseats (or babies for that matter), was how EXCITING it is when they can FINALLY ride forward-facing (average age then probably around 9 months, nothing rf past 20# in 96). all the more experienced moms were raving about how great it was that the kid could finally see out the window and how much easier it made travelling.

becca011906 said:

And the teachers don't say a word...

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I have to defend my fellow teachers a little bit here. Honestly, the teachers may not know all that much about child passenger safety. While I think that they should have some training on vehicle safety, they probably don't have that opportunity. Some of them may know about it, but that is from research they have done on their own.

Teachers are already expected to be "jacks of all trades" with knowledge about not only the subjects they are teaching and about child development, but also now about all kinds of other things like public health (knowing symptoms of certain illnesses, etc.), gang prevention, drug abuse prevention, mental health intervention, technology (not just instructional technology), etc. I think it would be fantastic if teachers had some training on CPS, but please give them a break if they don't have knowledge about child passenger safety.

Even if teachers do know about child passenger safety, there may be regulations from the school or school board that prevent the teachers from intervening. There may be rules that say something to the effect of, "Do not approach the parent. Report violations to a higher agency, such as the police."

melaniev said:

my mom went to a baby shower the other day and the girl got 2 infant carriers, and a britax regent. she displayed the regent saying that "this is for the baby as soon as she turns 20 pounds so she can sit frontwards!". i told my mom if she talks to her, to return it for a convertible seat which she will get more use out of! wouldnt a 20lb baby be way too tiny in a regent?

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Wow! What a lucky girl to get a Regent as a baby shower gift! Wow!

I can't imagine a 20 pound child riding in a Regent unless it was an emergency and the ONLY available seat was a Regent. I would be better to put a 20 pound child FF in a Regent than to put a 20 pound child FF in a seatbelt alone. But use the Regent as a primary seat for a 20 pounder? No way.

The only other time it may be appropriate to put a 20-pound child FF would be if the kid was a 99th percentile kid for height and a less than 5th percentile kid for weight. For example, with the older convertible seats (pre Marathon, Decathlon, Wizard, Boulevard, Radian, Scenera, etc.), if you had a kid who had outgrown the convertible by height but still only weighed 20 pounds, then you may have no choice but to turn them around. That would probably be a VERY skinny child, though- to outgrow a convertible by height and still only weigh 20 pounds. With the new convertibles that have a taller back, however, I don't think that would ever happen.

Oh i'm sure many of the teaches know that it's wrong but to say something about a persons parenting style they would not... but that's the problem they see it as a parenting style vs the health/good of the child same... that again brings myself back to breastfeeding it's commen knowledge that breastfeeding is best for at the very least 1 year (2 by other standards) yet drs don't feel it's their right to lecture a new mom on her 'parenting choices' but if the mom was a smoker you better believe the dr would say something about that... oh it just makes me so crazy some times!!

melaniev said:

my mom went to a baby shower the other day and the girl got 2 infant carriers, and a britax regent. she displayed the regent saying that "this is for the baby as soon as she turns 20 pounds so she can sit frontwards!". i told my mom if she talks to her, to return it for a convertible seat which she will get more use out of! wouldnt a 20lb baby be way too tiny in a regent?

i remember a BIG topic in playgroup when my oldest was a baby and i knew nothing about carseats (or babies for that matter), was how EXCITING it is when they can FINALLY ride forward-facing (average age then probably around 9 months, nothing rf past 20# in 96). all the more experienced moms were raving about how great it was that the kid could finally see out the window and how much easier it made travelling.

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Ugh. Definitely needs a convertible. The Regent's minimum weight is 22 pounds. What if the baby's head is within an inch when she's only 16 pounds? It's wonderful that someone bought her an amazing long term seat, but there's a stop gap needed. Could someone get her a Scenera?

Wendy

wendytthomas said:

Could someone get her a Scenera?

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Or return one of the infant carseats. She probably doesn't need two, right? With the store credit on one infant carseat, she could probably get an extra base for the seat and put a good dent into the price of a convertible.

Depending on the type of infant carseats she got, she probably has a good $70-$150 worth of store credit when she returns it. That could definitely put a good dent in the price of a convertible!

Your advice to return the Regent is probably good advice. By the time she needs the Regent, the baby will probably be 2-6 years old. Not only have they shaved some life off of the carseat by letting it sit unused for 2-6 years, there will definitely be different seats out by then. Maybe there will be something "better." That adds another $230-$270 to her store credit!

Teachers can NOT say anything! We aren't even allowed to say anything about students (teeny, tiny Kindergartners) being put in the front seat!

I have to agree, as a former elementary school teacher, saying anything to a parent like that would either a.) Get your head ripped off by their backlash of anger directed at you, or b.) They would call the Administration/BOE on you and complain about you. Teachers are not like doctors or police- no one seems to respect them in the same way. We have to be mandated reporters, regarding abuse or neglect, but it's always tricky when dealing with parents directly. I once had a 6'5" Dad scream a me in the hall outside my classroom AS THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE WAS BEING RECITED, about "How dare I ask his son NOT to draw bombs and grenades and people getting blown up all over his homework?" HMMMPH. You can see why I'm a former teacher, I guess.

becca011906 said:

yep that's just how it is here too, my ds 6y/o just started school today, i'm so dreading the pick up time when i see SO many parents let them just jump in the front seat... and off they go!!! And the teachers don't say a word...

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The teachers CAN'T say a word. That is invading the personal life/responsiblity of the parents. Been there, done that, didn't like getting yelled at by my principal because the parent called and complained to him (I'd just asked if she had boosters or seats for the kids that were hanging out in the back seat, waiting for a school age child). BTW, my principal paid for my training and for the sub to cover the days I was at the training.

I presented to the PTA (about 15), mentioned my "Tech" skills at Kdg. parent meeting and 2nd grade parent meeting (well over 50 families at each) - I don't think anyone even picked up the handout. I had posters up for two years at my school about boosters seats, that I was a tech, and would gladly check any seats or try and answer questions. The response from a school with over 700, K-5 students was 2! One was a parent with a new baby and she sent grandma in with the seat. Another was a parent whose child was being a "poop" about keeping buckled up. I did help one of our kids with special needs get a HWH seat and helped install or make corrections for many of the staff. We've had a baby boom so that's about a dozen. . . One of my teacher friends had a combination seat in the center position belted in with the L/S belt from the outboard position (and you have a college degree - or 2?). All in all, very frustrating.

I think it's many things: 1a) People are too busy to educate themselves 1b) I've witnessed "alittle information is dangerous" too many times as well. Kids above the weight limits of seats because the parent "knows" harnessed is safer. 2) As one of the instructors said, "people don't know what they don't know." Car seats are so common that people think it's a no brainer: buy one, buckle it in the car, put the kid in, and go. It's a hassle, so the sooner I can get the kid out of one, the better. 3) There's alot of misinformation around - doctors telling parents to turn the under 1 around because their legs are hitting the seat back. 4) Laws that vary from state to state add to the confusion. 4a) Changing recommendations and best practice - used to be 20lbs. or 1 yr old, then 20 and 1, now as long as the seat will allow. 5) People see it as a "have to" to avoid a fine, not a safety issue.

Venting some more.

Another argument I hear - "We didn't use seats as kids, and we turned out fine!"


ARGH!!!! We were lucky then!

The US Department of Transportation has a Teacher's packet for those with kids from 4-8 in their classrooms.... It's printable, with songs & crafts & handouts for home about booster seat use. The PTA where I used to live has adapted & incorporated it into the preK through 1st grade classes & Leila's nursery school teacher also incorporated it into her lesson plan. I'll also be presenting it to the schools where we live now.

KAK22 said:

Another argument I hear - "We didn't use seats as kids, and we turned out fine!"


ARGH!!!! We were lucky then!

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I absolutely LOATHE that argument. Doesn't matter that people drive a lot more today and roads are much busier. Doesn't matter that some children DID get injured or die in car accidents.

If people really wanted to live with that logic, then NOTHING should ever be improved upon because, you know, the cavemen lived just fine back in their day.

KAK22 said:

Another argument I hear - "We didn't use seats as kids, and we turned out fine!"


ARGH!!!! We were lucky then!

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The only reason that most of us turned out fine is that we weren't in wrecks. Which a LOT of those people seem to forget.

Of course, they are the same folks that eschew any safety equipment, because after...they didn't have 'em, and they aren't dead.

I don't get people. Sure, there are going to be very very very minor car accidents where no one is injured, without without a seat, and there are going to major catostrophic wrecks where everyone is killed, regardless of restraints, but I think that most accidents/wrecks fall in the middle--where it definitely DOES make a difference. I mean, who wants to be the parent who finds out that if only Suzy were in a booster, Suzy would still be alive?

papooses said:

The US Department of Transportation has a Teacher's packet for those with kids from 4-8 in their classrooms.... It's printable, with songs & crafts & handouts for home about booster seat use. The PTA where I used to live has adapted & incorporated it into the preK through 1st grade classes & Leila's nursery school teacher also incorporated it into her lesson plan. I'll also be presenting it to the schools where we live now.

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Wow! That's great that they were able to incorporate that into their curriculm. Unfortunately, I think there are probably a lot of school systems across the country where they wouldn't be able to do that. There is a strict curriculm and teachers must follow it. It is unfortunate but a reality. If it isn't approved material, teachers can't use it.

I have been a CPST for 4 years and still have a friend who is like that. She has her 5 year old in a backless turbo and her 3 year old in a combo seat with the seat belt. He is almost 40lbs. But now they can buckle themselves. I just don't get it. There are so many options for a new seat for him but no, she won't spend money on a seat that she will only use until he is 4. Its one of those times where you just can't reason with stupid.

Rachel
cpst