More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Car Seat Safety

So, I was catching up with a good friend this morning. We're both expecting our thirds about the same time. Our oldests are the same age and our second children were born just a month a part. The conversation turned toward whether our infant car seats we got 6 years ago were still up to snuff.

Now, when it comes to car seat safety, I am neurotic. Both of my kids outgrew the height limit on the infant carrier around 9 months old. I don't think most mom's even consider the height limit and use their carriers until their kids is a year old or they get too heavy for it. The good news is that they make infant carriers to hold children up to 32" now, instead of 29" like they did when my kids were "tiny". Which brings me to the reason why we will be buying a new infant carrier (and convertible car seat).

Car seats expire! That's right folks, after about 6 years, the plastic dries and the no-seeum parts can no longer be trusted to be reliable. And that is 6 years from the date of manufacture, not the date you bought the item. So, I checked the infant seat and it expired last August. Still need to take the convertible car seat out of the car to find the hidden info (really, if they want people to maintain a safe car seat, this info should be readily accessible). Given that we bought this seat when Abigail was 9 months old and she will be almost 6.5 years old when baby #3 arrives, I can just assume that the car seat needs to be tossed. Just as well, since we need a sleeker seat for Autumn to fit 3 car seats across the back.

And this last bit is a little lecturey. The above info most of us are clueless about, but this tidbit I am sure we are all aware. The five point harness is an awesome invention, but often used improperly. The plastic bar should rest just under the collar bones between the shoulder blades. No one ever puts it above because you would be seriously choking your tot, but I've seen many moms put it below the ribs because they don't want it to be too tight. In an accident, this will force the stomach to absorb the impact and will cause a lot of damage. Post all sorts of nasties in the comments section, but when it comes to safety I am not interested in making friends, just keeping the little ones safe.

I don't know about you, but I definitely learned something new today and am now on a mission to find new car seats.

Here is a wiki link, but I found it several places. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_safety_seat#General_child_safety_seat_info