The Great Car Seat Scam

[choli]

Interesting point of view.

http://www.bestcashcow.com/the_econo...-car-seat-scam

[betsyj]

I am a fan of second hand everything except car seats. You don't know if the car seat was in an accident and has parts that are stressed. So I disagree with her there that it is some kind of conspiracy.

Also, you may not know of any recalls for second hand car seats either.

[Mrsboyko]

I left a note about the radians.

[luv-my-boys]

hmmmm.....I have a slightly different point of view. We actually know someone who was a car seat design engineer. We were asking him questions regarding car seats when we first started having kids. You have to remember that design/function has come a LONG way from the *original* car seats. When car seats first came out they were necessarily meant to keep kids safe in the event of an accident but a *place* for them to be held in a car. Obviously now there is a lot of engineering that is involved into making car seat designs that not only safely hold your child in a car but are also meant to help protect your child in the event of a accident. Do I think car seat prices are outrageous? YES! as far as the expiration date on seats? that has to do with the material that they are made of. Things like plastic, foam,styrofoam inserts heck even the webbing on the belts/buckles degrade over time. I have passed down DS#1 seat to DS#2 but it hadnt expired at that time. I personally wouldnt feel comfortable using a seat that was used in an unknown situation (like from thrift stores,yard sales)

[bandgeek]

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Most cars, if you have the right combo of seats, can fit 3 across. There's a huge thread of successful 3 across scenarios at car-seat.org. I've fit 3 across in a toyota echo. 1 ffing radian, 1 rfing radian and a ffing scenera. It was tight, and not an ideal situation (hard to load and unload the kids) but it was safe.

And you CAN reuse car seats for multiple kids if they are not expired, never involved in a crash, and are in good working condition (not missing pieces).

I've never heard of a car seat saying "do not reuse" on it.

It sounds like someone needed something to blog about and they thought they were being witty.

[Ruthie's momma]

What an illogical line of reasoning...IMHO....

[amlikam]

I knew IT!!! good- I can use gently used car seat from 1999 in my dining room now-(dd likes to sit in it- supervised- occasionally so she can see the dogs and cat better) I was worried it would be unsafe!!!

Seriously- maybe its the auto makers making the interiors smaller....THEY must realize car seats get larger as new safety features are added... so they realize families will upsize their car when the family grows!

Heck- perhaps the get the lead out program is trying to get mop companies $$ by getting me to buy a mop, by telling me wet mopping helps to reduce lead posioning....?!

I could come up will a million scam theories if left to my own devices as well....

[just_lily]

Aren't carseats also larger now because they are designed to hold older kids as well? Naturally a seat that holds a 65lb kid is going to be bigger than one meant to hold a small toddler.

If you have three kids accross in a car, where on earth do you put all the stuff you end up dragging around with you when you have kids? Right now I only have one kid, and when we go to the dog park in my Escape we are packed to the gills with the dogs in the back, the stroller in the backseat along with the baby, and DF and I in the front. I keep saying that one more kid and we are going to need a van.

Not everything is a conspiracy.

[the_lissa]

Well we don't have dogs, so that makes it easier. If we had dogs, we would need something bigger.

But we can go away for the weekend and still have enough room in the trunk for what we need.

The only time we need more room is when we go camping.

[somelady]

Originally Posted by amlikam

Seriously- maybe its the auto makers making the interiors smaller....THEY must realize car seats get larger as new safety features are added... so they realize families will upsize their car when the family grows!

I know you're being facetious here, but there are seriously big differences, I have a Yaris, which is a subcompact I think, and it has way more space inside than Cobalts or Neons that I've had as rentals.

And for reference, I've managed to get 2 carseats and a (small) adult in the back of the Yaris, never tried 3 seats.

[mamarootoo]

we should just go back to moses baskets on the floorboards!

[lifeguard]

Personally, if there is a conspiracy in all of this, it's with the car companies not being held accountable to create a backseat arrangment that is safer for children. MOST of the time there are passengers in the backseat in most cars it is children. If boosters are primarily to create a situation where the seatbelt lands correctly then why can the seatbelt/seat set up not be designed properly for children in the first place?

I think it is good for people to question - even if the questioning can seem flawed. It helps us reevaluate things & see if current practice really is best practice.

[amlikam]

somelady

I have a ford aspire its the same as a yaris- so I know what you mean about more room in a supcompact sometimes.....


I was actually being serious about the can manufacturers being aware of the car seats being larger.... kind of

[mamarootoo]

i think that if someone is planning on having more than one or two kids, they should expect to have to use more recourses... that may mean a bigger car, more gas, etc.

not that having more kids is wrong at all. there is always mass transit!

[claddaghmom]

I remember being so judgmental of the "suv" people in my teen years. They were out to destroy the environment, waste money and gas, and hog the road lol.

Now I think I see why everyone targets SUV drivers. The majority of them are family drivers. Moms with kids.

[DahliaRW]

Originally Posted by mamarootoo

i think that if someone is planning on having more than one or two kids, they should expect to have to use more recourses... that may mean a bigger car, more gas, etc.

not that having more kids is wrong at all. there is always mass transit!

Except for when Mass Transit comes no where near your house and you can't afford to live where it does!

[alysmommy2004]

Originally Posted by claddaghmom

I remember being so judgmental of the "suv" people in my teen years. They were out to destroy the environment, waste money and gas, and hog the road lol.

Now I think I see why everyone targets SUV drivers. The majority of them are family drivers. Moms with kids.

: I was anti-SUV up until the day I got mine, two years ago. We tried wagons first, but they were too small for our lifestyle (two large Britax, a dog, camping gear...). I don't mind SUVs now if they're filled with kids. I do however get annoyed that the majority of SUVs I see around town are only transporting one or two passengers.

[mamarootoo]

Originally Posted by DahliaRW

Except for when Mass Transit comes no where near your house and you can't afford to live where it does!

this would be something i would consider when deciding where to live and how many children to have there.

ETA:
i didn't mean for this to sound condescending. i don't usually use mass transit myself. i just think that the idea of carmakers conspiring agains bigger families is a little out of left field! i just got a bigger car when DD was born! we bought a small SUV because we planned for (and are in the process of growing our second of) two kidlets. we travel a lot, and i felt it was appropriate to buy the new suv to make things more practical for our family.
if i planned on having three kids, i probably would have gotten the same car i did, because it would pretty easily fit three of the carseats i want to have for my children.

[DahliaRW]

Yup, but sometimes it's nicer to be able to live within a decent commute of your dh's work, where there is no mass transit, then to live over an hour away from his work, never see him, and have access to busses. Sometimes there really aren't that many options. Especially with how crappy mass transit is in the Seattle Suburbs.

[mamarootoo]

in which case it would make sense for a parent to have a car big enough to have good carseats