Having your carseat inspected?

Samiantha101 · June 2012

Ok, so I had plans to get my carseat inspected by a local fire station, as I thought that's what you're suppose to do, right? Well, my dh said he thought it sounded a bit silly, but he'd call and make an appointment to appease me. So he calls the fire station on the military base. Essentially, they tell him sure they'll look it over. When my dh asks if they have any special training on the matter they flat out say no. He asks them if they believe the civilian stations are certified. They reply that they are civilians and work hand-in-hand with the fire-stations off base, and no they also are not certified. I then have my dh call his good friend, who is also a new father, that works for the Boston Fire Department. His response was that they check the carseats for over-zealous mothers and idiots who cannot read directions, but no, they have no special certification. After this, I just let my husband install our carseat. So I have to ask, have any of you actually asked your "inspectors" what their qualifications are? Is there really something more to installing the carseat than following the instructions? I want to make sure my child is safe, and I'm still weary about whether or not it should be "looked" over so-to-speak. Please share your experiences.

Zilelabelle · June 2012

I just had another mom check it to make sure I did it right. I figured those were pretty good credentials.

jamiah18 · June 2012

Well I guess I'm either an over-zealous mother or an idiot who can't read directions, lol, but we are actually doing that today. Our state police have carseat techs come once a month for inspections so we are taking advantage.

Formerly Mrs D S · June 2012

I dont think there is a "certification" so to speak, but I still feel more comfortable having someone who has seen hundreds of thousands installed take a look at it. The first time my DH put ours in and we didnt realize that we would need part of a noodle to prop it correctly ...

Honestly, I take offense to your friends approach that 'crazy' mothers etc. are the only people that have it done. I rather be safe than have my child die due to a mistake of putting in a car seat incorrectly. I'd be surprised if your friend hasn't met or known people whose children have died in car accidents.. for him to say something so naive (and to a new mother) is totally irresponsible.

Go with whatever makes you comfortable. For all intents and purposes (and maybe just to keep my conscious clear) I will be having our car seat inspected before DS gets here.

anners86 · June 2012

Our fire dept is volunteer and DH is one of them, so I KNOW they're not "certified", but several of them have one or more child(ren) as it is so I think they have experience. I just had a friend of mine help me the other day (I know, it was last minute).

CAM718 · June 2012

There is a certification course for police officers. My husband is an officer and only 1 of the officers in his depatment is certified, people have to call to schedule a time when he is working and he can inspect it at the station. We also have a volunteer group that does inspections one day a month by appointment, all of their volunteers are certified.

champ579 · June 2012

I am getting our bases looked at, the fire dept employees have to go through a 12 hour course, which is about 11 hours 59 minutes more than my education. No harm no foul in getting it checked out.

Samiantha101 · June 2012

My mother had to take a carseat class, as a prerequisite to be a foster parent to my niece. She said the course was long but beneficial. She had been installing carseats for nearly 30 years before she took this class, albeit there was a long lapse between her children and her grandchildren. I now can't help but wonder if these carseat classes/inspections are to help, well, the lowest common denominator or if there really is something beneficial. I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry. Our base has been installed. We followed the directions it came with. I looked in our vehicle's manual for placement of the child seat. I'm going to check with the hospital to see if they do a one-over before you're able to leave with the baby. Otherwise, I may just check with somebody for a second opinion. My husband and I aren't "idiots". I may, however, be a little overzealous. He has an engineering & meteorology degree, so surely he can follow some step-by-step directions. Haha At least that's what he says. I've installed carseats for my niece and nephew previously. It was a few years ago, and it's kind of different when they're not your own, ya know?

babyruth88 · June 2012

I dont plan on having ours inspected. Pretty good at reading directions. Plus were going to be the ones moving it from different cars etc. Speaking of should probably actually put the carseat base in baby should have been here by now hahaha.

acbfreire · June 2012

We had our seat inspected by the police dept. Our installation was wrong, even though we followed both manuals. The officer did get trained to do the inspections and she had to prop our seat up with a foam noodle to get the right angle.

It is worth getting it inspected!

zinkyn14 · June 2012

My hospital requires a carseat inspection before you leave the hospital with LO. I guess it wouldn't hurt to have it checked. Better safe than sorry.

sam19 · June 2012

We had a nurse at the hospital check it out. She was certified. I'd actually check with the hospital to see if they have anyone certified. I don't think it's too big of a deal if you don't get it checked out though. If you are using an infant seat with the base then it's pretty simple.

MiracleK · June 2012

Police officers in my state can get certified. It's a 40 hour course. We had ours inspected last week. I've read that 8 out of 10 car seats are installed incorrectly even when reading the manuel.

Samiantha101 · June 2012

MiracleK:
Police officers in my state can get certified. It's a 40 hour course. We had ours inspected last week. I've read that 8 out of 10 car seats are installed incorrectly even when reading the manuel.

40 hours? What could possibly take 40 hours to learn about carseats? That's crazy.

MiracleK · June 2012

https://cert.safekids.org/

This website might answer your question about why the certification to be able to inspect car seats takes so long.

homequiltingmama · June 2012

Yes, we got ours checked at a local hospital that offered seat checks. They were wonderful!! They walked us through everything about our particular seat, which was more helpful than the manual. She gave us tips and things to look for as the baby grows and also told us that they'd check other seats we might buy and our baby gets older.

We used seatcheck.org to find the hospital that we went to - though they also provide police stations, fire stations, and even independent companies that provide the service. We had a good experience and I'd recommend it

gracielou314 · June 2012

everything we've been given from our classes says that 80-90% of carseats are installed incorrectly, so we are having ours inspected by a certified technician through the hospital on Tuesday. The hospital provided a list of area places that have certified technicians available. You can't assume that all fire and police officers are.

JuneBugBaby2012 · June 2012

Samiantha101:

MiracleK:
Police officers in my state can get certified. It's a 40 hour course. We had ours inspected last week. I've read that 8 out of 10 car seats are installed incorrectly even when reading the manuel.

40 hours? What could possibly take 40 hours to learn about carseats? That's crazy.

It's not crazy if you consider all the different makes of cars, trucks, suvs, and then add in all the different types of bases, convertible seats, and boosters out there. I guess finding a way to make sure it's installed correctly would be worth the extra time for me.

acbfreire · June 2012

JuneBugBaby2012:
Samiantha101:

MiracleK:
Police officers in my state can get certified. It's a 40 hour course. We had ours inspected last week. I've read that 8 out of 10 car seats are installed incorrectly even when reading the manuel.

40 hours? What could possibly take 40 hours to learn about carseats? That's crazy.

It's not crazy if you consider all the different makes of cars, trucks, suvs, and then add in all the different types of bases, convertible seats, and boosters out there. I guess finding a way to make sure it's installed correctly would be worth the extra time for me.

Not only that, but the officer that did our inspection was mentioning the physics of collisions and the types of seat, installation, etc.

It took 30 min at the most but it it priceless!

s246517 · June 2012

Our local health department has certified administrators that have taken the car seat installation course and they will inspect or simply install it for you. They also have a few weekends a year where they give out free carseats and installation classes that last about 30 minutes. Might be another place to check out instead of your local fire and police department?

terrierlove · June 2012

I was just looking this up on our Police Department's website to see how we can get our car seat inspected. Samantha, if you are in Boston and the BPD isn't certified, you should come over to Brookline!

https://www.brooklinema.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=646:child-seat-safety-initiative&catid=617:programs&Itemid=1108

terrierlove · June 2012

And here is a list of events and places to go in MA (again, if you're in Boston, and not just your friend):

https://www.mass.gov/eopss/crime-prev-personal-sfty/traffic-safety/cps/finding-cps-technicians-and-check-up-events.html

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