| The back seat of my car |
Last week I had one of those WORST! MOTHER! EVER! moments while I was reading everyones’s car seat/high chair/jogging stroller feedback. All of a sudden it occurred to me that although I knew the weight limitations for Nate’s car seat, I had no idea what the height restrictions were and, yup, worst mother ever because he was officially too tall for his car seat like, several weeks ago.
We first looked at Babies R Us for a seat after your awesome recommendations that they let you try before you buy and for the love of hugified things, you may as well have been trying to shove a Wooly Mammoth in the backseat of my little Pontiac Sunfire. Car seats are positively ginormous compared to those little infant carriers. So ginormous in fact, that almost every single seat we tried to cram into our car was rammed up against the front seat.
I even tried to pull the front seats up closer to the dash board, but all of a sudden that meant I would need to learn to drive with my knees, and although I think that might be fun, especially the whole part about giving bad drivers the finger because then I would be giving them the toe and I bet the look on their faces would be priceless when they saw me driving with my feet all up in the air like that, I’m not about to play hero to find out.
So because our car is so small and car seats are so big and because we now know that in addition to safety ratings and functionality, part of finding the best car seat for a car is to find one that fits the vehicle tightly and properly and your child nicely, we decided to talk to a car seat technician about what they would recommend so the car seat wasn’t mashed up against the front seat.
I was really surprised to learn how limited our options were because we drive a car that barely accommodates two adults and a cup of coffee, but we finally did find a seat that fits both the car and Nate nicely and now I can breathe a sigh of relief that Nate is safe once again – until he learns that my nose is not the only hole to shove his fingers in and discovers the totally not baby proofed electrical sockets.
And to the car seat technician man, I am sorry that you were wearing black and now have yellow Samson fur all over your nice clothes, but thank you for all your time and for playing car seat safety in the back seat of my car. I'm not sure if I should feel sad or all grown up to admit that was the most excitement the back seat of my car has ever seen. Labels: All in the Family, Baby Nate, The Learning Curve |
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so what seat did you end up getting??
it gets better when they can go in the a forward facing seat as then they don't have to cram it in so much and there is more space for parents legs
dawn
Karla, I don't want to sound discouraging, but you will have LOTS of those moments! We all do! It just can't be helped! ;)
Congrats on finding a car seat. Where did you find the car sear technician, though? And which seat did you get?
I'm glad you found one that works and that puts your mind at ease. I think it should be mandatory for car seat installation to be inspected. I remember when Avelyn was about a week old I stopped into a place that did car seat inspections thinking, "What the heck. I'm sure her seat is fine but let's just double check." The technician said, "You cannot leave the parking lot with this seat the way it is!" It was in totally wrong, and we needed a locking clip for the seat belt. Woops. I felt like the worst mother ever too. Owell, live and learn.
the pic of nate at 22 months might just be my favorite picture to date!
Weird! I just bought Porgie a new car seat this weekend too. I have a small Saturn, and her infant car seat actually forced us to push the passenger seat all the way forward. So, for amost an entire year, John has been driving and I have been sitting in the back.
But, now that Porgie is a year(almost, we bought a forward facing seat. We have so much room now and I CAN SIT UP FRONT AGAIN!!!!
Karla, with my first son, he was too long for his infant carrier when it finally occured to me to check the limits. Tons of people keep their babies in way too long....more than a couple of weeks to long! I see babies in carriers and their feet stick out 6 inches past the end!!
Oh...and when I happen to take my youngest son in to a store in his infant seat and people ask his age, it almost never fails that they question why he is still in an infant carrier. It's official though...I took him for his 15 month check up today and he was 16 pounds and 27.25 inches long...still falling in the proper range for his infant carrier. At this rate, I might be able to keep him in it until he is two...LOL!
In case anyone needs a great infant carrier, we LOVE ours (http://tinyurl.com/cotwt).
Glad you were able to find a car seat that you are happy with!! Looks like I can put off my car seat shopping for a while longer!
Well thanks to your blog, I will be getting our little guys a new car seat very soon! I knew the weight restrictions, but didn't even think of the height! We had him at the doctor yesterday for his 4 month check-up and he is 25.5 inches - our car seat is only for up to 26''. Thanks Karla for saving us from our own "worst Mommy ever" moment!!
Glad you found one that fits, that right there is the biggest safety concern!
Nate will be all safe and sound now!
And that picture of him in the last post is ADORABLE! Me and my daughter have blue eyes, but his are amazing!
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Anonymous : May 29, 2007 
