9.12.2009

Car Seat Safety

This is a touchy subject with some. It's something I would love to provide for my kids, but struggle with the logistics, and the sometimes-inconvenience of it all... Read what my friend Courtney posted on her blog here first, then read on.
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You've read Courtney's post? Really? You're not just skipping it and thinking maybe you'll check it out later? Good! :) (If you ARE thinking of sneaking ahead, don't! Here's the link again... Now that you've read her post, you may continue...

Courtney,

I LOVE your enthusiasm for keeping your kids safe in the car!

This is one of those issues that I waver back and forth on... I know that they need to be kept safe, but on the other hand, I wish there were more "freedom" in the car. Some of my best memories as a kid are from cross-country road trips. My brother and I would crawl into the back of our station wagon and play for hours. It was great fun!

When I read the bit about Michigan allowing moms to breastfeed while on the road, I told Tim -- "We're moving to MI!" LOL I'll admit to having done this on more than one occasion... tho usually not in the front seat, and not while we're on the freeway.

In all seriousness, I am so glad that YOU are up to date on everything and can recommend good options for keeping our kids safe in the car. I would love to keep Jericho rear-facing for as long as possible and will be needing a convertible seat before too long.

And, I just have to share one of my favorite stories my mom tells... When my brother and I were small (over 30 yrs ago) and there were no seatbelt laws (much less car seat laws!) my brother would stand on the front seat between my parents. On one occasion he fell asleep standing up, and eventually slumped over onto my mom. :)

A special thanks for recommending a seat that is "trim"! As you know, I'm in desperate need of something slimmer, given my situation. :)

Love you!
~k


As you can see from my response, I'm not as staunch as Courtney is in my stance. I do however feel it is important to take special care of the little blessings we've been given. If you've not given much thought to the matter of car seat safety in the past, I hope this will at least give you something to noodle on...

For more info head over here.

4 comments:

Courtney said...

Love you Kristin. :) I too remember those trips sprawled out across the back seat, usually with a well-intentioned lap belt around my middle(which I now know would have severed my body in half!). It was good times.
Now that I'm a mom I'm a worrier, lol! I've seen far too many crash videos and pictures. I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if I were in an accident and my precious babies sustained injuries or, heaven forbid, died and it would have been easily preventable, kwim? It is tough as families grow to keep them all in appropriate seats. I often tell people, if I can keep three in seats in a Civic then you too can do the impossible.
Thanks so much for sharing this with your readers. You're a terrific friend and an amazing mama. :)

Heather said...

Hey.
Great post. Just yesterday a friend of mine picked Andy up. I put the carseat in her car...I wanted to know it was in right. She commented that she's probably afraid to know how incorrectly they had theirs in all these years. Her son is 3.5 and he's only in a booster seat. I told he Andy will be in he 5 pt harness as long as he can...he thinks it's cool right now that he can buckle it all up himself.

It amazes me how many people do not know HOW to properly install a car seat. They aren't supposed to move more then an inch...I've seen some that would slide all over the seat. Thank Courtney for all the info. I'm pretty sure Andy is ok in where he's at right now but good reminder to check.

Love and hugs!

Karri said...

I, too, am a supporter of carseat safety. The boys are both in 5 point harness seats w/ a limit of 65lbs. I turned Natalie FWD before2 years only because she has serious seperation anxiety. She still hasn't hit 30lbs ;o)

My mom drove me home from the hospital on her lap in the front seat of a VW beetle. Obviously, times have changed; cars are faster, kids are even more reckless.

If you have questions about how to get your seat in properly, give me a jingle :o)

Dawn said...

Hmmmm, this IS a touchy subject! I guess I lean more toward the side of caution. I agree with Karri that times have changed! Speed limits are faster. And it seems more critical than ever to take the right precautions to keep our passengers safe in the car.

I, too, have memories of climbing around in the car on road trips. That doesn't mean it was a good idea then or now! Lots of people have good memories of things that were fun, and weren't necessarily safe or right. (I don't think I need to give examples of this. You can use your imagination.) It doesn't make it okay just to say that you have a good memory of it. And your memory of it would be very different if you'd been in a collision on one of those trips.

This feels to me like a case where "lifestyle dictates morality". I know this isn't necessarily a "moral" issue, but if your family size makes it hard for you to make the seatbelt and carseat rules work for your family, I don't see how that excuses you from those rules. The rules are intended to keep every passenger in the vehicle as safe as possible. I'm not sure why we would take chances with the safety and wellbeing of our children.

This is getting lengthy, so I digress for now. I like the debate, even though I think I'm right. =)

Love you and your car full of precious babes, Kristin!!!