Car Seat rules... How many are YOU breaking?

graphixmom

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:21 pm

My neighbor once came out of her car and she was like, 'omg you dont know what just happened, I made a sharp turn the my baby somehow fell out of his carseat!!! I dont know how that happened!!" the next day I happened to be outside when she was putting her baby in and noticed she was only buckling the crotch part and the harness part was not buckled, but not only that, it wasnt even over his arms and the straps were sooo lose! I got really upset and told her off and said, hello, this is exactly why he flew out of the carseat! what are you thinking! I think she got upset cuz she just turned away and never brought the subject up again, but hello? some ladies just dont use common sense!

gp2.0

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:21 pm

SplitPea wrote:

I feel like I am on such a rant... Should I mention installing seats properly where they can't move more than an inch side to side And using the teather lol.

This I found out awhile ago here on imamother from a different post and I'm glad I did, because now the seat is actually installed correctly. However in one of those links you posted it says the seat was ejected from the car while still attached to the seat belt. And inspectors seem to think it was properly installed. If that can happen even if it's properly installed, then...???

graphixmom

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:22 pm

Also, I'm not understanding where the coats come in and why its a problem? my kids are both in regular carseats with a harness, my oldest is four and you bet he'll still be in a harness for a while. when they wear their coats, I make the straps a little bigger so it can fit, if they're not wearing it, I make it tighter. I dont get the issue.

SplitPea

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:24 pm

graphixmom wrote:

Look at the links I posted about that... They can compress In a crash and the kid can be ejected.

SplitPea

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:26 pm

gp2.0 wrote:

SplitPea wrote:

I feel like I am on such a rant... Should I mention installing seats properly where they can't move more than an inch side to side And using the teather lol.

Nothing's perfect I guess... I was posting that one more for the coat issue. I am not sure what happened to the seat and neither are inspectors. All we can do is learn and do our best and the rest is up to hashem.

graphixmom

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:29 pm

SplitPea wrote:

graphixmom wrote:

Look at the links I posted about that... They can compress In a crash and the kid can be ejected.

The article makes no sense. my kids are not taking their coats off, it'll be on the whole time.

SplitPea

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:29 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

No, it's not. Some 9 months old are tall.

What it means is that it's time to get a ROOMIER car seat. Most car seats these days are made with this in mind since the age has gone up, the weight limits and space has also gone up. My kids fold their legs (I have a pic if you want to see).
Better a broken leg (which there are no stats actually happen!) than internal decapitation, R"L.

This. Legs can be fixed necks...... Well they are a little harder to mend.

A child is 5xs safer in a crash rear facing. I say the same thing to this as I say when the neighbors kid complains her straps are too tight in my car... Safety before comfort!

bbmom

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:30 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

In a crash, they can compress more, slackening the straps Sad

How far is the walk from your home to the car?

With hats and gloves, I don't find my kids to be ultra freezing in the 1.5 minutes they get loaded in.

I wish it took me 1.5 minutes to load everyone in the car. Each child has to be lifted into the car, lifted into the carseat and harnessed. Even my 4 yr can't buckle herself because she always twists the straps. I usually begin loading the car a good ten minutes before I have to leave. Any day that I can get away with a lighter jacket I do!

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:30 pm

There is in a crash! The force of the crash (based on physics if you want to understand it) is based on the speed and the weight involved. That force compresses the coat tens of times more than you can do with your regular body weight. There is no space without that force, but with the crash force, you can have inches, letting the kid slide out.

SplitPea

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:31 pm

graphixmom wrote:

SplitPea wrote:

graphixmom wrote:

Look at the links I posted about that... They can compress In a crash and the kid can be ejected.

The article makes no sense. my kids are not taking their coats off, it'll be on the whole time.

The articl is showing how muh extra room you are leaving ... In a crash that puffy coat will be compressed leaving enough room for your kid to be thrown from the carseat (cvs). The coats don't stay puffy in a crash they will go down to nothing because of the force.

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:31 pm

bbmom wrote:

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

In a crash, they can compress more, slackening the straps Sad

How far is the walk from your home to the car?

With hats and gloves, I don't find my kids to be ultra freezing in the 1.5 minutes they get loaded in.

I didn't say to buckle Smile

I said to get into the car.

I get the kids into the car and turn on the heat. Then I start buckling those who need help. If you have a remote starter, that's even better.

miami85

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:32 pm

I was aware of most if not all of these rules. Those that are recommendations, sometimes it has to do with what works with your kids. With my son he was 18-19 months and we were about to go on a long car trip and we figured that he would go nuts if we didn't turn him around, so we did. Regarding the bundle-me's. They have done crash tests and were deemed safe enough. I'm pretty sure that my baby's carseat straps are tight enough that it wouldn't make a difference--I can barely get it on him, not sure how it's going to slacken in an accident. My older son has a thin-ish coat, but again the straps are pretty tight.
Sometimes you are in a situation of "ain braira"--such as the 2yr old with a booster--it was either that or leaving the kid at the day care--or whatever. Once upon a time people did these things and survived. I'm not saying that makes it OK, but remember that HaShem is the Shomer Yisroel and ultimately safety is up to Him.

SplitPea

Thu, Jan 10 2013, 11:33 pm

bbmom wrote:

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

In a crash, they can compress more, slackening the straps Sad

How far is the walk from your home to the car?

With hats and gloves, I don't find my kids to be ultra freezing in the 1.5 minutes they get loaded in.

I know it can be a pain. What we do is run shifts. I turn on the car then sit very one in their seats so they are out of the cold (and not running around ) and then buckle them in.... Once they are in the car at not so bad there is no windchill and a fleece jacket and poncho is more than enough

amother

Fri, Jan 11 2013, 12:30 am

I think I am in compliance with any of those. Up until this winter, my now 2 year old twins were in things like this:
http://www.columbia.com/Youth-.....html. very warm and thin. This year, I park in a garage so they just wear sweatshirts for playgroup drop-off (their sister's, they stay in the car) and for other trips I take off their coats. The older ones take off their coats by themselves. My twins were turned FF a day after their second birthday, when I went for their well visit and saw that my son reached the limit of his car seat.
I switched my 6 year old into a booster on his 6th birthday. In his last year's Sunday carpool he sat in the other two families' younger kid's car seats, because the other kids didn't even have boosters shock

My 4 year old is still in her car seat and will be for another year or two. She will be ready for a booster before my son was. My son has a hard time sitting still and until he was 6 I did not feel that he was mature enough.
As for the expiration date - this is what gets to me. I have to get rid of my Britax Marathon now, which is my favorite of my car seats. Now I'll be stuck with a Cosco Scenera, which I hate. But when you own 5 car seats and a booster, you don't just run out and buy another car seat. At least that's what my husband says!

My pet peeve is when people keep their babies in infant car seats well beyond the weight or height limit and they can't even close the bottom strap so they just close the chest strap. Drives me crazy! Also, sooooo many people don't know that you can have the convertible car seats RF, and they go straight from infant car seats to FF. Grrr.

amother because of identifying details.

seeker

Fri, Jan 11 2013, 12:33 am

gp2.0 wrote:

By the time DD was a little over a year old, she no longer fit rear facing. Where are the kids supposed to put their legs? Tucked up to their chests? I don't get it. By the time their feet can hit the backseat, it's time to turn around.

DD sits with her legs bent and doesn't seem uncomfortable at all. Ever since she was old enough to catch on that getting in the car means going someplace, she's very cheerful about it. She's 2 and average height but I think proportionally her legs are long. If you've been using an infant bucket seat, those are pretty uncomfortable for older kids, you graduate to a convertible so your kid can have more room rear facing and then it also serves for forward facing in the same seat.

seeker

Fri, Jan 11 2013, 12:41 am

Personally I think the bundleme thing might be blown slightly out of proportion. They seem pretty thin and not puffy so if the compression thing is really a problem it can't possibly compress very far - 1/4 of an inch? That's not enough to get my firmly harnessed kid ejected. Puffy winter coats are a different story, I can see very clearly how differently the stroller straps fit when they are/aren't wearing a coat so it's easy to make the translation to car seat ejection. My bundleme is more fleecy than puffy. I don't use it in the car seat personally but I wouldn't crusade against those who do. It's really not thick imho.

Rodent

Fri, Jan 11 2013, 12:58 am

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

There aren't convertible car seats?!

Those ARE convertible seats. They only go to 12kg rear facing. It is illegal to use US or European seats also as they do not comply with Australian Standards and don't tether correctly. Once they hit that weight and are over 6 months they have to be turned. Most can stay rear facing over a year but my babies are big, especially my youngest. There are some newer seats that go by height rather than weight but he's quite tall as well so they may not work either.

oodlesofnoodles

Fri, Jan 11 2013, 1:13 am

To those who say leaving the bulky coats on/bundle me is not a big deal...
Buckle your kid in his or her coat or the bundle me. Then take off the coat and buckle the kid again.
Look at how much slack is in between your kid and the straps-that's what will happen in a crash!
Stop the excuses and playing with your kid's safety!