Ever since I became a Child Passenger Safety Technician in 2011, I have wanted to attend the Kidz in Motion conference. It’s a 3 day long conference which is solely focused on different aspects of child passenger safety. At long last, I am here! As though it weren’t exciting enough on its own to be here, this year is extra special because two of my incredibly hard-working associates were given the honor of presenting at the pre-conference!
This summer, we’re making vehicle heat stroke awareness our top priority. We’ve shared some of the specifics around hyperthermia in our longer article. We’ve put together this handy, shareable guide to help get the word out!
There has been much buzz about the new Cybex Cloud Q, a rear-facing-only seat that offers a recline option when not in the vehicle! How does it measure up?
Caregivers often ask if it’s safe to use a seat protector between the vehicle seat and the car seat.
Our stance on this issue? Avoid using a seat protector if at all possible. Why?
Our article on Seat Protectors takes an in-depth look at the issues and offers some information on keeping your vehicle seats neat and tidy.
Perhaps you’ve seen members in our facebook group asking about a rear facing only (“infant”) seat be warned to “make sure it’s not rear adjust!” Or perhaps you yourself purchased a rear facing only seat, and you can’t find the adjuster strap to tighten the harness. What’s going on?
We’ve all been there. Parents post a cute picture of their cute baby on Instagram in her car seat and the Chest Clip Brigade starts in with murmurs of, “Gently, mama, her chest clip needs to be 3mm higher on her chest or your baby will die in an accident. Don’t you love your baby?”
Our Facebook page and our Facebook group are home to many, many questions from caregivers. One of the most common questions is how to choose the right car seat. In many cases, the child in question is well over 2 years old and rides forward facing but is not yet ready for a booster. Sometimes a great deal on a convertible car seat seems too good to be true and our users don’t want to pass up what seems like a great deal. The catch is that the convertible or multimode car seat on sale might not be the best value for a child who is already forward facing. That very common scenario begs the question: what type of car seat — convertible, multimode, or combination is best for this kiddo?
If you’re on any social media outlets, you’ve probably seen an ad or ten for the mifold. We sure have! We’ve been anxiously awaiting its release. Unlike most products, the mifold got its start with an Indiegogo campaign so the manufacturer was taking orders for it long before its release to market.
Vehicle shopping is a daunting task. Many times, the sales staff descends upon you as soon as you enter the lot. If you need to quickly replace a vehicle, shopping can be even more stressful. If you are not in a time crunch, you have more time to weigh options. Two of the last three times we’ve chosen a new vehicle, we didn’t have the luxury of time. As a family of seven, any old vehicle won’t do and when our main vehicle died a painful, unexpected death, we were suddenly living in a world of hurt.
Whether you have two weeks or two hours to make the decision, here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a new vehicle.
What’s in your tech kit? It’s a popular question that Child Passenger Safety Technicians ask one another, so thought I would go through a tour of what I carry in my tech bag. A little background: I’ve been a CPST since 2010, and I’m about to be confirmed as an Instructor. I work for the fire department and I do a couple dozen checks a month. I have a storage trailer that contains my large backup of supplies, but here is what is in the bag that lives in my trunk and travels with me to every check.
