Carseat Sidekick - Safe?

[cacasey1981]

Originally Posted by kaia.aline Pretty sure that person either invented or works for the company

Makes sense with them having one post. There are regulars who can't find this board.

[jaelynsmommy61607]

Originally Posted by MamaJ2006 As someone who as ACTUALLY USED the Carseat Sidekick, I can say with complete confidence that it is totally safe! I absolutely love mine and use it all the time. It totally can't push up the buckles at all, so it is definitely not a choking hazard. It's the same weight as those shoulder pads that people sell for the straps, so you can tighten the carseat straps just the same as you can with those. Maybe everyone else should actually use the product before bashing it! Lol.. Totally safe and totally worth it!

The shoulder pads shouldn't be used either.

[Brooke789]

The straps are very loose on the baby in that video! Also pretty sure "MamaJ" would be Jack's Mom i.e. the inventor of this product.

Seems completely pointless to me even if it was safe. I never remember thinking anything about the straps being under my twins. It was a non-issue.

[aries416]

I wouldn't even consider the product after watching how lose the straps were in the video!

[monica-m]

Originally Posted by MamaJ2006 As someone who as ACTUALLY USED the Carseat Sidekick, I can say with complete confidence that it is totally safe! I absolutely love mine and use it all the time. It totally can't push up the buckles at all, so it is definitely not a choking hazard. It's the same weight as those shoulder pads that people sell for the straps, so you can tighten the carseat straps just the same as you can with those. Maybe everyone else should actually use the product before bashing it! Lol.. Totally safe and totally worth it!

1. Just using a product does not determine if it is safe or not. Were you in a serious car accident with this product in place? Without extensive crash testing with every infant car seat on the market, you cannot say that it is without a doubt safe. This kind of testing is not cheap so I'm sure it has not been done. To say this is absolutely safe without that testing is an outright lie.

2. How do you know it cannot push the chest clip up without extensive crash testing?

3. You may be able to tighten the straps but that wasn't done in the demonstrations. Car seat manufacturers say not to add harness covers to their seats so use of this product is a direct violation of manufacturers' instructions.

4. In my CPST training we were taught that no aftermarket products are okay if they interact with the harness or go between the child and the seat. It's not bashing a product to state doubts about its safety.

The bottom line is that unless it has been thoroughly tested and specifically approved by the car seat manufacturer then it is a violation of manufacturers' instructions to use it. This makes this product illegal to use in any state that has a proper use clause written in the child passenger restraint law. Since there are no crash test standards for this product to meet, it's easy to call it crash tested without actually testing it.

[myclanof6]

To those that say the drool pads aren't safe, what about the ones that come with the carseat? My TF came with them and we've been using them since we bought the seat. Well, until dd kept ripping them off and lost them. :/

[bumminbeachbabe]

Originally Posted by myclanof6 To those that say the drool pads aren't safe, what about the ones that come with the carseat? My TF came with them and we've been using them since we bought the seat. Well, until dd kept ripping them off and lost them. :/

Using stuff provided by the manufacturer is fine. It's tested with those items.

[jaelynsmommy61607]

Originally Posted by myclanof6 To those that say the drool pads aren't safe, what about the ones that come with the carseat? My TF came with them and we've been using them since we bought the seat. Well, until dd kept ripping them off and lost them. :/

Anything that comes with the seat is ok to use. It's the after market covers that are not safe.

[myclanof6]

Gotcha, thanks!