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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be really shocked that someone who I always see as highly intelligent etc

153 replies

icarriedawatermelon2 · 31/01/2011 20:59

can so so so so ignorant when it comes to car seats and safety?

At work today. Chatting over lunch about keeping my youngest son rear facing. Much respected work mate, who is so bright and intelligent literally mocks me for being OTT and revealing that he drives with his 7 year old on sofa cushion if he forgets her booster seat (no high back, just basic booster) and wouldn't in a million years keep a toddler rear facing as they are too demanding and need to see where they are going!

Then the whole room joins in with "Oh in my day we didn't have seats etc etc"

"x£ on a car seat you must be mad etc"

Left work feeling a bit crap to be honest :(

OP posts:
ChickensHaveNoEyebrows · 31/01/2011 21:01

My 7 year old has a basic booster seat without the back. He's tall enough not to need the guide bit now. Why's that bad?

LemonDifficult · 31/01/2011 21:01

YABU

And too sensitive.

pinkthechaffinch · 31/01/2011 21:01

I'm obviously really ignorant then as my 130 cm sometimes travels without a booster seat at all, when he should really until he's 135 cm Shock

pinkthechaffinch · 31/01/2011 21:02

'son' there should have been somewhere in that sentence!

clevercloggs · 31/01/2011 21:02

i agree with the we managed for donkeys years without them well enough :)

bubblewrapped · 31/01/2011 21:04

YABU and definately too sensitive

thisisyesterday · 31/01/2011 21:04

yanbu

if you know something increases safety in your car you use it don't you

BuzzLightBeer · 31/01/2011 21:05

are you one of those bores that witters on about how we should all follow you and keep them rearfacing till they are 27? And how you shouldn't spend less than 150 notes or you're a neglectful parent?

thisisyesterday · 31/01/2011 21:05

yes... people went without them for years

and many, many, many more children died.

fgs, it's not rocket science

SecretNutellaFix · 31/01/2011 21:05

It means that if you have an accident there is no protection around head, neck and chest which there is with a high back booster.
A sofa cushion is really bad, because it gives no height to bring the child to the safest mevel in the car.

However, OP, YANBU.

There is scientific fact which proves how much safer rear facing is.

I would "lose" my temper and say to them that x amount on a car seat is far cheaper than a funeral or long term health costs after a severe accident.

Gleekfreak · 31/01/2011 21:05

Really daft not to use car seats-asking for bad outcome in a crash. My 2yr old is in the newer rear facing car seat-much safer in the event of a crash, prevents in essence "internal decapitation" as little ones don't have enough neck muscle to prevent this. Child death has been eradicated in scandinavian countries as they've moved to them till age 4. Complete stupidity not to use a seat!

macdoodle · 31/01/2011 21:05

YABU and ridiculous, he's 7 FFS not 7 months !

RealityIsKnockedUp · 31/01/2011 21:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

onceamai · 31/01/2011 21:07

When the ds was small it was car seat, rear facing until about 6-9mos, big car seat until about two then a booster. The dd got a polystyrene booster with a back. When I was small there were no boosters or car seats (and seat belts weren't compulsory) and I remember about 8 of us getting into the back of a volvo estate with all the seats down, along with the dogs - probably ranged in age from about 3 to 13.

bubbleymummy · 31/01/2011 21:08

Yanbu. Some people are idiots and don't think anything will ever happen to them or theirs. DS2 is rearfacing too btw :) Buzz, I don't think a rearfacing seat is suitable for a 27 year old :)

yogididabooboo · 31/01/2011 21:08

DD is just about old enough/big enough to be using a booster on its own.
In DH;s car she has teh booster cushion because he carries one in the boot for emergancies only.

In my car, where she normally travels she has the high back.

IMHO whilst they may be legally able to travel without, is it really worth the risk?

But i know what you mean abotu how shocking it is to suddenly find out that a respected colleague is a bit daft.
A senior colleague who i had looked up to for years once sent me text intended for a friend or family member. It was shockingly rude and was making some rather disturbing inferrences of homophobia.

I never quite knew how to look them in teh eye again

ChickensHaveNoEyebrows · 31/01/2011 21:10

Surely though if they have outgrown the back part, it's safer for them to be sat in the correct position (ie. belt across shoulder) on a booster than wedged in to a seat they're too big for. DS1 is 10 and 155cms tall. He just uses a belt, not even the booster bit now.

McHobbes · 31/01/2011 21:10

Pmsl at 'a bit unhinged'.

Couldn't agree more. Bonkers.

bubbleymummy · 31/01/2011 21:12

Chickens, do the boosters not 'grow' with them? The ones we were looking at for DS1 did - the back head support extended upwards.

BuzzLightBeer · 31/01/2011 21:14

Its the sheer smugness and the "won't anyone think of the children!" shreiking that probably means he's thinking the same about you.

We get it, car seats are good. But some of us can't go out and spend hundreds on expensive seats (which btw are no better than the cheap ones most of the time) and then go do it again to change to rear facing (which don't fit in many cars)and you know, most of us are doing are best.
So how about you look after your own kid and seats and let others do the same.

ChickensHaveNoEyebrows · 31/01/2011 21:14

Yep, but DS2 is very tall like his brother Grin At a certain point, their shoulder gets above the slot for the belt iyswim.

StealthPolarBear · 31/01/2011 21:14

"Child death has been eradicated in scandinavian countries "

erm...really?

togarama · 31/01/2011 21:14

I'm not sure. Did he explain his reasoning? I haven't got round to looking into it as we don't drive, but I have seen questions raised in a pop science book about the benefits of carseats vs standard seatbelts for kids over a certain size. Maybe he has looked into this and, rightly or wrongly, wasn't convinced by what he found?

ChickensHaveNoEyebrows · 31/01/2011 21:15

Gawd, my DS's wouldn't fit in to rear facing seats! I'd have to buy a freaking bus!

SecretNutellaFix · 31/01/2011 21:15

The high back booster extend upwards as the child grows.

Adult seatbelts on their own are really only suitable for children over 150cm tall. Apologies if any adults are smaller than that and take offence, it's just fact about what height the belts are designed to fit properly from.