I want to throw up. - Page 5

[Mommybree]

Originally Posted by aniT

Eh... I have a Nautilus, and while my 5 year old uses it and my 2 year old uses her old Evenflo advanced I am wondering why an 18 month old couldn't use it if the child fit the height and weight requirement?

Ideally, an 18 month old should be rear-facing. The Nautilus doesn't rear-face, so I wouldn't recommend it for an 18 month old, even if they met the minimum requirements for it.

[rhiandmoi]

Originally Posted by vbactivist

I do, but I'm a libertarian, so...

This is completely off topic, but if the purpose of laws is to protect people from significant damage due to the actions of others, which is the general libertarian philosophy that laws must prevent a greivious harm to justify the restriction of the freedom of individuals, wouldn't infant car seat laws fall under the category of justified law?

[aniT]

Originally Posted by Mommybree

Ideally, an 18 month old should be rear-facing. The Nautilus doesn't rear-face, so I wouldn't recommend it for an 18 month old, even if they met the minimum requirements for it.

But again, the BRU employee was showing a customer a car seat within the parameters of the law, and within the car seat manufacturers specifications. So I can see why he would get annoyed with a customer coming and and saying otherwise. It could be that this parent was hoping not to have to buy a million different car seats for the same child and felt the Nautilus would fit that bill! I hoped to do that with the Evenflo Advanced, however my daughter outgrew it too.

FWIW I turned my youger kids by around 18 months. They absolutely HATED rear facing when their little bodies were that big. And yes. while I know some of you prefer the extended rear facing, I just don't agree with it. Sometimes we have to make the best choices for our families.

[Mommybree]

Originally Posted by aniT

But again, the BRU employee was showing a customer a car seat within the parameters of the law, and within the car seat manufacturers specifications. So I can see why he would get annoyed with a customer coming and and saying otherwise. It could be that this parent was hoping not to have to buy a million different car seats for the same child and felt the Nautilus would fit that bill! I hoped to do that with the Evenflo Advanced, however my daughter outgrew it too.

FWIW I turned my youger kids by around 18 months. They absolutely HATED rear facing when their little bodies were that big. And yes. while I know some of you prefer the extended rear facing, I just don't agree with it. Sometimes we have to make the best choices for our families.

Ah, I wasn't thinking of it in terms of a BRU recommending it to a customer. There are worse things (like the boosters he was originally showing the parent). However, if I were shopping for something, and the store employee wasn't up-to-date on info, I would gladly listen to another customer so that I could go research it myself.

I guess I was just thinking how research shows kids the age of an 18 month old are over 500% safer rear-facing than forward-facing and that the 18 month old would be significantly safer rear-facing, and I sort of ran with that with my original reply. I just had to turn my 4 year old forward-facing when she met the weight limit of her convertible carseat. I am uncomfortable with the decrease in safety going to forward-facing from rear-facing with a 4 year old, so that's where I was coming from with only an 18 month old.

[chickabiddy]

I agree that a Nautilus would not be my first choice for an 18-month-old, but I would consider it a victory if a mother who was looking at boosters for that toddler bought a Nautilus instead.

[aniT]

Originally Posted by Mommybree

Ideally, an 18 month old should be rear-facing. The Nautilus doesn't rear-face, so I wouldn't recommend it for an 18 month old, even if they met the minimum requirements for it.

Originally Posted by Mommybree

Ah, I wasn't thinking of it in terms of a BRU recommending it to a customer. There are worse things (like the boosters he was originally showing the parent). However, if I were shopping for something, and the store employee wasn't up-to-date on info, I would gladly listen to another customer so that I could go research it myself.

I guess I was just thinking how research shows kids the age of an 18 month old are over 500% safer rear-facing than forward-facing and that the 18 month old would be significantly safer rear-facing, and I sort of ran with that with my original reply. I just had to turn my 4 year old forward-facing when she met the weight limit of her convertible carseat. I am uncomfortable with the decrease in safety going to forward-facing from rear-facing with a 4 year old, so that's where I was coming from with only an 18 month old.

They are safer walking than riding in a car as well. My 2 year old is forward facing. I am comfortable that he is nearly as safe FF as he is RF. I don't always agree with statistics, and I don't want to live my life scared of them either. We do the best we can and move on.

[aniT]

Originally Posted by chickabiddy

I agree that a Nautilus would not be my first choice for an 18-month-old, but I would consider it a victory if a mother who was looking at boosters for that toddler bought a Nautilus instead.

And I can just imagine what this mother was thinking. Car seats are EXPENSIVE. Every time you turn around they change the laws. Each time you bought the best there is, something better comes out. So you want something that is going to last as long as it possibly can last.

When my 5 year old was about 2.5 I bought her a high back booster seat. It had the harness on it and went up to 100lbs. I thought I would never have to buy another seat. I was unaware however that the harness came off and you could only use the seatbelt after 40lbs. Which she hit at age 3. At age three I bought the EvenFlo Advanced (Nautilus wasn't out yet) Other than the Regent which I could not afford it had the highest weight limit for the harness. She outgrew that at 5. So I bought her the Nautilus. This doesn't even count her original Evenflo. So for this one, 5 year old child, I have spent well over $400 on car seats. Because she keeps growing and they keep changing the laws.

There is also the fact that I thin MOST PEOPLE are not aware of the fact that with the high back boosters you can't use the harness after X pounds until after you buy it and bring it home. By then it feels too late and you feel screwed. They should make that info CLEAR ON THE BOX. That way if you have tall children you will KNOW that you are going to have to buy another car seat. A 3 year old is not ready for a belt only booster seat.

[UberMama]

Sorry, I didn't specify, he told her only other option beside the boosters was to get a Nautilus. Her and I were still talking when he came up and began talking about the Nautilus. She said she'd think about it, I then asked what her DD weighed and she told me and I asked what about keeping her RF for a bit longer. The employee rolled his eyes, huffed, walked off and she just kinda looked at me and laughed and we began talking more about other seat options.

She was shopping for the safest option. She asked him prior to my talking to her, "But will she even fit into a booster properly?" and he said, "OH YES!" and trailed off on why it'd last her until she was ten years old, etc. :/

I didn't think to get into the specifics, sorry again!

ETA: She ended up going home and her DH bought a TF online. (We exchanged numbers as it turns out she lives just a couple of blocks from me)

[Mommybree]

Originally Posted by aniT

They are safer walking than riding in a car as well. My 2 year old is forward facing. I am comfortable that he is nearly as safe FF as he is RF. I don't always agree with statistics, and I don't want to live my life scared of them either. We do the best we can and move on.

I guess for me, it is because I find driving so dangerous that I am concerned about trying to reduce the risks of injuries in a car crash by rear-facing my kiddos if possible. I get what you are saying about the walking versus the car, though.

[chickabiddy]

Originally Posted by aniT

And I can just imagine what this mother was thinking. Car seats are EXPENSIVE. Every time you turn around they change the laws. Each time you bought the best there is, something better comes out. So you want something that is going to last as long as it possibly can last.

When my 5 year old was about 2.5 I bought her a high back booster seat. It had the harness on it and went up to 100lbs. I thought I would never have to buy another seat. I was unaware however that the harness came off and you could only use the seatbelt after 40lbs. Which she hit at age 3. At age three I bought the EvenFlo Advanced (Nautilus wasn't out yet) Other than the Regent which I could not afford it had the highest weight limit for the harness. She outgrew that at 5. So I bought her the Nautilus. This doesn't even count her original Evenflo. So for this one, 5 year old child, I have spent well over $400 on car seats. Because she keeps growing and they keep changing the laws.

There is also the fact that I thin MOST PEOPLE are not aware of the fact that with the high back boosters you can't use the harness after X pounds until after you buy it and bring it home. By then it feels too late and you feel screwed. They should make that info CLEAR ON THE BOX. That way if you have tall children you will KNOW that you are going to have to buy another car seat. A 3 year old is not ready for a belt only booster seat.

With respect, it is clear on the box. And two years ago, there were other seats that went higher than 50# and cost less than the Regent. I'm not saying this just to be right, but to make the point that if carseats are a major purchase (they are for me!), people need to do their research before stepping in the store.

[aniT]

Originally Posted by chickabiddy

With respect, it is clear on the box. And two years ago, there were other seats that went higher than 50# and cost less than the Regent. I'm not saying this just to be right, but to make the point that if carseats are a major purchase (they are for me!), people need to do their research before stepping in the store.

With respect, the one I bought DID NOT make that clear on the box.

Also, when I researched it there was not anything besides the Regent and the Evenflo Advanced that went up to 50lbs. At least not that I could buy in my area. The Evenflo Advanced had JUST come out when I bought it. It was a PITA to find.

[queenjane]

i think what bothers me (and maybe it was what really bothered the OP too), is not that the staff at BRU need to be "experts" in carseats (though it would be nice if they were), but rather it sounded like even when she tried to educate her coworkers, esp the manager of that section, they totally didnt want to hear it, or disagreed with her even though facts were on her side. I dont blame her for being mad. I totally get and agree that parents ultimately are responsible for their own children and looking up facts on their own...but i dont think we should so easily dismiss the fact that employees of what is probably the biggest baby store in America are telling parents really dangerous info (like, you should put a child not even two in a booster?! For real?!). BRU acts like they care about babies, and if thats true, i think they should put at least a little effort in not having their employees give out crap advice. That must have been a very hard work environment for the OP.

Katherine

[Smalls181]

Originally Posted by aniT

http://www.michigan.gov/msp/0,1607,7...3709--,00.html

There is no mention of forward facing until 20lbs or 1 year being a law. I know many states have this recommendation,and some people thin it is law.. but it's not. Your own states website doesn't even mention.

Now I am not saying one is better than the other. But I don't thin it is worth getting upset over the fact that a store wont give out "legal" advise when it is not even a law.

Skipping ahead of the rests of posts, so I apologize if this has already been said. But Michigan is in fact a proper usage clause state. You have to use the seat according to the manufacturers specifications, and no seat on the market allows FF before a year. So yes, it is illegal to FF before a year in Michigan.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

I can appreciate your passion, but do people really expect the clerks at Babies R Us to be carseat experts?

Yes. Like they expect Best Buy clerks to be computer experts and bookstore clerks to be able to identify the book with a red cover about a man who had a dog, maybe it was a cat.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Smalls181

Skipping ahead of the rests of posts, so I apologize if this has already been said. But Michigan is in fact a proper usage clause state. You have to use the seat according to the manufacturers specifications

Ouch! Does that mean you have to turn kids FF when their legs start to bend like it says in some manuals?

[aniT]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

Yes. Like they expect Best Buy clerks to be computer experts and bookstore clerks to be able to identify the book with a red cover about a man who had a dog, maybe it was a cat.

Well.. just because people have unrealistic expectations of you.. doesn't mean you have to live up to them.