do you discuss safety habits with parents? i had a discussion with a daycare mom today who asked me specifically about carseat safety after seeing some posts i put on my personal facebook page about it. i just sent her some more links to her personally but it got me to thinking about sending a winter carseat safety brochure home with all of my kids.do you discuss it with your parents or have a safety awareness day or just leave it up to them?

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If a parent were to ask me about it then I would give them all the info. that I could find, or I may put up a brochure on my parent board.

One of my parents is a big advocate on car seat safety so she does all the right things.

One of my other parents right out told me that she thinks it's bs that they recommend for kids to sit backwards until 2 so her son sits forward and is 15 mo. and is under weight as it is. He also comes in with a big puffy winter coat on (ironically he never has socks on though-he takes them off in the car and dcd doesn't put them back on).

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ugh i have one at 2.5 that is about the size or a 15mnth old. he rides in the front seatof the car with a backless booster scares me to death.

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I'm a little weird about these types of things... I don't want the liability to fall back on me if they were to get in an accident or something. Any information I would give, would be a link to our local carseat project (state funded program) or refer them to the police station since they do car seat inspections and installs there.

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Part of our state's QRIS program is that providers share any info we get that is applicable.

I send out flyers about the cold/flu season, car seat safety, winterizing your car and/or traveling with young ones, vaccine info, recall info, where to go to apply for assistance etc...

Anything a parent may be interested in, we are to pass along in any way we choose, via links, newsletters, bulletin boards, personal letters, e-mails, etc.

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We are given things to hand out to parents all the time. Information about car seat safety, Lead testing, vaccines, etc. And someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe in some states part of their rating system has a "parent education" component as part of their accreditation. They want to see a parent board with this info and they want you to have current information about these topics.
As for liability - I don't see how I could be liable. At the end of the day, I have information, but I don't push anything. I wouldn't, for example, offer to check a parents car seat install or insist they get certain vaccines. The information I have/would hand out is no different then what they get at their pediatricians office or school.

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I'm in MI and for our Stars program, we have give/display info. to parents to get points in one of the standards. We can give info in a variety of ways like the ways that bc said.

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That's actually illegal as there's a minimum weight limit for those non-5 pt boosters plus the front seat! I would honestly tell them if they don't comply by the law I would have no choice but to report them to CPS. You may lose a client but God forbid something happened to that child and you knew? There's liability there as a mandated reporter which I am. I have told parents this in the past and it was also my friend. Her boyfriend would bring their kids (4.5 & 1.5yrs) in no seats because it was just a block away. The 4.5yr old went to preschool so they had a much further drive but I told her if I saw it again I would report them.

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ive reported before because of carseats and cps in tennessee wont do snot about it but it has crossed my mind

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I do. I'm not sure why because I know it goes in one ear and out the other.

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Yeah me too but if I have it on file that I reported and that worst case scenario happens, I know I covered myself and did what I could. Perhaps print this out and have them sign that they received it?

http://www.tn.gov/safety/newCRD.shtml

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im definitely gonna run it off and put it with sign in/out sheet. but wanna check with my state lady about having them sign it.

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Same here. For our QRIS, I have to have a parent bulletin board with car seat recalls and a handout on safety thigs like crib recalls etc

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I'm not open yet but I have thought about sending monthly newsletters (electronic or hardcopy, haven't decided yet- most likely electronic) and having safety tips. I also thought about having an space on a bulletin/information board with safety articles for parent to read.

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I just sent home a flyer about car seat safety with a reminder to not wear coats in the seat, or my personal favorite trick, putting their coat on reverse after they are buckled in.

I am a big car seat safety advocate. My 8yo is still in a high back booster seat and my 5yo is still in a 5point harness and wasn't forward facing until well after his third birthday.

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I do pass on info if I find out about it, especially car seat info because I have found over the years that many parents don't know about the car seat laws. The previous 2 years I have added an attachment to the fall newsletter about not zipping kiddos in coats under the harness. I had pictures and article and some of the parents actually took the info and use it. That makes me feel good to be able to help them.

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One of my dck, as soon as dad strapped him in his car seat, immediately removed the straps from his shoulders. I brought it to dad's attention, to which he replied "he always does that". I said " tighten the straps!". I'm car-seat safety conscious, but has anyone read "Freakeconomics" (I believe it was this book) and what they said about car seats?

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No I've not heard this??

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I don't keep daycare parents on my personal facebook page. If someone asked about car seats, I would direct them info provided by your state and licensing requirements.

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i only keep a select few

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The article says

"One facet of the argument we make against the efficacy of child car seats is that government standards for car seats cut the automakers out of the safety loop to some degree, creating some misaligned incentives between regulators, automakers, and car seat manufacturers"

http://freakonomics.com/2010/01/27/v...ild-car-seats/

Here is the full article
http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...0122-mpks.html

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The only time I've needed to say something is an issue that keeps happening & I don't know what to do about it now. DCG- 7 mos in her car seat with very loose straps. I mentioned before that they were very loose. DCD said yeah, he had loosened them getting her out, mumble mumble. Well, it kept happening. I tightened them almost as tight as they should be at pick up a couple times, once in front of him..just put the baby in her seat & adjusted them. One time he made a comment about how tight they were,& I said yeah, you're not supposed to be able to pinch & the clip needs to be at nipple/sternum. So today, the seat is sooo loose. Like seriously you could stuff a parka under the straps. Ugh- this family is awesome aside from this car seat issue. What do I do? I don't want them to think I'm being obnoxious. BTW, they don't put her in bulky coats.. just jackets & a blanket wrapped over the straps. So that's good. I don't want to passive/aggressively adjust straps daily.

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I see it as having two options. Either straight up say to them that it is NOT acceptable to use the car seat in that fashion and that if they don't start using it correctly, you will HAVE to report it because you are a mandated reporter or simply because you care about the child and just cannot live with the stress of this anymore. (most parents are embarrassed at the thought of someone else being MORE concerned about their child than they are...kwim?)

Or you could just not deal with it anymore at all and not allow car seats to be in the house or removed from the car.

I don't store, keep or even allow car seats to be removed from their cars. IMHO, I don't believe car seats are meant to be continually removed from the car on a regular basis once they are "installed correctly" so I have each parent bring their child to and from the car while the car seat remains in the car.

Parents do all the buckling in and fastening of clips and straps in the car WITHOUT my knowledge of any of the ways in which they go about it.

I know that they could still potentially do it wrong or half-hazardly but in all honesty, it's just not something I personally have the energy to worry about anymore.

I worry about what I CAN change and choose to let the rest go.

I want to help others but when they don't want to listen or take action, then I stop offering and thus stop worrying about it.

You obviously have a kind heart and care a great deal about this but sometimes you can talk forever and some people will just never "hear" you.

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I would straight up tell them that you're a mandated reporter and improper use of a carseat would warrant a report. You don't "want" to do that, but for liability reasons you have no choice if they continue to use the seat that way. I would also print out something with "tips" for carseat usage and the dangers of improper carseat use usage. Also explain you absolutely love their family and would hate to do this but if they got in an accident on the way home and something happened to this baby, you couldn't sleep at night! I really feel for you because I often wonder how parents justify using the seats improperly. Especially such a young baby! If you have their email you could also find some videos on YouTube about loose straps! That may open their eyes to the risk. It's honestly the equivalent of not even putting them in the seat at all!

http://www.carseatsite.com/correct_harness_use.htm

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