Car Seats...Car Seats!

I've been meaning to post this photo because of how precious it is but haven't gotten around to it. You all know how that goes. But I just had an interesting conversation with a client on the phone about choosing a new car seat for their growing little one that made me think about it and want to post this before it got out of my busy brain once again.

In August, my State Farm agent friend Karen and I participated in a Car Seat Technician certification class. We have established that I'm neurotic, so I don't think I need to go into great detail on this, but I've always been particular about car seats. Even when we first installed the infant carrier and base in preparation for Joshua's arrival (last August or September- make fun if you must) I thought it important to get the seat inspected so that we were sure it was in correctly. Maybe it's the State Farm connection, but we're surrounded by statistics about car seats and how over 70% of the seats are installed incorrectly or are the wrong seats for the children. Each time I had our seat looked at, there was something wrong with the installation that no one would have ever imagined (or found out until there had been some kind of an accident). And the installation techs were always very complimentary of the work that Jason and I (really only Jason) had done. They said that our seats were in "more right" than most they saw, but they could still make improvements.

When it was time to graduate Joshua into his "big boy" car seat, I again visited my car seat friends at the hospital's community education department and they again helped us to get our seat more correctly installed. And it was then that I realized that this was tough business. Here we are trusting this creation of plastic and nylon webbing to hold our most precious cargo, and it's taking two college educated people PLUS two certified technicians to get it installed correctly? So there began the process of becoming a technician myself (and talking Karen into it too...I know she loves me).

So four full days later (yep- four days to learn how to get car seats in correctly and to know all about the different kinds, styles, etc.) I had learned a few things that I'll share- just because I literally had no idea had I not sat in this class. I really hope no one feels that I'm forcing info. I just know that I appreciate knowing as much as I can when it comes to protecting Joshua and I have a feeling all parents feel that way about their children.

• Although PA law says that babies are legally allowed to turn forward facing at 20 lb AND one year of age, it's not the best idea to do so. It's safest to keep a child rear facing for as long as possible- preferably to the rear facing weight limits for the seat. This is because the car seat, when rear facing, takes all of the crash forces instead of the baby taking them. At one and 20 lb, their little joints and bones aren't quite ready to withstand the jolt of a crash. When we picked a convertible seat for Joshua, we looked for the one with the highest rear facing limits we could find at a reasonable cost. We LOVE the Fisher Price Safe Voyage seat. And at the rate he's gaining weight (or not!) he'll be riding rear facing until 4th grade!


• All of the really cute after market toys and things that you can hang off of the car seat and the back of the seat (I was guilty of a mirror until the class) can be really dangerous to the baby in a crash. If they come loose, they'll smack the baby and actually are the greatest causes of injury if car seats are installed correctly. Those sticky suction cup mirrors are the worst- they're hard and heavy with crash forces.


• On infant carriers, handle down vs. handle up when travelling can make a huge difference. All of the seats and vehicles are different with requirements, so you have to really look closely.


• The safest place for a child (or anyone for that matter) is the center position in the back seat facing the rear of the vehicle. Frankly, if I could ride that way I would!

I could go on for days, but don't worry...I won't. If anyone ever needs a seat looked at, just let me know. I've been doing it with clients with new or expected little ones and am so thankful I took the time to get certified. I hope I haven't offended anyone here by sounding preachy--- I just thought I'd fill you in on that new aspect of how parenthood changed my perspective. Pre-Joshua I wouldn't have given any of this much of a second thought, but now every time we strap him in to his seat, I'm confident that we've protected him the best we could...and that's our #1 job as his parents.