Car seat triage, help me come up with a better name! lol....

I was toying with the idea of trying to help the parents at my preschool know if their kids are in the right seats and if they are in right. I can't even recall if it was my idea or someone else's, it might have been someone here or Benjamin's preschool teacher. Basically my hope was to do a quick check as kids get into the cars at preschool and let the parents know if the seats the have are appropriate for their kids ages and size and if they are in right. Basically a very quick checking saying either "this looks okay" or "you need to get a car seat check (which is obviously more likely! lol

I got a go ahead from the safe kids director and e-mailed the preschool director and she thinks it is a great idea! She was a little worried it would tie up the pick up line but wondered what I thought about offering it as a service to parents and having them go to church parking lot across the street. I like this idea even better since I would have only parents who care.

So I need ideas coming up with a better name.

I was also curious if it is possible to buy carbon paper. I would very much like to take data and have a sheet for my records and one for the parents. The data would only be for my own use, I'm just so very curious what kids are in and I love stats! lol

I was hoping to get Muchkin to help and another friend of mine said she would be willing to help if I needed her to fill out paperwork.

To be honest, I'd be concerned with that and wouldn't do it.

You might get a seat that looks really good, is installed well, but in reality the LATCH hooks are upside down, the harness is going through the wrong slots in the shell (though the right ones on the cover), it's missing the splitter plate, and the harness is tied in a knot in the back.

There's a reason we're supposed to uninstall every seat, no matter how correct it looks.

I think it's great that you want to help, but it might be better to try to organize an event rather than do a quick "drive-by."

I agree with Jennie...there could be a lot more wrong than you can see and then parents would have a false confidence in what may turn out to be very poor installs that "look ok"

LISmama810 said:

To be honest, I'd be concerned with that and wouldn't do it.

You might get a seat that looks really good, is installed well, but in reality the LATCH hooks are upside down, the harness is going through the wrong slots in the shell (though the right ones on the cover), it's missing the splitter plate, and the harness is tied in a knot in the back.

There's a reason we're supposed to uninstall every seat, no matter how correct it looks.

I think it's great that you want to help, but it might be better to try to organize an event rather than do a quick "drive-by."

Click to expand...

I agree.

I'm really not anticipating any that are in right and I would say half the kids are in boosters so those wouldn't be likely to have any hidden issues.

I know your heart is in the right place, but this really doesn't seem like a good idea to me, for the reasons LISmama has stated and because you seem to have your mind made up about what's going to happen. Simply telling people that their seats are wrong is not going to help much at all.

chickabiddy said:

Simply telling people that their seats are wrong is not going to help much at all.

Click to expand...

I don't see why it wouldn't help, I'll be giving them the number to call to make an appointment for a check, info about our state law which says kids 4 and 40 lbs have to be in a harness and the AAP article that says rear-facing to 2.

So many people have no idea that they are doing something wrong and just being told would be enough to get them to a check.

If you do go through with this, does your area offer many opportunities to get seats checked? (Free events, fitting stations, private inspections?) If so, does your area tend to have quality techs?

Yes, we have free checks. As for qualified techs we have Muchkin and myself and we are working on the others. They do seem to be getting better, they all now know the state law and are doing better about about trying to get parents to keep kids rear-facing.

I'm not sure it's really carbon paper but you can get notepads with 2 copies at Office Max/Depot. I'd be happy to help as well. I can fill out paperwork.

Why not just set up a check in the church parking lot for that time and do full out checks?

emandbri said:

I don't see why it wouldn't help, I'll be giving them the number to call to make an appointment for a check, info about our state law which says kids 4 and 40 lbs have to be in a harness and the AAP article that says rear-facing to 2.

So many people have no idea that they are doing something wrong and just being told would be enough to get them to a check.

Click to expand...

Either they're not going to care, or they're going to be worried and frustrated because they know something's wrong but they don't know how to fix it (unless there's a check this weekend or you're willing to make appointments for private checks in the next few days).