to think that safe use of an infant car seat isn't to 'jam' it in using the drivers seat?

[ilikeyoursleeves]

Today I picked up my sister and her 5 month old DD to take her to our parents house. She doesn't drive but her DP does so they use the car seat in his car. I called her last night to ask if she knew how the baby seat fits in the car (not wanting to assume that she knows given she doesn't drive and that it was the same way that my DS's worked) and she assured me she did.

So when she went to 'fit' it, she put the seatbelt round the back of the carseat, threaded it through the clip at the back, buckled it in and that was it! The seat was sooooooooooooo loose, not even slightly tight fitting and definately not how it's meant to be used. I said I thought that it shouldn't be that loose and she said that they normally just jam it in by putting the drivers seat back!!!!!! She did say her DP fitted it a different way (ie proper way I hope) but when I said to her that it was important that she also knows how to fit it properly if she is using other folks cars, she just said 'it does fine like that'

I didn't feel at all comfortable driving with her wee girl in the back, despite me trying to fit it the same way DS's was (though it was a different make) and looking at the instructions on the side (which my sister didn't even know were there).

AIBU to have been worried, shocked and annoyed by this?

N to mention the fact that if the front seat is moved back to wedge it in then the driver probably isnt in the correct driving position making it even more dangeroud

When I bought my newborn daughter back from hospital my Dad said "you're not putting her in a car seat are you? She's too small". I asked him what he thought I should do with her and he thought for a moment and said "I dunno, put her in the footwell or something!!" WTF!

YANBU

But at the end of the day you are the driver and take responsibility for all passengers.

You need to learn how to fit it properly if you are happy to drive with them as passengers again.

it amazes me that some people are so blase

i was once overtaken on the motorway by a woman who (correctly i add) had her tiny newborn in a rear facing car seat on the rear seat..

but it was august and the sun was directly beaming onto the baby thru the back window (no sunshade at all) and he/she was also wrapped in two thick blankets

all the windows were closed and the car looked too old to have air con

poor little mite was bright red. she couldnt have known as she wouldnt have been able to see its face

lol at "put her in the footwell"!!!

Next time she wants a lift I will say I will only do it if she knows exactly how to fit the seat, I told her yesterday that she needs to get her DP to show her how it's fitted properly but she just screwed her face up is if it's a major hassle and not important. I don't know what make the seat is either (no brand names on it) and the bits the seatbelt are meant to thread through were so flimsy that they bent backwards if you pulled on the seat belt even just a little bit. Somehow doubt they considered the saftey ratings when buying the seat

...and I'm at the amount of you who are seeing babies being carried on laps!!!

ILYS, is it a modern seat then or an old one? We got the cheapest most basic car seat (Mothercare own brand) but it is definitely not flimsy and feels very secure when it is strapped in properly.

I had a go at my DP when I saw how he had put the seat in the other day - it was a minor mistake, he had put the diagonal bit across where the lap belt was meant to go and the lap belt round the back, but it didn't look safe to me. He was annoyed at the time to be criticised but I just think it's so important - and he does it correctly now!

She needs a demonstration of how to fit it properly AND a shock tactic of what would happen to baby even at low speeds. There must be a video on you tube.