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jen5-03
member
not so great carseat installation
jen5-03
member
I know I'm a bit of a carseat freak compared to just about anyone I know IRL - E is still RFing at 3 and I have no intention of moving her FFing any time soon. So maybe it's just me....
But today I gave a ride to a lady and 2 kids in my playgroup. I went to her house and they go to install the carseats in my car (her DH was there). He said he usually uses the seatbelt, not the latch. OK fine. He put the carseat in, kind of pushed down on it and said something like "that should do it."
Ummm no. He did not pull the seatbelt out all the way to make it lock or do anything else to make it secure at all. I extended the seatbelt out and made it lock and asked him to push down on it again and got it tight.
I hated to go behind him and correct it, but it was so horribly wrong that I couldn't drive kids that way.
As we were driving back I kinda brought it up again and she said that her DH always installs them, but she's not sure he always does it right so she takes them to somewhere to get them checked when she can. But they move them back and forth between cars a lot.
If he doesn't even know to lock the seatbelts and he's the one who does it... basically her carseats are not secure a lot of the time. And she didn't seem freaked out about that.
Are these people completely crazy? Or is this the norm IRL? Can you install a carseat by yourself?
And on a related sidenote, do you know anyone IRL who does extended RFing? (I do, but only one person and I'm the one who suggested she look nto it)
- Jena
This discussion has been closed.
Re: not so great carseat installation
I don't know anyone who does extended rear facing. I can say that most of the people I know are chomping at the bit to turn to forward facing. Even doing it before their kids turn one.
I vote that they are a little lazy in the car seat department. I am basing it on how I put the seats in. I use all of my body weight to make sure those bad boys are not moving.
I am going to do RFing until F hits 35 pounds. There are so many good reasons to keep her RFing, that I couldn't turn her around. The more I read, the more I became convinced she should be RFing for as long as possible. She is FFing in my MIL's car because that is what fits (two door car).
She is on a car base that we installed with latch, so I am clueless about the seat belt pulling, but I would certainly read the manual if I was going to do it.
So Tasty, So Yummy
we're still RF at 21 months (is that still considered ERF? Or is it after two now that the AAP raised the age recommendation?) Anyway, she'll be RF until at least 2.5 (mainly so she can't throw things at the baby in the carseat, LOL.)
It sounds like he read the manual once and is just relying on that info he read years ago to install them.
Although I have to admit, I have no clue how to install our car seats. Josh does it all the time. I guess I should probably learn now with two...
j+k+m+e | running with needles
DH is usually the one who installs the seats, mostly because he's stronger and can pull it tighter. That said, I've read the manuals and double check everything repeatedly. I'm always checking to make sure they are still tight.
We rf as long as we possibly can. Of course C is still under 20 lbs so she wouldn't be turned around anyway. I think a lot of people just aren't aware that it is an option. I know my SIL was talking at Christmas that she had to turn her DD around because her feet were touching the seat. That seems to be the most common misconception.
I must admit - I probably don't 100% install correctly, but we rarely move them. DH usually does it if we need to move them. I usually use the locking thing on the seatbelt, and also the locking clip (one of ours has a separate one, and the other has it already included on the seat). I also put my knee in the seat and literally put all of my weight into it to tighten. I will say that I shake it to make sure it does not move more than 1 inch all around and if it does, then I re-do it or ask DH to help.
DS is 15 mo and still RF. Like the pp - I am not sure if that is "extended" or not, since they are recommending until age 2, now (although not required). I don't understand some ppl's rush to turn them around so soon. However, I will say, we rarely drive anywhere (daycare is only 1 mile away) and DS doesn't mind the carseat RF - it's tall enough that he can see out of the back window, and he is happy with that. Maybe if he was screaming bloody murder, I would turn it in a heartbeat!?
Glad I'm not totally crazy, but honestly I would expect nesties/bumpies to be slightly more informed about carseats just because if you're on here you're probably looking for info on parenting related stuff and if you research one thing you probably got sucked into the nest and started researching other things.
I'm not sure what is extended RFing, but I'd say after 1 since that's the law. Of course DD is now extended RFing by any definition, lol!
Honestly, I can understand what she is saying. I CAN NOT drive with a screaming kid, it literally hurts my brain and distracts my driving. My child HATED RF and we turned him around the weekend he turned one.
As far as the OP, dh or I installs the car seats. I make him install the Recaro because I don't feel I'm strong enough to get it as tight as it needs to be. But our extra car seat is easy for me to install.
Given the way C screamed (like he was being slaughtered) in the infant carrier until we realized his reflux made being in the infant seat utterly miserable for him, I can completely understand this too. I was frequently scared that I would get into an accident because the constant screaming had me so rattled and some of the screams would be so shrill that they made me jump.
I can install the carseat, but usually let Dh do it. I would say he does a good job of making certain it's secure.
As for extending RF, we kept DS RF until he was almost 3. I think we turned him when we were diving around looking at Christmas lights and we never went back (he turned 3 in March). What's funny is that Dh turned him around in his car during the summer due to lack of a/c getting to him while RF, but he never complained being RF in my car. I just hope DD will be an easy traveler and won't give us too much grief about being RF.