Do they teach ERF in CPST Cert. Courses?

[Kalinky]

I'm going to "tech school" end of Sept!!!! So excited - and no one understands why I am so excited! They all think I'm nuts. But I know you all will appreciate my excitement. = )

I just got some documents e-mailed to me from the coordinator and one of them has a pic of a little girl FORWARD FACING in a convertible seat on a "stand alone" vehicle seat (the vehicle seat is not *in* the car - like for demo purposes). The little one just looks like she should be rear facing still, by EXTENDED rear facing practices. She looks to be over a year and 20 lbs, but definintley not 30-35 lbs and head still well below the shell of the CS.

Do they teach ERF in tech school? Is it part of the "Standardized" program?

 

[mommyto4]

I don't know, but I'm jealous. I really wish a class would come up in my area that is at a time that I could actually take it. Good luck in your class. I'm sure you'll do great.

 

[skipspin]

In my class it was mentioned, but not pushed really hard. In other words, if you put a 13 month 22 lb "dummy" kid in a FFing restraint in "practice" they wouldn't say anything negative. My instructor did mention that her neice was 18 months and RFing in a Roundabout, and she might get her a Marathon so she could stay RFing longer. Of coarse, I mentioned that my 2.5 yr old 30 lb DD was RFing

 

[crunchierthanthou]

The new curriculum (as of 06/07) stresses ERF to the limits of the seat. It's probably a case of their informational materials still catching up.

 

[wendytthomas]

Mine didn't, other than me going on about it. In fact one of my instructors said you should turn them when they start to talk. She's the type of instructor who will teach what she wants, to hell with the curriculum if she doesn't agree. I didn't like her at all, and she didn't like me (too bad, because I'm right and she's evil!).

I had the old curriculum, though. I'd love to hear how some new techs were taught.

Wendy

 

[CRS]

Did you report her? I would have. When they can talk? WHAT UTTER ROT! *shakes head*

Uhhh you know, rear-face till the limits of the seat and for as longggggg as possible. There was talk of seats harnessing beyond 40lbs but not A LOT of emphasis on EH. I had a good main instructor but one of the other instructors marked one of my tests wrong (but it's ok, I had time to rectify it and fix the "problem) when spotting misuse. It was some kid (huge freakin doll lol) in a backless booster with the shoulder belt cutting in to his neck and the answers were supposed to be based on "best practice" and when I said because they were XX weight (can't remember what the weight was, but it was under 60lbs) that they could go in to a high weight harness seat. But I got marked wrong for that! Obviously a couple of the instructors didn't agree on what best practice really was. Mind you it was the first ever class they'd taught in the new curriculum so that's probably why huh.

 

[clothdiapermom]

When I took the class my instructors considered extended rear facing up to about 18 months then thought they would just turn kids at that point. Well my daughter was still rf while I was in class last November at 29 months and 24lbs and they thought I was an extreme from the "norm" and even said they wouldn't and didn't have there children rear face that long even though they could have.

Oh well she is now 39 months old and still rearfacing. She is only 28.5lbs and still fits height wise.

 

[azgirl71]

The importance of RF was stressed in my class in my class.

 

[thepeach80]

It was mentioned in mine, but 18 mos was more mentioned than actually using the seat to it's limits. I think it has gotten better in this last class that I briefly sat in on. They are doing a better job at pushing extended harnessing that's for sure! Now if the techs I work w/ actually push it is beyond me.

 

[MagnificentMama]

It wasn't in mine.

Then again... my instructor was telling us that 10 year old seats were "okay" because we deal alot with "poor" people who can't afford car seats

 

[chickenman]

i agree they were pushing more for 18 to 24 months rather then the limits of the seat, but the information out there keeps telling us that, a child under 2 is 4 times as more likely to be seriously injured if they are forward facing compared to rear facing correct, what about over the age of 2? we never really heard those stats, as well as when i talked to my peditrician he said its better but people have to compromise and some will only get about 18m. but i think its better then nothing. the law is a big part of it though because they think it protects there child. maybe they should make it 18 months and 25 lbs but that would be more confusing,

 

[ignora]

I just finished my class today (yay me!)... and they very definitely pushed rf until the limits of the seat. Extended harnessing was mentioned and encouraged, but not pushed quite as much.

In other words, if a 5 or 6 year old came to a check in a booster instead of a harness, don't stress trying to convince the parents to EH. But, if a small 2 year old comes in ff (like at my cert check tonight), we'd try to convince the parents to turn them back around (which we did... yay!).

 

[Avery'sMama]

My old curriculum class did not stress ERF and it's one of my beefs at SK checks in my area. I am one of few really pushing parents not to turn until the limits of the seat. I tend to hear techs say, "You can turn them at 1 and 20lbs but you could wait until they are at the limits of their seat" and move onto something else.

 

[azgirl71]

It wasn't in mine.

Then again... my instructor was telling us that 10 year old seats were "okay" because we deal alot with "poor" people who can't afford car seats

I can't imagine an instructor getting away with telling people is was fine to use thier expired seats :thumbsdown: to thar instructor.

 

[Defrost]

Our instructors kind of did both; they always acknowledged that ERF was best, but they seemed to want us to be prepared for the fact that many (if not most) of the parents we saw/see would be unwilling to do it, and that if we pushed the issue too much we'd either scare people off, or get RF only to have the parents switch them back (possibly improperly) to FF as soon as they got home.

I think it's a valid concern - Gypsy & I were offering seat checks a couple weeks ago for an "online yard sale" of sorts. I helped one of the moms carry some stuff to her van, and noticed her twin boys were FF at about 12-16 months old, and there were several obvious problems with the installations. So I casually reminded her that we were doing seat checks, and would she be interested, and she said "No," very firmly and slammed the door. I'm certain she was afraid I was going to lecture her about ERF, and unfortunately now her boys are riding even more unsafely than they would be if she'd just have let me show her how to install their seats correctly FF.

 

[jen_nah]

I am in the process of getting my instructor certification. I do my 1st part of my certification in 2wks and then my teaching part in Oct. But, I will be pushing ERF in my classes. Which here it isn't an issue as all our instructors push ERF to everyone.

 

[Kalinky]

Thanks for all your replies. Very interesting. It's too bad that instructors are even allowed to teach according to their *opinion* rather than the intended curriculum! Hopefully that's happening less often though. I guess when you're out there doing checks, you kind of have to tailor what you say to the personality of the parent you're dealing with at the time. Some are so receptive and some just don't wanna hear it! I'll keep y'all posted on how my class goes.

Ignora - Congrats on finishing your course!!

 

[ignora]

Ignora - Congrats on finishing your course!!

Thanks! Good luck on yours!!