Carseats

I've recently come to realize that apparently not all parents, grandparents or caregivers realize that car seats have an expiration date or that they should be used by certain sizes of children at certain points in their life. Using a car seat incorrectly can cause serious harm or even death, so it seems like this is something that can't possibly be talked about enough on the internet. I mean, if you're hammered with the same message over and over, you'll have to get it eventually... right?


In the spirit of being an open book, today's rant is inspired by my sister-in-law who uses an expired bucket seat for her youngest and backless boosters for her 2 (almost 3) and 4 year olds. Oh yes, you read that correctly. Not a single one of her 3 children are in a car seat that's appropriate for their size AND not expired. Mother of the year, right there. I've tried subtly and not so subtly to tell her that she's basically a horrible parent, but being that she's bipolar or some other variety of crazy, she gleefully ignores me and moves on to bigger and more dangerous things. If anyone wants to punch her, feel free.

Back to my point. Carseat safety... lets start with some basic things that EVERYONE regardless of whether you have kids or not, should know.

1.) Carseats expire. Shocking, I know. Typically for a bucket seat (that's the type you put those adorable little babies in), it's 6 years. That means you can absolutely use it for multiple children, as long as those kids will be using it before it expires. Once it's past its prime, throw it out. Cut the straps so some other young parent can't snatch it up and put the seat where it belongs - in the trash.

You're probably wondering why you would throw away a perfectly good seat. Don't. Just stop that line of thought and throw it out. There are lots of reasons that manufacturers have for putting an expiration date on their seats. After 6 years the seat may have been bumped and jostled enough to compromise the inner foam or the strap material may start degrading at that time. Perhaps sunlight and exposure to heating/cooling with the seasons has weakened the plastic. Who knows. Not you and that's the point. Follow the instructions and keep your kids safe. If you don't know when your seat expires, you can look on it for a date of manufacture, then call the manufacturer and ask them. Or you could Google it. Or you could look in the owner's manual. Or you could look for an expiration date on the seat if it's relatively new. There's lots of options and no excuses.

2.)  Not all carseats are equal. A backless booster is NOT a good option for a 3 or 4 year old. The typical transition is from a bucket seat to a rear-facing 5-point harness. At 2 years you turn the 5-point around to be forward facing, though most states say you can do that at 1 year. It's safer to be rear facing, but if your kids are pukers you can make the switch at 1 year. After that it's a high-back booster and then finally to a backless booster. The bucket seat almost always lasts for at least a year, though there's no harm in transitioning to a rear-facing 5-point harness if your baby is big or if you don't mind taking them out of the seat at each stop. Keep them rear-facing for 1-2 years depending on if you value state laws or what's the absolute safest option. After that, turn them around so they're facing the front, but keep the 5-point harness. Most seats can harness kids over 40 pounds. When the child outgrows the weight for the seat or when their ears are above the carseat or when their shoulders are above the top harness adjustment, you can start thinking about a high back booster. The absolute minimum requirements are 4 years AND 40 pounds. If your child is 39.5 pounds and barely 4, don't make the transition as they probably still fit in a 5-point harness. Definitely don't switch them before that point as it's just not safe. Once your child outgrows the high back booster, you can trade them up to a backless booster. This happens around 6-8 years old and varies for every child. The backless booster scoots them up so that the seatbelt hits properly. They should stay in the booster until they can sit on the seat and have the belt hit correctly. State laws vary, but use your best judgement on this one.

My nephew is an average size child. He's about 4.5 years old and he's probably a little over 40 pounds. He could qualify for a high back booster, but he would almost definitely still fit in a 5-point harness. There is no way in hell he should be in a backless booster like he is. My other nephew is 2 (3 months shy of turning 3) and he too is in a booster. He should be in a 5-point harness for AT LEAST another year. Putting him in a booster is just irresponsible and I hope they never get into (another) car accident with him in the car because he is not protected.