Child Car Seats

[oggbashan]

In the latest Mothercare Catalogue is a statement "63% of child seats (in cars) are fitted incorrectly".

I'm not surprised. Yesterday we bought a child seat. The staff fitted the demonstration model in the car to check that it would fit, but no, they couldn't fit the identical one we bought. We have to do that because it is a "Health and Safety Issue". If we fit it wrongly it is our fault as parents. If they fit the seat wrongly, we could sue them if a child is injured by an incorrectly fitted seat. So they don't fit the child seat.

The instructions came in umpteen languages. By the time we had discarded all the European languages we didn't need we had reduced the large pile to one leaflet and a DVD. However, the language of the leaflet was still difficult to understand. I am sure if I ran it through Word it would score Grade Level 12 or higher. The leaflet refers to a SureStrap that has to be adjusted to a specific degree of tightness yet nowhere is there any explanation about what the SureStrap does or what failure to adjust correctly might mean. Death or some less penalty?

The new UK government regulations on Child Seats in cars are also difficult to understand. We visited Halfords the day before going to Mothercare. One of the Child Seats is intended for a two and a half-year-old that is large and stocky for his age. He is squashed uncomfortably tight into the current seat that is for age 9 months to 4 years. He is close to the recommended weight limit for that seat. However Halfords' advice is that they CANNOT sell us a seat for a 4 year old if we are going to put a 2.5 year old in it. They would be breaking the law and the sales assistant could be prosecuted personally. The fact that the 2.5 year old is the size of an average 4 year old is irrelevant. He must use that seat until he is four.

We could lie and say that he is four. However when you buy a new car seat for a child the new law requires you to declare your name and address, your car registration, the name and age of the child for whom the seat is intended - etc. If there is an accident and it is discovered that we lied - we would be liable for a penalty under the new regulations.

But 63% of Child Seats are fitted incorrectly. Observing passing traffic I see many children still travelling without any form of safety restraint, possibly imitating their parents who don't wear seat-belts.

The staff of Mothercare and Halfords are doing their best to comply with the law, to do their best for their customers, to ensure that parents are shown how to fit the child seats correctly - but they get abused by the customers, not for their own failings, but for trying to comply with ill-considered government legislation that did not consider that today's 2.5 year-old can be as large as yesterday's 4 year-old and just WON'T fit the approved safety seat. When Og was 2.5 I wouldn't have been able to fit the 4 year-old seat at all. My hip measurement would have been wider than the seat, as would my shoulders. What about obese McD-living toddlers? They won't fit either.

This Government has made criminals out of drivers - again.

Og

 

[RogueLurker]

Some friends of ours just had a baby a few weeks ago and ran into some car seat issues. We used to have provincial carseat clinics for soon to be parents to show them how to install them properly. These have been greatly reduced and I don't think they are sponsored by the province anymore. No one - government, car dealeship, mechanic or other - is now willing to actually install the seats for parents due to a fear of liablilty.

 

[Guest]

A couple of times a year they have a free safety check at some of the car dealerships in town. We always took advantage of those when our kids were younger.

One of the main issues, apparently, had to do with the seatbelt not holding the car seat securely, tightly. There was a separate buckle you had to attach to the car belt before you connected the car seat. Many people were not aware of it or just didn't use it.

The safety check people also told us never to buy a used car seat and always replace one once it has been through a car accident. They said that car seats are designed for the stresses of an accident - but only one.

This one we knew, because we had a minor car accident when our oldest was an infant. We bought a new car seat and she used the older one to play in at home. She loved to sit in it. Anyway, a couple of weeks later she climbed into it and the arms just fell off the thing.

But it's sad, isn't it? So many people are trying to do the right thing for their children but the instructions are so complicated it's damn near impossible.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

It's a bigger problem than it seems. Many of the child car seats are inherently unsafe to begin with. Slowly, those are being pulled off the market by the Gods of whereever. But there doesn't seem to be any real standard for them. Has anyone ever seen comparisons of car seats taken from crash tests?

 

[S-Des]

A couple of times a year they have a free safety check at some of the car dealerships in town. We always took advantage of those when our kids were younger.

The police checked ours for us. We got it right the first time, luckily. By the time I had to buy my own (we separarted when our daughter was 6 months old), I was an old pro at it.

This one we knew, because we had a minor car accident when our oldest was an infant. We bought a new car seat and she used the older one to play in at home. She loved to sit in it. Anyway, a couple of weeks later she climbed into it and the arms just fell off the thing.

The hospital was very specific about this. They warned us repeatedly (in parenting classes and in private) not to use car seats we purchased used, or that we got from another family member. I got a nice one that lasted a long time, and just recently got her a new booster seat (which she loves because the back comes off and she can basically sit like a grown-up).

But it's sad, isn't it? So many people are trying to do the right thing for their children but the instructions are so complicated it's damn near impossible.

I think you're running into Rox's favorite subject . . . unintended consequences. Everyone is so afraid of being sued, that they've made things too complicated to actually be helpful. That's what happens when you have lawyers making up instruction booklets instead of the designers.

 

[tickledkitty]

I saw a film on car seat installation at the hospital after my daughter was born, and two things stuck with me.

First, when putting the seat in the car and fastening down the car seatbelt that holds the child seat in place, you should place your knee in the child seat and let your weight hold it down. Then, fasten the car seatbelt and pull it as tight as you can. Then, once you get up, you shouldn't be able to move the seat more than an inch with your hands. If you can move it more than an inch, you should repeat the procedure with putting your weight on it, etc.

Secondly, when the harness on the child's seat is fastened, you should only be able to fit two fingers between the harness and the child.

Car seats have been the bane of my existence for 6 years now. My daughter is still in a booster, which is not so bad. Apparently, kids are supposed to be in a booster until they reach 80 pounds. She's weighs about 50 pounds now.

 

[The_Fool]

Senile as I am, I still remember riding on the ledge of the back window when I was little.

 

[tickledkitty]

Senile as I am, I still remember riding on the ledge of the back window when I was little.

I remember riding on my mother's lap in the passenger seat. My father hit the brakes, and I flew off and hit the metal dash and got two black eyes. It's amazing we're all still alive.