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Why even buy the seat if you don't use it correctly?Feb 23 '00 Write an essay on this topic.What's wrong with parents today? Maybe some of them have rocks in their heads? Or maybe they try to hard to be best friends with their kids and have them like them that they forget whose in charge. There's a reason you're called the parent and the small person with you the child. This topic always makes me laugh - not because it's not serious and important, but because of the dumb things parent say when their kids aren't buckled in or are only half buckled in. I have four children and all of them have sat in car seats, booster seats, and seat belts. My friends praise me over and over for my ability to get my kids to sit in their safety devices. You'd have thought I just invented well mannered children who listen to their parents. There's never a fight, never a fuss and most importantly the car would never move if one of them was not strapped in and strapped in properly. When my children were verbal enough, we use to do a checklist of everyone to make sure they were strapped in, they would let me know if I forgot someone, which can happen when you're tired. That was not an always easy and fun thing to do. When I had my fourth child she was in an infant seat, my two year old in a car seat and my 3 year old in a booster seat. People use to laugh when they looked in the window of my van. There was NEVER any room for negotiation, you went into your seat, end of story. Ask my kids about the night they wanted to go to McDonalds and my 3 year old in a foul mood about something else decided to take a stand against his booster seat. We didn't go and the other kids were very mad at him and told him he better use the seat or else. It could just be as easy for me to argue you don't need car seats. After all I grew up in the 60's and 70's when rear seat belts were not standard and there were no such things as car seats. I made it all this way without them. Although once my brother opened the door while my mom was driving and we almost fell out of the car. HMMM, maybe that's why I know how important seats and belts are. It's bad enough to see parents driving with kids running around the car and no car seats, as if that's any less distracting than a child buckled in a seat screaming because they aren't happy. What bothers me more are parents the who half use the seat. Now, these are the same parents who went to every web site and baby store trying to find the perfect one and the most safe seat - or maybe they really wanted the coolest looking that would match their cars interior. What's the point of having the best/safest seat if you don't use it the right way? Several of my friends, and myself had babies around the same time. When they would get the baby ready after their visit, they would sit the baby in the infant car seat, lock the strap down and keep the little white tightening bar around the naval. I would correct the behavior and say, "you need to tighten that more to keep the baby safe." They all would respond the same way, "the baby doesn't like it when the straps are tight, he/she fusses so much I can't concentrate when I'm driving." Nice, lame excuse - how about using the seat correctly to keep your baby safe? Basically you've just said, "hey little two month old you have mommy in your back pocket and I'll never be able to figure out why you won't sit in your next car seat. It couldn't be because I always let you get your way." I also hate parents who install the seat so it can slide back and forth. Again, that's the worst thing you could do. Strap a child into a car seat that will come loose during an accident making them a human cannonball. DUH!! I had a friend who did this, and the excuse, "I'm tired of trying to get the tight fit, this is good enough." Set an example for your kids, always wear your seat belt. ALWAYS strap your kids into their car seats the right way. Don't let them win. If they cry they cry - turn up the music. If they argue about it say end of discussion this is the LAW!! If they don't comply get them all out of the car and back in the house, wherever you were going couldn't be more important than risking your child's life. I know car seats are a bear to install properly, but you owe it to your kids to get it right. Why even spend all that time and money picking out the best seat and buying it if you're not going to use it right? Does that make any sense?  |
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