More on Car Seats ... Part Two!

In my last post I talked about some basics of using car seats as well as the different types of seats available.

SO.... How to you find the right seat for your family? The consensus in the car seat world is the best seat for you is the one that fits .. fits your child, fits your car and fits your budget! So let's start with those 3 ...

First, the best seat fits your child: .. See this post!

Next, the best seat fits your car:

Do some research .. pick up Consumer's Reports, parenting magazines and read lots of reviews by parents and get some ideas about which seats you think you'd like. There's a great carseat to car compatibility database at CarSeatData.Org

Before buying a seat, test it out! Stores like ToysRus will allow you to take a display model out to the parking lot and test fit it before you buy. Check with your local stores first .. some require a deposit or having an employee escort you .. and babysit you while you try it out. I spoke with a manager of our local ToysRus on the phone before I went in and explained the situation and they were so accommodating! I did have to leave my drivers licence before leaving the store with a cart full of seats to test out. An hour later I had a few scrapped up knuckes and a new seat picked out. The manager came out so see how I did and advised me to wait a week for their baby sale to start .. I've bought 3 seats from ToysRus .. isn't customer service an amazing thing! I wouldn't recommend doing this with your kids in tow and I would set aside a couple of hours to play around with seats. Trying different seats in different positions. Our ComfortSport wouldn't fit snugly in the center seat of my car but fit great in one of the outboard positions!

So you're in a parking lot with a crazy looking hunk of plastic with a cute cover and your backseat and your rear end sticking out for the world to see .. now what?

The Basics of Installation:

1. Get out the owners manuals for both your vehicle and seat, read throughly and have at the ready when you're installing.

2. If your vehicle was manufactured after 2002 it will have a LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren) system. Cars made before 2002 may also have this system but its required on cars made after 2002. LATCH is a system of anchoring points that are built into the frame of the car and is used instead of the vehicle's lap/shoulder belt. It should be noted that the LATCH system is easier for installation but know that the lap/shoulder belt can be used as safely. With our van we don't use the LATCH system because it's not as effective as using the seat belt but the LATCH in my husbands car is very effective. I would try the LATCH system first and if you don't have a "good install" try again with with the regular seatbelt.

3. For LATCH installation:

• Locate the LATCH belt (looks like a skinny seatbelt with a hook on each end) on your seat with the help of the owner's manual .. make sure it's routed though the seat properly with no twisting, bunching, pulling or snagging.
  
• Next, using your car's manual find the anchor points for the LATCH system (these are just flattened metal rings bolted to the frame of the car). There will be one for each side of the seat and one for the top tether (used for forwarding facing seats).
  
• Position the car seat on the seat of the car! If installing a forward facing seat, attach the top tether strap from the car seat to the tether anchor of the car and tighten.
  
• Next, attach the LATCH clips from the properly routed LATCH belt to the anchor points and tighten. When tightening straps you need to add weight to the bottom of the seat to simulate a child sitting in it .. I find it easiest to place my knee in the crease of the seat and place my weight down while pulling the straps tight. Car seat is now installed.
  
• To check for a good install grasp the sides of the seat directly about where the LATCH belt comes out. Pull it out towards you and shake it from side to side. A well installed seat should slide more than an inch in any direction. If it moves around easily, check your install or try again using a different position in the car or with the lap/shoulder belt. On infant seats, also push down on the top of the seat .. if the bottom (where the car seat meets the back of the seat of the car) changes angles or rises up, the car seat is not safely installed.
  

4. For installation using the vehicle's seat belt:

• First, remove LATCH system belt from the proper belt path. Only the belt that is being used to secure the car seat to the car should be in place.
• Next, using your vehicle's manual for reference, place car seat in position.
  
• If you are using a top tether, secure that first (see above) and tighten.
  
• Grasp the car's seatbelt and guide it though the proper routing on the car seat. Refer to the owner's manual for the seat or use the same routing as with the LATCH belt. Make sure there are no twists, snags or pulling on the seatbelt. Secure the latch plate (the metal part at the end of the belt) in the buckle.
• Now, while kneeling in the bottom of the seat, grab the lap portion of the seatbelt as it comes out of the buckle and pull it tight.
  
• While still kneeling in the seat, pull out the slack on the shoulder portion on the opposite side of the carseat.
  
• Finally, pull out all of the shoulder strap from the car. Make sure you hear a click and allow the belt to retract back into the car.
  
• Check for fit by grasping the sides of the seat just above the belt path and pull the seat towards you and from side to side. If the seat moves more than an inch in any direction, or just doesn't feel secure ... try again! Try a different position in the car or a different car seat. Some seats just don't fit some cars!
  
• If you're using a lap only belt, follow the same instructions as above. If you are having issues with the lap belt coming loose during use, try turning over the latch plate before buckling the seat belt. This should reset the locking mechanism in the belt.
  

One more note: Some cars make before 1996 do not have the retractor mechanism on their seatbelts. Refer to your owner's manual. If your seat does not have a retractor you'll need to use the locking clip included on your carseat. This piece of metal hardware is installed about half an inch above the buckle, between the buckle and the carseat and attaches the lap portion of the belt to the shoulder belt. Some cars with the locking seatbelts will still need to use a locking clip .. so if you have an older car and are having problems getting a "good install" try using the clip. Locking clips are worthless on lap only belts, however, and shouldn't be used. If a lap belt is coming loose during use, turn the latch plate over once before inserting in the buckle!

If you're a first timer or anytime you get a new seat or a new car .. I suggest seeking out a Child Passenger Safety Tech (CPST). These lovely folks will not only install your seat correctly for you but will teach you how to do it yourself. Many insurance companies, especially AAA, offer clinics. Also check out resources available through your hospitial, doctor's office, health department, fire station and state police post. Also check out SafeKids.Org, which a great organization dedicated to preventing accidental injury in children world wide. From their site on clinics in your area where CPSTs will inspect your seats and teach you the proper way to install them in your car and install your child in the seat. You can also search for CPSTs in your area and find one that will do the inspections on an appointment basis. We were fortunate that one of the nurses at our peditrican's office was a CPST and we could ask her to inspect our seats for us.

I can't say enough about these wonderful people and can not recommend them enough to others. They know the tricks of the trade in getting seats to fit perfectly in your car, like using a foam pool noodle to get the recline angle just right on a rear facing seat! If you can't get to one of these folks, check with the local fire and police stations, many communities have their firefighters and officers trained on how to install car seat properly. Have both your car's and car seat's owner manuels available when installing any seat .. there are differences between different models as to how and where to install .. for instance, not all center lap/shoulder belts can be used for carseats .. it depends on the car!

Car Set Switch-a-Roo

Saturday was the big test for our four year old Madelynn .. the first ride in her new Graco TurboBooster! We were heading out for the day and I didn't feel like messing with switching the 2 seats from my van to the car .. so we decided to try the TurboBooster I'd bought at Target last fall knowing it would be awhile before we'd be able to use it but the price was right .. $12.48, 75% off! Maddy was excited to use her new seat and after a short discussion about not playing with the seatbelt, how it was like the straps on her old seat that aren't to be touched, it's what keeps her safe in the car, like mommy and daddy's seat belts, ect .. she did great!! It still amazes me how well kids understand and listen if you take the time to explain the reasoning behind the direction.

My plan now is that come August and new baby arrives Maddy will move to the TurboBooster, Mallory will move to Maddy's old Ultra CarGo Harnessed booster and the new baby will be riding in the ComfortSport. However, there's more testing to be done before I can be certain that we won't need to buy an Infant seat .. I need to see how the ComfortSport will fit rear-facing in the van and how Mallory fits in the CarGo. And I need to see when the ComfortSport expires .. I think it should be late in 2010, we bought it in the winter of 2004 when Maddy was a tall, or long rather, 9 month old.

Not only is the idea of spending $80 on new Snugride less than appealing I can't imagine trying to haul it around with a 5 year old and a 3 year old. When Mallory was a baby, the Snugride we had then rarely left the car when we were doing errands, she usually rode in the sling and once she was bigger and too wiggly for the sling to feel safe for her it was the backpack carrier. With Madelynn, the Snugride went everywhere and I developed a mild case of carpel tunnel from lugging her around! Of course, if the seats don't fit correctly, I'd much rather spend the $80 and have a safe baby .. or maybe I'll just have to get a new van ;)

The pics are of the girls in the current car seat configuration .. they're are from my cameraphone so excuse the lack of quality! They're also from last summer and Maddy's grown a foot since then, so I assure you she is tall enough for her new seat!

Cars, Citizen Soldiers, Kids and Babies .. oh my!

Boy, it's been a while (again) .. since I've sat to "blog" and a lot has been going on! The van is fixed for now and hopefully until next spring, Mr. M is happily rid of the Escort and driving a new to us Mercury Sable, which is so wonderfully luxurious in comparison. It was bitter sweet to see the Escort go since it was the first car I bought and paid for myself and then drove it until it was on the brink of falling apart .. literally .. we were worried about it not making it to the dealership in our old town 60 miles away! I know some would call us crazy for buying used cars from a dealership but we've had great experiences and have built up a relationship with our favorite dealer and will continue to buy there in the future. Perhaps a post for another time.

Mr. M is loving the job and is really succeeding beyond what was expected of him. We were nervous moving here because the results from this area have been so dismal and the last few recruiters didn't last very long. Thankfully, things are working out rather well and we're all very proud of what he's been able to provide not just to our family but to kids that really don't have a lot of options available to them here. Community support in this area is phenomenal as well .. instead of sneers when Mr. M is around town in uniform, older women are hugging him and thanking him and people are anonymously paying for lunches .. In our old town, you could feel the disdain others had for the military, and there would be comments about how horrible it was that Mr. M had to "con these poor kids into being sent to war". I don't know if it's because this is a smaller community or the fact that there is a National Guard unit here or its just a less "left-leaning" community, but this area is far more supportive of it's men and women in uniform!

As for the kiddos .. M1 just celebrated her 4th birthday with a record 3 parties (all small!) and enjoyed Barbie Mariposa as her favorite gift .. as a note I have to give credit to my grandparents who called to ask what she'd like, normally not newsworthy, however, it's taken them almost 28 years, 13 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren to CALL AND ASK WHAT THE KID LIKES .. rather than getting an insanely expensive gift not at all fitting a child .. case in point the table set of Royal Daulton BunnyKins that M2 received for her 2nd birthday last fall! It was a great gift for me since I receive a set around the same age and still have it .. wrapped carefully and stored away somewhere for some unknown purpose ..

And the biggest surprise of all .. we found out we'll be adding M3 to the mix in late August! Not a huge shocker but still a surprise after all the baby/little kids stuff went to Children's Orchard last winter ... lets say we're not totally prepared (at least stuff wise) for a new bundle of joy! It's been fun though finding things at resale shops and the girls like to look at baby clothes and toys and the like. At 19 weeks we're debating on if we want to find out the sex of the baby or be surprised. With the first 2 we (meaning me!) didn't know until the delivery room .. I love the idea of not knowing but planning and getting stuff would be so much easier if we knew. With the girls, it didn't really matter one way or the other .. but I can't imagine being able to hit up the resale stores with a 4 year old, a 2 year old and an infant! Plus there's only one good resale store in town, Goodwill, who seems to be a bit overpriced since they've all but cornered the market in the area! Maybe if we end up staying in the area I'll open my own Children's Orchard!