School bus, lightweight preschooler, paranoid mama

[waiting2bemommy]

Ds is going to a special preschool program from now til April 14th.

At open house I specifically asked about carseats on the bus and they said that the buses were equipped with carseats, boosters and seatbelts and that each child would be in a appropriate seat. However they didn't tell us which buses our kids were on....said they were still working out transportation and the drivers would call us individually with pick up and drop off times.

the driver didn't call until 7:30 PM yesterday and I was at work and couldn't answer. It is a different driver/bus each way.

This morning when ds got on the bus there were no carseats. Some of these kids are 2 years old just turning three. How is that OK? The driver said they have seatbelts and I did see the aide buckle ds in snugly.....but how snug can a lap belt possibly be for a <30 lb three year old?

We JUST turned ds FF at Christmastime so barely 3 months ago. 

Is this safe? I know about compartmentalization (is that the word) but from my understanding that was only for regular size kids who would typically be in a backless booster or regular seatbelt anyway.

I just picture an accident and ds getting thrown all over the bus.

This is a full size bus, not a short bus. It is a special ed bus though which is why it has seatbelts and an aide. I don't know yet whether the other bus is also a special ed bus (major budget cuts here, and sometimes they put special ed part time preschoolers/speech/OT kids on another regular bus so that driver can just stay busy in between regular AM/PM runs, rather than pay for the right kind of bus.)

[waiting2bemommy]

nobody? anybody? lap belt, 3 yr old, 25 min ride, no opinions on this?

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

I am not a huge carseat safety conesuier like alot of mamas on this board, but I gotta say, I would not be confortable with this AT ALL.  Your son's age is dead center from my two boys, and straight up, I would not be comfortable with EITHER of my kids in a bus situation like the one your describing.  Matter of fact, we joke with the boys all the time when we see a "big kid bus" because they want to go on it too, and we tell them you cant, your too short.  Now when THEY see one, they say, mama, we cant go on the big kid bus because were too short.  (Youd have to know my humor and our family dynamic to appreciate this, but the point is clear, imo)

If it were me, my boys would be skipping this preschool program until the wole carseat thing was worked out.  And if it wasnt, well i guess the program would get skipped. 

and FWIW, I live in NY, and they just upped the recommended age and weight for a rear facing carseat.  It was a year and 22 pounds, I think its now 2 years and 30 pounds.  I could be wrong, but I know its been changed. 

[Friday13th]

I'm interested to see what kind of responses you get get because I'm in the process of enrolling DS1 (same age as your son) in preschool for the fall and alot of them talk about field trips like it's a bonus and I'm concerned about how they handle transportation.

My gut feeling is that I'm not comfortable with that, at all.  And if he was on the same bus everyday I'd be putting my own carseat on it.  Also, a lap belt alone is NOT safe, for anyone.  My mother works in a program that sounds similar to the one your DS is in and they have NO clue about carseat safety and what the kids should be riding in.  The seats they do have are expired, not installed correctly and/or not appropriate for the kids ages and sizes.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

In my kids daycare (they provide preschool service up until kindgergarden age) if there is a field trip for the preschoolers, they use the vehicles of all the staff, and the parents are asked to bring in the preferred car seats/boosters.  If they used a bus (They are private, so they would have to rent one) i believe the same would be true.  Not ideal, withonly lap belts used to anchor the car seat to the bus seat, but better then the child sitting in JUST the lap belt, imo. 

To add further signifigance to my fear, we have had 3 school bus accidents in our (relativly small) area THIS SEASON ALONE.  One pretty severe involving TWO busses colliding.  Some students needed to be hospitalized, and they were in junior high and high school.  If 2 and 3 years olds had been on them with NO CARSEATS, they would have been killed.  Hands down.  Not a chance i am willing to take.  Sorry.
 

Originally Posted by Friday13th 

I'm interested to see what kind of responses you get get because I'm in the process of enrolling DS1 (same age as your son) in preschool for the fall and alot of them talk about field trips like it's a bonus and I'm concerned about how they handle transportation.

[waiting2bemommy]

Ds rides two different buses going and coming, or I would just supply my own carseat, which wouldn't be a huge pain since it's easier to install back in our car now that it's FF. The afternoon bus has a 5 pt harness car seat (not sure what kind) but that's fine with me.

But the morning driver clearly is not that into carseat safety and it makes me nervous because I know firsthand how people can be if they think the mom is overprotective. I know for a FACT yesterday ds sat in a lap belt. Today I got on all the way on the bus with him (roll your eyes if you want, lol) and said flat out, "why is he not in a 5 pt harness? He should be in a carseat." They just gave me blank stares, and THEN after an awkward pause, the aide pulled down one of those built in car seat things like some minivans have. I waited and watched until I was sure they definitely buckled ds into that (it was a different seat than yesterday). I just get the vibe from them that I am going to have to do "surprise" checks on how he is buckled in, because it is clear that it's not that important to them.

I assume those built in things are OK, right?

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Dont assume anything.  See what you can find out about them. 

That said, all the bolded would be a deal breaker for ME.  If I dont feel my sons safety is being taken seriously becaues IM not being taken seriously, all bets are off.  Thats just how I feel.  To me, it doesnt even sound like this preschool is following the law, but then again, i dont know the laws where you live.  I would be researching that too, if I were you. 

I guess bottom line for me is, if it were my kid, and he was your sons age, he would not be on that bus unless in a carseat.  PERIOD.

Originally Posted by waiting2bemommy 

Ds rides two different buses going and coming, or I would just supply my own carseat, which wouldn't be a huge pain since it's easier to install back in our car now that it's FF. The afternoon bus has a 5 pt harness car seat (not sure what kind) but that's fine with me.

But the morning driver clearly is not that into carseat safety and it makes me nervous because I know firsthand how people can be if they think the mom is overprotective. I know for a FACT yesterday ds sat in a lap belt. Today I got on all the way on the bus with him (roll your eyes if you want, lol) and said flat out, "why is he not in a 5 pt harness? He should be in a carseat." They just gave me blank stares, and THEN after an awkward pause, the aide pulled down one of those built in car seat things like some minivans have. I waited and watched until I was sure they definitely buckled ds into that (it was a different seat than yesterday). I just get the vibe from them that I am going to have to do "surprise" checks on how he is buckled in, because it is clear that it's not that important to them.

I assume those built in things are OK, right?