Monday Kill: Dorel Juvenile Group

I've never been a big fan of Dorel Juvenile Group (they make Safety 1st, Cosco, Eddie Bauer, Maxi Cosi & Quinny) Why? because they suck... their products suck, their Customer Service is attrocious, they have to be sued to issue recalls on KNOWN issues... they just suck. Their car seats are the worst... they make claims that aren't true, are hard to use, break easily, and are confusing.

I've owned a few of their seats and they have all sucked harder than a black hole! A couple broke LONG before they should have under normal or less than normal use (as I hate driving), they were all really hard to install, one I installed with LATCH and the latch belt bunched up inside the adjuster and I couldn't get it undone... I don't even know how it did it but we had to cut it out of the car (thankfully it was headed for the trash anyway) another seat broke after 1 month. ONE MONTH?!?!? Car seats are made to last 6 yrs... I expected just a bit more use than 1 month. When I called their Customer (dis)Service number I was very unsatisfied with them. First Call... Something broke on my car seat and I called they told me it wasn't needed (and no it wasn't a cupholder it was part of the harness- something I think is needed on a car seat) but if I was "going to have a hissy fit about it" they'd send a repair kit. Another time the buckle broke on another seat and they took 6 WEEKS to ship the replacement buckle. When I asked what I was supposed to do in the mean time I was told to borrow a seat from a neighbor... now I can't speak for others but I buy car seats to USE not to keep around in case a neighbor needs one. Maybe I'm just a crappy neighbor...

Another time I called and asked about the slot height on a certain seat of their's (something they SHOULD know) and the lady snottily informed me "They had NO way of knowing such a thing" -- I guess they just drill those holes willy nilly then, my bad!
So with all their issues: multiple recalls, crappy customer service, shoddy products and all that... The reason I'm killing on them today is...they also don't think that extended rear-facing (or even RFing to a year) is necessary. Why?

Quote from them in response to recent studies that say children should RF as long as possible:

"In addition, although rearward facing is arguably the safest travelling position, most of us prefer not to travel that way. It reduces the growing child's ability to interact with those in the front seats, to look around and see where they are going."

See article here: http://uk.sys-con.com/node/999783

They basically say in that article to keep your kid in the bucket seat as long as possible but once they outgrow that go to a Forward Facing Convertible... ALL of Dorel's infant seats go UP TO 22# which in the real world means they're outgrown anywhere from 4-9 months of age....so they're saying that it's okay to FF a 4 month old?! REALLY?!?! And why? So that poor baby can "interact" with their parents and see what's going on!?! Where's the V8 Slap when you need it?
I don't know about y'all but you can't interact with a vegetable or a corpse. Hmmm ...tough call here... Alive Rear Facing baby who may or may not be able to see outside (my kids could just fine) or a dead kid who isn't seeing anything... ya know I'm just going to have to go with Rear Facing.

Since Dorel doesn't seem to give a flying leap about safety I will not ever buy or recommend anything their company makes anymore. I'll give my money to businesses that care about Safety over profit.

Trans Fat Tuesday: Cool Whip

Whipped cream makes everything better, whether it's ice cream, pie, or even a simple cup of coffee. The last thing I want in my whipped cream are oils or corn syrup. You can easily make whipped cream at home with heavy whipping cream, a little powdered sugar (you get to decide how sweet it is that way!) and a mixer, but sometimes I just want to put a dollop, or give a little squirt on top, and not have it be a Martha Stewart day!

Cool Whip has both hydrogenated (not even partially hydrogenated, so it's super bad for you!) oils AND high fructose corn syrup, so it's doubly on our kill list (I don't understand why it needs to have 2 kinds of corn syrup and oil as the third ingredient!) There's not even any cream in it!

Reddi Wip, on the other hand, has cream, no hydrogenated oils, and no high fructose corn syrup. It comes in regular and chocolate flavorings, so my coffee in the morning has endless possibilities!

Kill: JJ Cole Bundle Me

I have a mild hatred for most car seat accessories since they generally cause you to use the car seat wrong and are so obviously dangerous I just don't get how anyone uses them and thinks "yep that's safe!"

The JJ Cole Bundle Me (which I've dubbed the JJ Satan) is one of them.



It's this poofy thing that goes under your kid (and between the harness) and causes a huge gap in the harness. You THINK it's tight but if you get into an accident the bundle me will compress and your kid could be ejected from the seat. Which means at Least serious injuries at worst death. It also could cause the slots on the seat to not line up properly on the seat (which is bad).


What's more important your kid having a pointless piece of crap on their seat or them being ALIVE? I pick alive. Using the Bundle me on the car seat turns your kid into a crash test dummy. that cover was NOT tested with your car seat it is not safe to use. If you live in a cold place use a Showercap style cover (one that goes OVER the car seat not under your kid) or use a blanket, blankets and the shower cap style cover are a hell of a lot cheaper anyway. :-P

If it didn't come in the box keep it off your car seat. It's just that simple. Some infant buckets come with a cold weather boot THOSE are safe. The JJ Satan is okay on the stroller but who in their right mind spends $40 on a stroller cover when a blanket works just as well... oh look at that the same logic applies to the car seat! *giggle*