Don't leave Chaperone handle up, and more

[wendytthomas]

Ok, so what would be the f-ing point of having an adjustable base then!? :banginghead: Idiots! :thumbsdown:

I've been in many cars (including my former car) where the foot down didn't get a 45 degree angle. So the question was, do you put the foot down and supplement with a towel, or put the foot up and do the whole thing with towels?

Wendy

 

[brookity]

Somebody please come to my check with a RF 4-year-old. And a short kid over 80 lbs. who does not fit in a seatbelt yet.

At any rate, I'm excited. Hope for no rain!

I wish I would have seen this sooner. I am fairly close to you (I think). I totally would have brought my 5 year old DD RF. That would have freaked them out.

Some of the stuff that you are mentioning sounds quite a bit like the misinformation I got at my tech class. A couple of the instructors were really good but the others, um...not so much. They would check for seat tightness by placing a hand on either side of the seat and shaking it as hard as they could. When I brought up the whole "non-dominant hand thing" they thought I was nuts. But, in the end, it didn't really matter to me because I knew better.

 

[kaitlyn]

Wow. I dealt with a little bit of frustrating information at my tech class, but nothing like this. I got sort of giggled at as extreme when I mentioned RF as long as possible and my instructor said "let me guess, car-seat.org?".

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

 

[CPST_Augie]

This whole thing makes me nervous. I've learnt so much on here (including the opposite of the points your instructors made.) I'm taking my CPST class next week and don't keep my mouth shut too easily... yikes.

I argued with one of my instructors. At the end of the course, there's a part where you're given a list of family members and asked here you'd put then and in what seat.

The situation was as follows:

2 parents
7 mo old 24 lbs
2 yr old 27 lbs
4 yr old 41 lbs
12 yr old 85 lbs

car config was driver (l/s/airbag) lap only and airbag Passenger (l/s/airbag)
back seat was the same minus airbags

I put the parents in driver (duh) and passenger. 4 year old FF in front middle.
The 7mo old and 2 yr old rf (one in back middle and one outboard) and the 12 year old outboard.

The instructor argued that the 27 lb 2 year old should be FF up front. As I was arguing that this was FAR from best practice another student asked if seats would even fit a 2 year old RF. The instructor said NO! I made sure to correct him there!

 

[Carrie_R]

I also went against "conventional" on that, by putting the 4yo in a HWH front-center. The "correct" answer was 12yo and 4yo outboard, seatbelt and booster, with the babe in the center, 2yo FF harnessed in the front. I simply offered up that the 4yo could go up front in a HWH as well, and the instructors acted like that was an odd responses but said, "Well yes, I guess they could..."

I think that exercise was written as only one possible "correct response" and it threw the instructors when someone came up with another one, lol.

 

[luckyclov]

2 parents
7 mo old 24 lbs
2 yr old 27 lbs
4 yr old 41 lbs
12 yr old 85 lbs

car config was driver (l/s/airbag) lap only and airbag Passenger (l/s/airbag)
back seat was the same minus airbags

Do they tell you what kind of CRs you have to work with? Like, is the 4-year old in a booster or a 5-pt harness? Because if the 4 y/o is in a harness, then I'd put him/her in the front center (parents driving/passenger), the 12 y/o (assuming he/she 5-stepped) in a rear outboard lap/shoulder, 2 y/o and 7 m/o RF'ing rear center and opposite outboard.

But if the 4 y/o were in a booster, I think *gulp* I'd place the 2 y/o FF (assuming you can't RF in the middle of two "activated" airbags) front center instead, with the boostered 4 y/o and 12 y/o rear outboard in lap/shoulder and 7 m/o RF rear center.

 

[CPST_Augie]

Do they tell you what kind of CRs you have to work with? Like, is the 4-year old in a booster or a 5-pt harness? Because if the 4 y/o is in a harness, then I'd put him/her in the front center (parents driving/passenger), the 12 y/o (assuming he/she 5-stepped) in a rear outboard lap/shoulder, 2 y/o and 7 m/o RF'ing rear center and opposite outboard.

But if the 4 y/o were in a booster, I think *gulp* I'd place the 2 y/o FF (assuming you can't RF in the middle of two "activated" airbags) front center instead, with the boostered 4 y/o and 12 y/o rear outboard in lap/shoulder and 7 m/o RF rear center.

No, you state what seat-type they should be in.

 

[DaniannieB]

At my training they had the "vehicles" and seating positions made out of masking tape on the floor. They gave us the scenario (w/ child ages and weights). We then had to find seats (from among the demo seats) that would fit the children and fit in the car.

I was also pretty fortunate in that although I got eye-rolls from some (one instructor said, "yeah it's safer but you'll be lucky if you find anyone who will RF past 2), for the most part the instructors were very supportive and receptive of my knowledge. The lead instructor (who I work w/ a lot w/ Safe Kids) is very supportive of me still and recognizes that I "know my stuff" when it comes to seats.