Before You Knew Safer...

(haven't seen this asked yet)

Before you knew about carseat safety...
what did YOU do wrong?


How did you put your kids in?
How did you clever-up an install?
What type of seats did you choose that you now would not?


I'll go first...
One of my son's infant seats was a 3-point harness, probably expired, and gotten from an unknown source.
One of his convertibles was a 3-point shield, definitely expired.
My mother learned to buckle him in with the chest piece on his tummy (and still does it despite my yelling.)
I turned him FF at...11 months old.
I always washed our covers and harnesses in the washing machine; clips went in the dishwasher.
I let a few too many of my Stepmother's installs go unchecked.
I never yelled at my Mother for installing with LATCH AND a belt.
We have definitely owned and used several other expired seats (many of them in very good looking condition that we knew the history of.)
I was horrified to see 3 year old children RFing...hadn't heard of such a thing before finding this site!

Was anyone worse than I used to be?

3-point harness.
T-shield.
OHS.
FF before a year.
Thick coats.
Expired seats.
After market products, harness straps and head support.
Used the paperclip clip wrong.
Poor install on a infant base, best I could get.
Washed everything in a washing machine.
Didn't use restaints or seat belts at all
Put two kids in one seat belt.

I'm getting this vague recollection of tying something

Adding: I have always installed the seat as tight as possible, with the exception of one seat my installs were solid. And I have always had the harness tight and clip in the right spot.

Oh...I also used seatbelt "cinchers".
I only recently learned that they are "taboo".

My Stepmother bought many of those strap pads, but I was smart enough to know that it was pushing his chest clip too far down, so we did not use them in the end.

I need to get the whole issue about the infant positioners still...

DS has been FF since he was 9 months old and I washed his seat, straps and all, with the regular laundry and put it all in the dryer.


If there was a seat that RF to 55 pounds in the US, he would be RF now.
Knowledge is power.

I think I was always pretty safety conscious from the beginning. My installs have always been perfect. I always tightened the straps and had the chest clip in the correct spot. I instictively knew, even when I was pregnant that rearfacing was safer and intended to rearfacing for a long time. I remember when Jordan was about 8 months old, and I was ordering a convertible online, I told DH that I though Jordan would probably be rearfacing until he was 4. He did rearfacing until 4 years and 8 months.

Most of the things I did "wrong" were fairly minor.

Left the handle up on the infant seat (though Doral later changed their stance on that retroactively, so I wasn't really wrong....I was just ahead of my times. )

I attached a hard toy across the top of the handle (baby einstein fish thing) and used a long cooking chop stick to poke the music button on it from the front seat.

I used to use a seat protector.

I did, and still do at times, use a portable DVD player in the car.

My biggest mistake was that I did recognize that something was wrong with my infant seat. What I should have done, was to call Doral and report it and ask for advice (which would have lead to discontinuing use of the seat immediately). But, instead I made the very very naive assumption that if the seat was unsafe, or something was wrong with it, they would not have sold it and/or it would have been recalled. Well...duh! It was recalled....5 months after I recognized the problem.

You can see it in the picture. See the harness strap is tighter on his left than his right. The harness strap on his right would not stay tight even though I tightened both sides every time I put him in the seat.



The seat was later recalled for that issue, and the danger that in an accident, the strap could pull out completely and risk ejection. It makes me ill to think how negligent I was. I knew it was a problem. I worried about it. But I didn't do anything about it.

I used a "Nano Bag" (like bundle me) in the infant bucket. I FF DS at 12 months. He wore a bulky winter coat under his harness.. He went back RF after his 2nd birthday when I (finally!!) learned about car seat safety and the importance of RF and he's still RF now at almost 4. DD has never FF a day in her life, and I don't plan on letting her for quite some time.

With DS I used a 3 pt bucket seat, followed up with an overhead shield seat, it was also a seat I wouldn't buy again (AOE). FF'd him at 9 months. Put him in a booster (AOE) when he outgrew the harness at 2.5 yrs and 32 lbs. After he fell asleep in it and his forehead was on his knees I came on here and went out and bought a Triumph. Everything since then has been correct, and my installs and harness tightness have always been correct at least

lol, we weren't too bad, but we did have our share of misuse:

- loose straps
- loose install
- aftermarket harness pads
- thick clothing
- borrowed LATCH when not permitted

i remember going to our first seat-check, and being horrified at how tight the tech made the seat . of course, i now probably make a tighter install than he ever did .

on the other hand, that same tech had no problem with borrowed LATCH, and told me that the top tether was "optional". i'm never going to another seat-check.

We saw a tech before AJ was born so that helped a TON! We did have a 3pt infant seat which was awful. Poor AJ was 6#9oz at his lowest and so didn't fit. We had a cute coat he wore w/ one outfit that was so thick, lol, it was cute though. Then he ff at 11 mos and 23#. Of course we had an AO convertible too that I trashed before it even expired.

2nd handseat. (maybe expired too?)
Thick coats
loose straps
TERRIBLE installs (once I turned a corner and her bucket flipped over!)
I had awesome locking belts in a nice nice car, had no idea, and was using a locking clip.

No top tether used til she was older.
Turned FF by 1 yr old and 18 lbs.


I'm sure there's more. :thumbsdown: All of those were with DD. By the time DS came along, I was all about best practice.

About 10 years ago, I had temporary guardianship of a friend's daughter for 3 years, the misuse I can remember with her:

*Always left the handle up on the infant seat.
*Turned her FF before a year
*Her FF seat had an OHS
*She always wore a coat
*I did use a locking clip and had it installed very tightly. However, I put the locking clip on the side opposite the buckle.
*I had a split back seat, and where her carseat was installed, it would slip into the crack where the seat split. So I put a half inch sheet of plywood across the entire back seat to keep it level.

And with DD...

*2nd or 3rd hand infant seat. I *think* it was Evenflo.
*Always left the handle up.
*I made a homemade "bundle me" type thing out of a few layers of fleece, cut holes in the back for the straps, and put a zipper on the front. I thought I was a genius. I also recall putting her in a snowsuit. Poor kid was probably cooking.
*FF at 11 or so months.
*Sometimes I would buckle the chest clip and leave the actual buckle undone
*If we were driving to the sitter's house 3 blocks away, I didn't even buckle her
*Crappy booster at 3 yrs.
*I even let her ride in a seatbelt a few times when she was 3 because the carseat was left in someone's car by mistake. Lapbelt only in the middle.

By the time DD was 4, she had moved first into a HBB (Vivo) and then back into a 5 point harness (Nautilus). Now she rides in a Frontier and loves it. She has no desire to ride full time in a booster.

I will say I've always had very tight installs, the harness straps have always been in the right slots, chest clips in the right spots, and harnesses very tight (when I used them).

I know I did quite a few things wrong. Here are some that I can remember.

* Aftermarket headrest & strap covers with infant seat. The BIG Winnie the Pooh set.
* Second Hand Infant seat that was bought from a yard sale. It expired before I was done with it when DS was 2 months old
* Washed seat cover & straps in the washing machine & dried them in the dryer.
* Bought 2 Convertibles used from Yard Sales. A AOE & a Comfortsport. HATED the CS.
* Also bought a OHS seat which was expired, Then sold it b/c I didn't know better.
* Turned Marcus FF at 13 months b/c he kept getting car sick no matter what I did even though I knew better. I tired eveything, but got tired of him puking. He went back RF at 16 1/2 months old.

That is all I can think of. There is more than likely more, but I can not think of them.

My biggest offense was using the wrong harness slots. I thought it looked wrong for the harness straps to be under the baby, so I used them above the shoulders. I remember even telling my friends to raise their straps when they got to be under the baby. Thankfully, I figured out that I was wrong sometime before #2 was born.

Thankfully I got onboard with safety practices quite early. I think my major error was putting the locking clip in the wrong spot on my infant seat base. and not putting the handle on the carrier down all the way because my backseat at the time was too small to allow it to do so.

I was a lot like a previous poster. I read each manual I have ever had over and over until I could tell you anything about the install I would be using for Jasmine. I always had her straps tight, and at or below her shoulders. I figured it was common sense. My seat belt is snug on me, so it should be on her. The chest clip belongs at the chest, so that the straps can stay in the right position and keep her nice and tight in there in an accident. I knew that if they were above her shoulders that it would hurt her, because it just made sense to me. I spent countless hours reinstalling and reinstalling her seats until they were perfect and I was sweating like I'd just been in a sauna in the Michelin man's suit. I am no genius, and never claimed to be, but it only ever made sense to keep her rear facing for longer, because it just seemed like common sense to me. I remember my husband asking when we could FF her, when she was probably 6 or so months, and I told him I didn't think I'd be comfortable doing that, because it seemed like in an accident she would be susceptible to more harm. He didn't seem to understand, so I came online to see what I could find, and viola! This is what I found

I think I used to leave her carrier handle up, from time to time, and I don't remember the seat we used, or if it was ok to do that...

Also, I do believe I used to borrow anchors when I had her infant seat installed, as well as the AOE. I am pretty sure I remember reading that it wasn't ok, somewhere, but I thought it would be alright since some car seats where allowed, and the infant base and the AOE's base were so big, and I was just so afraid of her getting smashed into if we were in a side impact collision, and I was waaaaay to afraid of the seatbelt installs, at that point, to even THINK about trying them.

Oh, and I think I got a Pooh head thingy and strap cover from my mom, which I only used for like a month, because she didn't need it after that, and she would get too sweaty, plus it pushed her chest clip down.

I think those are fairly minor, well...besides the anchor borrowing. I don't know what that could have done.

I hit the jackpot using centre LATCH with DS... we had a Ford Focus and we had a SnugRide. However, in other vehicles we borrowed LATCH and it wasn't allowed. Used a Bundle bag a couple of times. Top Tethered to cargo hooks (thought DS had to go forward due to the dumb 32" thing on car seats in Canada). Can't think of anything else right now, but I'm sure theres more .

I have been wanting to post something like this and have not gotten around to it.

Most of mine were with my sisters's kids, and I don't think anything I did was anything different from what they were doing or would have done.

Now 18 year old nephew, my mom watched him for my sister and didn't have a clue about the car seat, so I always did it. It was an Evenflo Joyride, I know bad enough right there...His dad has the base for it so we always did a baseless install. I don't remember making sure the belt was tight or anything like that, just put it through the belt path.

Both now 18 year old nephews, shield boosters. Same one as above had a pretty neat one, I don't remember how it installed in the car but it stayed installed and had a seat belt inside under the shield that self adjusted each time, and we often used in on the side facing jump seat in his mom's truck when the 3 of us went somewhere.

Don't remember for which niece or nephew, but I fully remember putting a car seats in the front seat of my Festiva. No airbags, but it had an automatic shoulder belt and a lap belt that I don't remember having a way to lock it. Would unhook the shoulder belt and use the lap belt to install.

Once with my now 10 year old niece my friend and I wanted to take her out, she was only about 7 mo or so and my friend had a little boy who was not with us on that trip, he would have been about 18 mo or so at the time. We just put her in his ffing overhead shield, figured she was close enough. Of course all the kids I knew went ffing at 20lbs at whatever weight at that point and the seat he had was the same as the one she was rear facing in, so it really didn't seem like a big deal then.

That is what I can think of with them, but I am sure there are more.

Here are the big ones, the ones with my own kids...

Actually all with DD1, have been good with DD2.

When DD1 was born the infant seat I had for her didn't work for her in my car, big time slump. So my sister said I could use the infant seat from her grandbaby who was a year old at that time. It was a 3 pt harness, Evenflo Discovery. I had to wash it before my baby could go in it. Since it had been in a house that was smoked in, I of course took the harness and washed it in the washer. Don't remember how I dried it. Then I wanted to get a stroller that would work with it. I found a used travel system on ebay and got it, it was cheap enough it was worth it for just the stroller. It was a 5pt Evenflo Discovery and I liked it a lot better, base had an adjustable foot and it was 5pt, so I used it even though it was used and I didn't know the history other than asking the seller if it had been in an accident. Don't remember how well I washed it before using it, but probably did the harness too. I did make sure it was not expired, at least.

When I moved her to the DC at 2.5 months old, I have no idea where the lowest slots were compared to her shoulders. I also am not sure if Britax was saying they have to be at or below yet then or not, but with all the padding in there, I really have no idea where the slots really were.

I had a Regal Ride as a spare seat, and I put the big animal head strap covers on it.

I did know before she was a year old to keep her rear facing, so I didn't switch her at 1, kept her rear facing until just before she turned 3 when she was super close to the DC limit of 33lbs.

But since then, well, I noticed she was having pretty impressive head slump in the Frontier. Then I realized when I reinstalled it after having it out for some reason, I didn't make sure the recline block was forward. Don't remember how long I had it wrong, but I sure felt bad.

Really don't think I have done anything wrong with DD2.

I used an aftermarket head support because the one which came with the infant seat was way too wide to be of any use to my newborn. I used a 3pt harness infant seat, but it was actually carefully chosen- the 5pt harness seats I was able to find (in November, 2001) all had the crotch strap coming from very far from the back of the seat, and I had a tiny baby, born at 34.5 weeks, going home at 37 weeks; I did not know that it would be OK to roll a receiving blanket and put it between her and the strap (and I'm still uncomfortable with that, really!), so I wanted a seat where her little folded up legs couldn't squirm through; overall, I still think I made the right decision.

I read about the importance of rear-facing quite early on (so it kind of makes me roll my eyes when people haven't heard that it's important, whose babies are less than half the age of my oldest- I realize that many, many people still have 1-and-20 drummed into their heads, and many here are included in that set of people who hadn't heard even with babies born in like 2005! I'm not saying my eye-rolling is justified or anything, I'm just kind of a jerk in my head sometimes)... I turned both kids FF at 2.5 years old, a fact about which I am still somewhat conflicted. In DD1's case, I turned her back RF at 3.5, at her request, for a few months, and again at 4.5 for another few months. In DD2's case, she was very firm in her desires, and was coming up on 30lbs (but was not there yet, primarily in a 30lb RF Roundabout, but also with a 35lb Scenera available); I chose to listen to her, honoring her newly developed full-sentences communication skills, and she did not ever want to go back to RF'ing again after that, even while her older sister tried to tell her how very lucky she was that she could still RF and why wouldn't she want to??

I think I've done pretty well. I have been fortunate to have not ever had a true test of our car seats.

Not me, necessarily, but if I'd only known better when my sister was little... The things my mum did! Though I wasn't quite an adult, so it's a little bit silly to think I'd have known better. Still, when I think of it!

My mother washed the cover and harness of the infant seat in the washer--then had to have them replaced because the colours bled, leading to that cover being recalled, as the red dye in it was leeching whenever they got wet. She also didn't replace the infant seat after my sister was dropped in it from a fair distance, face down with the handle up. With what I know now, I probably would have thought that seat should be replaced as it wasn't designed to withstand that kind of force!

My mother used my brother's old carseat for her--it was at LEAST 6 years old and was one of those ones with the plastic rectangle at the chest of a 3 pt harness. It *looked* worn--the formerly white plastic was yellowed and it had rust on the metal part of the frame! She was forward facing in it by 13 months, which I know cause that's when my mum got carjacked--and she'd been in it for quite awhile, even though she was way behind on her growth charts (waaaaaay under 25th percentile for height and weight and with delayed bone growth, not sure her exact stats).

When she bought a new carseat for a new car (so it would match the interior), she bought a seat that was also a booster--forward facing only. She was in it as a booster by three with the seatbelt hooked UNDER the lowest of the shoulder belt guides because the others were too high.

Oh, and my sister ALWAYS wore a full snowsuit when we went out in the winter. Usually a snowsuit that was a couple sizes too big.

I'm a reformed former Mighty-Tite user/misuser.