http://web.me.com/andrewcolon/Site/Cindy_Crothers.html

CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Mon. Nov. 22 2010 9:03 PM ET
Parents in Canada could be facing a shortage of car seats in the new year as new design regulations take effect.

Car seats are about to get bigger because of the new safety regulations from Transport Canada. The seats will be widened and lengthened and the weight limits will rise, so that babies will stay in rear-facing infant seats until they reach 10 kilograms (up from the current nine), while weight limits for forward-facing seats will rise to 30 kilograms, up from 22.

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You may be asking why would we put an article on carseats from Canada on the web page? We have many international clients being close to LAX. Most make arrangements to have their carseats installed when they arrive, or have their cars available to us beforehand for installation when they arrive in LA.

The photo attached to the article has several things wrong with it. The child has a jacket on, the chest clip is not in the right position and neither are the shoulder pads. I'm sure the harness was not tight enough either. These mistakes can cause the child permanent damage in a crash, if they survive at all.

Something else that came out in this article on Canadian carseats was a comment from a baby store employee that is echoed here in the States daily. "The baby's feet touching the back of the carseat...' showing how the lack of knowledge of proper carseat installation and use is international as well.

Children are rearfacing to the ages of 2 or 3 these days and their HEAD position from the top of the carseat is the signal along with weight for turning a child forward facing, not their feet. With so much misinformation out there, KidzSeatz clients have a dramatic edge for obtaining up to date, factual information for the safety of their children that others have to try to find on their own and the informaiton out there is not usually correct.

It is nice to know there are certified professionals in Canada as well as the USA to help parents out. When you consider that only 33,000 of us exist in the USA today, you know why we are so rare! Thanks for passing our information onto your friends and associates and places you shop. You help so many parents that you dont even know about!

Dear Friends and Parents,

Thank you for the photos and questions we regularly receive. We always appreciate the fact that most of you remember to contact us as the baby is growing! When we spend our 1-3 hours together going over the training sessions, we go over so much information and a good portion of it is verbal.

YOU have asked and here it is!

For our clients who have been through the detailed and technical hands-on initial training sessions, KidzSeatz offers Remote Sessions.

These remote installations have been requested by long time clients for many reasons. Most often they are on vacaton and are dealing with a car and seatbelt system they are unfamiliar with, someone took the seat out, the seat needs adjusted, rental cars, new cars, new seats we have dealt with them all. In an emergency, we have spent hours on the phone with clients who did not have any training and the process was long and had to be followed up physically because we wanted to make sure it was correct. This can be frustrating on both sides. Proper carseat installation is very technical work, so we have restricted it to our trained clients only.

• Previously trained clients only
• Call, email or text a request for a remote session
• Time is set for our conference call
• Step by step walk through of the project at hand
• Client sends photos of views we request
• Changes are made if necessary
• Physical follow up if necessary
• Fee depends on scope of work
• Fee paid via pay pal before the session

KidzSeatz has been serving clients with remote sessions since our inception. Thank you for asking for it as a regular service!

These Reminders are VERY important for you:

Infant seats, as the baby grows heavier can tend to lean back more than we originally set it. Remember to make adjustments to your car seat allowing the baby to sit up a bit more as they gain head control. They should never sit straight up OR never be lying down. The happy 30-45% angle is where we want the baby and as they get older. Contact us on how to do this If you do not remember. You all have different seats so this information cannot be specific on this page.

Convertible seats, if your vehicle seat is sloped and a noodle or towel had to be placed to prevent your child from sitting straight up or leaning into the back seat, let us know via side photo with baby in the seat, if it is time to adjust that setting.

Tipping seats: Caused by a seat belt put into the automatic locking mode will need to be readjusted from scratch every so often so that the seat does not lean to one side. Pulling an infant seat out toward one door or the other before fully releasing the chair will also lean the base, this can be remedied by just leveling the base by hand, and removing the chair straight up and snapping it in straight down. But if the shoulder portion of the seat belt is locked, the seatbelt must be released, rethreaded and relocked.

Infant Handle use in the car: differs from seat to seat, but should NOT be around the head portion of the seat. As an instructor from Humboldt, CA said in a recent update class, "rear facing seats have to rock-a-bye baby". They need the movement at the head end of the seat to help protect their spinal cord.

Harness: Remember shoulder straps AT or BELOW the shoulders for REARFACING children and AT or ABOVE for FORWARD facing children. Chest retainer clip at armpit level and snug the baby to the chair. Loose and improperly positioned harnesses cause major injury Please, remember to Call, Text, and Email us anytime with any photo, question or comment. We are dedicated to being your partners in keeping your most precious children safe.

Cindy Crothers
National Certification Number T67382

Contact us for more info