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.

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*

Kill - Carseat carriers

"Hi, I don't care if my back is breaking, I can shop AND drink my water AND lug my baby in it's carseat at the same time! I'm multi-tasking! I'm awesome! I'm super mom!"

This thing is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. If you want to haul your baby around hands free, get a sling! Not only are you lugging your baby around, but you're lugging the carseat too! My back twitches at the mere sight of this thing! My youngest was nearly 10 lbs at birth, I couldn't imagine lugging 20 lbs of baby and carseat on one shoulder like that only to have it get heavier with time (I can't imagine that woman's chiropractic bill!)



My head really is going to explode at this pic. Get off your cell phone, sit down on a bench, and hold your baby while she eats! Is it that hard? Is the conversation and your shopping trip (along that lovely background) really that important that you can't stop and feed your baby? I'm not saying every bottle or nursing session needs to be a big love fest, but that's just wrong!



Sassy pose says what?

http://www.ababyoutlets.com/flying_falcon_products.htm

I went to Flying Falcon's home page and it seems like they've gone out of business because all they have there is a nice little animation of a flying falcon.

Kill: Graco SnugGlider Swing

Rebecca and I came up with a system for rating all those lovely little products we're going to rant, rave and review. Thrills and Kills. Thrills are good (it's SO obvious right?) Kills are bad.

Our first Kill (hehe we sound like hunters!) is the Graco SnugGlider Swing which retails for $69.99 at assorted retailers.


I love swings for babies as much as the next person don't get me wrong. THIS swing I have an issue with. Infant car seats are already over used and abused by too many people. Yes there were times with my two when we went somewhere and got home and they were asleep so I brought the seat in the house and let them finish their snooze in it, I think that's part of the allure of infant car seats. It's not an all the time thing but sometimes it happens and it's nice to have the option of taking the kiddo out of the car without waking them.

The issue with the swing is... if your kid is awake and wants the swing what is so hard about taking them out of the car seat and putting them in the swing? I've never found it to be all that hard... maybe I'm magical...who knows. OR if your kid is already asleep and you yanking the seat out of the car and carrying it into the house didn't wake them up, they don't need the swing. Just set the seat on the floor and let the kid sleep.

I swear Graco must be in kahoots with those flat head helmet people with this thing. Don't pick up your baby! Tummy time? Forget that noise just strap your kid in their car seat and stick them in this swing. If they get a flat head from living in their car seat it's okay! They make helmets to fix that nowadays... I do wonder how long it will be until Graco starts making those helmets to get a piece of that pie. Those helmets cost about $2000 and are very rarely covered by insurance... so think about that before you decide that a kid can be in their car seat 98% of the time.

Another issue with the swing, is that you can get a regular swing for the same price or cheaper. Really cheap if you buy it used, free if you have a super awesome friend. ;-) I got the swing for my youngest daughter from another mommy FFS (free for shipping) I paid $10 for it, it was in perfect condition (her son wasn't a fan of the swing) it didn't have a ton of bells and whistles but at the age a swing is used for your kid isn't going to care if some creepy little penguin is staring them down while they're trying to relax.

In closing this kill... get a normal swing, because car seats are for use in the CAR, not because the companies were being cute when they came up with the name.

Live Smart and prosper. ;-)