rear facing

U

Unregistered

Guest
I was in the fire station today to check my child's car seat.They have the car seat inspection today.We have a Recaro signo and my baby is 16 months,25 lbs,34''.They told me that I am making a big mistake by keeping my baby rear facing and it is very dangerous for him!!! They told me that hi is to big for rear facing! because his legs touch the seat AND BECAUSE HIS OLDER THAN 12 MONTHS!!!!!!!!! I was so mad because they don't know what they are doing-they did install it rear facing but they said I am crazy and my baby can break his legs.They gave me a little book that says to keep a child in the convertible car seat until 40 lbs and change it to the booster when the child is over 40 lbs!!!I told them that the child should stay in the car seat as long as possible but they said that the 40 lbs is the max!!! The fire station is in Hillsborough,NJ so please don't go there.
lol and my husband needs to install the seat again because it is moving a lot and the angel is wrong...
 
ADS

Wiggles

New member
That's really sad. Were they techs like the folks that are techs on here, or inexperienced people trying to 'help' their community, like maybe firefighters or police or something who are just trying to get people to follow the local laws with no idea of best practice?
 

An Aurora

Senior Community Member
I'm sorry you had a bad experience. Unfortunately, in many places, firemen and policemen are not certified techs but are willing to 'help' with car seats anyway. I'd look for a certified tech in your area, and hopefully you will get some better information!
 

jess71903

Ambassador
I think I would be making a call to the station to find out if they are indeed techs. If they are, they need to be reported. If they are not, they need to quit checking seats and giving out bad info!
 

andre149

New member
Sorry you had a horrible experience! You're doing a great thing by keeping your baby rear facing (although you already know that)!

I would call that station so they can be reported. If they are techs they need to get quite a bit of updated info... and if they aren't they need to stop checking seats!
 

Jonah Baby

New member
My experience is that firemen and policemen do not know (insert one here) about carseat safety.
I've only found them useful for handing out pool noodles cut to size and giving a bunch of brute weight and strength to tighten down your seat.
These people are rarely ever trained to do something of this sort. It is sad.


I had a good friend say the same thing to me the other day...
 

Mommy0608

New member
I'm sorry you had a poor experience. It sounds like perhaps they were not trained CPSTs, of if they were, they are in dire need of a refresher course. :( Good for you for keeping your child rear-facing! :thumbsup:

I'd just like to add that not ALL firefighters and police officers are inexperienced. There really ARE some who are well-trained and experienced who are very helpful, in fact, there are some on this board. We have to be careful not to spread a bad reputation for all of the firefighters and police officers out there who are great CPSTs.
 

AtTheSouthDam

New member
My experience is that firemen and policemen do not know (insert one here) about carseat safety.
I've only found them useful for handing out pool noodles cut to size and giving a bunch of brute weight and strength to tighten down your seat.
These people are rarely ever trained to do something of this sort. It is sad.


I had a good friend say the same thing to me the other day...

And child identification stickers! (though mine gave me a handful... I don't think he wants me to come back. It was all I really wanted anyway...)
I had a horrid experience and I found out later that he was NOT the tech that should have been on duty.
 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
My experience is that firemen and policemen do not know (insert one here) about carseat safety.
I've only found them useful for handing out pool noodles cut to size and giving a bunch of brute weight and strength to tighten down your seat.

Not all of them.

:happy-wavehello: From a tech that is also a firefighter. DH also is both.
 

KaysKidz

Senior Community Member
While there may be one or two firefighters who are skilled CPST, unfortunately, this seems par for course. And the scary thing is, they are actually CPST. At least the ones I've seen their 'handy work'....and let me tell you, it's a scary sight. Makes me worried about all the kids in our area riding around in the so called 'installs'.

Maybe I should go in with my 25 and 29lbs 26mo olds who are still rf'ing and see what they say about that. ;)
 

swtgi1982

New member
Yea I know, the car seat check I went to a few months back (done at the local AAA, and yes they were techs) the gal who checked my DS seat kind of looked at me like I was crazy that he is still RF he was just 2yr old and just under 24lbs. She actually looked at me and said "Do you STILL want him RF?" All while giving me and ugly look like I was really dumb for doing it! I told her yes, as he is now where near the top of the shell in his scenera! When I left both my kids seats were so loose I almost pulled over in the bank next door and re-installed them myself, but I didn't as we live only a mile away.

Have no worries, I have since met with Mommy0608 and she checked my seats for me after this! Thanks again! :D:D:D:D

I will give them some credit though, they did some good for the kids in the other car they were checking. She had four kids with her, only two of which were in boosters (they were all a little older, the two in boosters probably should have been in a harness though as young and small as they are, but they were legal!) They were riding in a car. So one of them was up front and the older two were not big enough or old enough to be out of a Booster (MI law 4'9" or 8yrs) SO the they replaced all the boosters (as the two the lady had were way out dated.) And they told her there was no real safe way for her transport any one of those children in the front seat. (She also owned a van I heard her tell the lady, but preferred to drive her car!)
She was a sitter and frequently had the four kids in the summer, they told her she would be better off using the van when she had all four kids!
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
My experience is that firemen and policemen do not know (insert one here) about carseat safety.
I've only found them useful for handing out pool noodles cut to size and giving a bunch of brute weight and strength to tighten down your seat.
These people are rarely ever trained to do something of this sort. It is sad.

I don't think that's really fair to say. There are a fair number of excellent firefighter CPSTs right here on this board. I work with lots of great, dedicated police officer CPSTs at seat checks. Sure, there are some that aren't as great, but guess what? There are also nurses, insurance agency employees, county employees, etc. who are crummy CPSTs. And there are lots that are great ones from those groups as well. About the only category that I rarely see crummy CPSTs from are the volunteer-only ones, because they're generally doing it only because they want to.

Now, I'm not excusing any CPSTs who aren't up to date on their training, just saying that it's not fair to categorically say this about firefighters and police officers.

:twocents:
 

gecikuh

Senior Community Member
My experience is that firemen and policemen do not know (insert one here) about carseat safety.
I've only found them useful for handing out pool noodles cut to size and giving a bunch of brute weight and strength to tighten down your seat.
These people are rarely ever trained to do something of this sort. It is sad.


I had a good friend say the same thing to me the other day...

i think that is kind of an unfair generalization. there may be plenty of "these people" who actually are trained and *gasp* might even care.
unfortunately, there are also many who lack the knowledge to be of any real assistance and worse yet, are giving out poor information.
 

momto2princes

New member
That is awful.

I don't understand, how can anyone be advising people and helping like that without proper training? It is kinda like someone thinking they can be a doctor because they have watched ER.
 

skaterbabs

Well-known member
They may well BE trained, but not all instructors really stress the importance of RF, and if they've been techs a while it may have been quite some time since they updated more than the minimums to retain certification.
 

jess71903

Ambassador
I don't think that's really fair to say. There are a fair number of excellent firefighter CPSTs right here on this board. I work with lots of great, dedicated police officer CPSTs at seat checks. Sure, there are some that aren't as great, but guess what? There are also nurses, insurance agency employees, county employees, etc. who are crummy CPSTs. And there are lots that are great ones from those groups as well. About the only category that I rarely see crummy CPSTs from are the volunteer-only ones, because they're generally doing it only because they want to.

Now, I'm not excusing any CPSTs who aren't up to date on their training, just saying that it's not fair to categorically say this about firefighters and police officers.

:twocents:

It was my understanding that she was talking about 'helpful' cops, firefighters, etc. that ARE NOT CPSTs at all. They just think they can help and end up doing more harm than good.
 

BananaBoat

Well-known member
Well, I had a good friend who was a volunteer fireman for that very fire department (Hillsborough, NJ) and he was most definitely NOT a CPST and did participate in seat-checks. Granted, this was 10 years ago, but it wouldn't surprise me if nothing has changed. He's not there any longer (he's an IT guy, now) or I would call him up & give him quite the lecture!

I'd call and find out what the deal was, though...pretty poor advice!
 

Evolily

New member
Well, I had a good friend who was a volunteer fireman for that very fire department (Hillsborough, NJ) and he was most definitely NOT a CPST and did participate in seat-checks. Granted, this was 10 years ago, but it wouldn't surprise me if nothing has changed. He's not there any longer (he's an IT guy, now) or I would call him up & give him quite the lecture!

I'd call and find out what the deal was, though...pretty poor advice!

The CPST course has only been around for maybe a decade :)
 

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Forum statistics

Threads
219,656
Messages
2,196,897
Members
13,530
Latest member
onehitko860

You must read your carseat and vehicle owner’s manual and understand any relevant state laws. These are the rules you must follow to restrain your children safely. All opinions at Car-Seat.Org are those of the individual author for informational purposes only, and do not necessarily reflect any policy or position of Carseat Media LLC. Car-Seat.Org makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. If you are unsure about information provided to you, please visit a local certified technician. Before posting or using our website you must read and agree to our TERMS.

Graco is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Britax is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Nuna Baby is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org!

Please  Support Car-Seat.Org  with your purchases of infant, convertible, combination and boosters seats from our premier sponsors above.
Shop travel systems, strollers and baby gear from Britax, Chicco, Clek, Combi, Evenflo, First Years, Graco, Maxi-Cosi, Nuna, Safety 1st, Diono & more! ©2001-2022 Carseat Media LLC

Top