For Mobile: Really bad carseat picture. How to address?
There is this girl I know. She has a LO who is not quite 2. She posted this picture below over the weekend. She's a young single mom and I want to be delicate about how I comment on this but OMG it's so unsafe.
I am not close to this girl. Our families were friends growing up and went on a few vacations together as kids but I haven't seen her since she was pregnant with her LO.
I have written one friend before in a private message to let her know her son's chest clip was in the wrong place. I totally gushed over what a cutie is and what an awesome mom she is and she thanked me for letting her know. I thought about doing it that way this time but I feel like this girl will just ignore my message or get defensive. Should I just comment on the picture?
IMAGE REMOVED
I've doctored up the picture a bit but as you can see the carseat cover is coming off and the harness straps and chest clip are not on the kid. The title of her pictures was "Sleepy Gurl." This girl's older sister commented she shouldn't be taking pictures and driving and responded with "I'm that good."
ETA: I will probably DD later.
UPDATE: Here's the condensed version.
The girl basically made a bunch of excuses. First she said she was stopped at a stop sign to take the picture. Then she said her daughter was throwing a tantrum and then fell asleep and that's why the cover is off. She said she's a single mother and I don't understand how hard it is...I sent her links to Carseat Inspection Stations near her area and offered to help her. I was really polite but unfortunately her end response was unfortunately as I expected and I don't know her lyfe. I'm still glad I said something.
Re: REALLY bad careat picture. UPDATE
That's pretty dangerous, especially since she thought that while driving in the car was the best time to take this picture. I hope she was at least stopped when she took it.
I don't know the best way to bring this up to her. If she brushed off her older sister's comment, it seems likely that she would come up with a brush off for your comment as well unfortunately.
I was all prepared to come in here and say let it go. Not your kid. Not your Rules. Not your Life. These calls outs never end well esp. when it's something like the chest clip being 1/100 of a mm off from where you think it be when they never left the driveway in the first place and mom took the picture before she adjusted the straps.
However, I'm pretty lax about kid raising, but that's downright awful to me. I'd probably speak up in this case too.
Just send her a PM and say, "She is a pretty sleep girl and cute too! To make sure she sleeps comfortably and stays safe I suggest you install the carseat in XYZ manner, fix the cover and put the straps up properly. Also did you know the Police Department does free inspections every Tuesday (or whenever)? I did it and it was awesome!"
She'll probably be p*ssed. People never take criticism well at all. But you hardly know her. So let her be mad and hopefully she takes it to heart and you'll feel better.
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
I see improper chest clip pictures all the time and typically just don't say anything but this is the worst picture I've seen as well...and she was driving when she took the picture AND she thought it was okay to post on facebook...
Scattered, if I had to guess I'd bet the carseat was a hand me down from her older sister and probably a few years old. It's kind of hard to see but I think it's the chest clip that is on top of the buckle at the bottom.
Ugh, that's comparable to the picture a FB friend posted of her 2 year old in a high back booster with the shoulder belt looped under the armrest making it a second lap belt.
I sent her a pm saying how beautiful her daughter is but that I was worried she might be using her seat incorrectly. I got unfriended and am still friends with her sister, so I end up seeing pictures still occasionally (either that her sister took or that her sister commented on) and she's still using the seat the same way.
All this. I wouldn't think twice about sending a PM.
The last time I tried I got booted from my Mom's Group [meetup group]. I just gave them literature on forward facing vs. rear facing. They glanced at it and changed the subject. Next thing I know I'm out of the group and no longer invited to meet ups. These ladies had their LO's FF at 6 months!
LFAF Summer 2016 Awards:
what car seat is it? If its that easy for kids to wiggle out of I'd be tempted to write to the manufacturer
UPDATE: Here's the condensed version.
The girl basically made a bunch of excuses. First she said she was stopped at a stop sign to take the picture. Then she said her daughter was throwing a tantrum and then fell asleep and that's why the cover is off. She said she's a single mother and I don't understand how hard it is...I sent her links to Carseat Inspection Stations near her area and offered to help her. I was really polite but unfortunately her end response was unfortunately as I expected and I don't know her lyfe. I'm still glad I said something.