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Moms View Message Board: Parenting Discussion: Archive July-December 2003: PLEASE properly restrain your kids....
A senseless death...
That is soooo sad. Recently in Wisconsin, a dad and 2 kids (6 and 3) were hit by another vehicle. The 3yo wasn't even in a seatbelt, let alone a carseat or booster and he was killed. The 6yo was okay, but she was in the front seat. Dad and the girl had on seatbelts. I don't know why the boy was unrestrained.
Not just your small kids. A few weeks ago, 4 local guys were in a horrible accident. Three were thrown from the car - one is paralyzed from the chest down, one has many injuries and has been in and out of a coma, and the driver is in a back brace, but is now at home. The 4th guy was the only one wearing his seat belt, and he walked away unharmed. Stupid, stupid guys!! They're all in their early 20s. I'm sure their parents taught them better, but kids don't get that bad things can happen to anyone!
My dad just doesn't see this as important. He always is telling me that it's just a mile or two, do we have to put the car seat in the car?
Everyone wears seatbelts and bike helmets at my house. I can't drive without my seatbelt on. I feel too insecure. (Yeah, I tried it for a short distance when I was young and foolish!)
Some people are just plain careless. I was driving down mainstreet today, and passed a minivan with a little girl STANDING up on the front seat with her hands on the dashboard. She was leaning forward looking out the front window.
We just bought a van and it has built in child seats. They fit our daughter well but how effective are they as opposed to the regular carf seats?
Juli4, Integrated child seats are convenient and restrain a child adequately, as long as they fit a child properly, but there are cons. They don't fit all children well and aren't as adjustable. They offer no side impact protection or sleep support. I've also read EMTs prefer traditional car seats in the event of an accident because it makes removing and transporting the child much easier. Also, what if your vehicle breaks down and you need to get a ride? What does the child ride in? You can't remove the integrated seat to install in another vehicle. CPS experts recommend replacing a car seat when it reaches 5-6 yrs. old because the plastic, harness and buckles age and their integrity is questionable. The same goes for the harness and buckles in an integrated car seat, but how do you replace them? My van is now 5 yrs. old and we plan on keeping it for a long time. I'm so glad we didn't get integrated car seats. OK, I just proofread this post, and I'm into this stuff WAY too much. LOL!
Lazy parents who don't want to discipline their children or "fight" with them to get them to stay in their carseats. Lazy, lazy lazy! and then crying up on the news when something happens to them - starting coalitions about child car safety!
I don't know that all parents who don't put their kids in carseats are just lazy, I think there are some who are just uninformed. For example, I have lived in Texas most of my life. When my middle child was born (he is almost 8), what I knew about car seats were, you should use them, the law requires it until age 2, and they should be rear facing until 20 pounds. I got this info from the ped and the TX dept of motor safety. So I had a two year in a car seat and an infant. My daughter was small, so she stayed in her carseat for awhile. My son though was huge. At 5 months he was 20 pounds, I turned him around. He met the then requirments and heck it made him quit vomiting any time we were in the car. Life was good. Well when he turned two he hated his seat, I was moving my then 4 year old out of her car seat and a had a baby that was in an infant seat. It was legal and sure was easier to just use seatbelts. I look back and realize just how unsafe that was, but also realize it wasn't until much later I learned about booster seats, etc. When I started going car seat crazy, it was then I realize just how poorly people are informed. We lived in Ohio for 4 years and I have to say car seat education far surpasses what I experienced in Texas. I have brothers and sisters who have asked peditricians about boosters and gotten just wrong advice. Texas just changed their car seat law to being age 4, only 2 years ago. I maybe be wrong here, but I think DC passed the law that made children under 8 have to be in boosters before texas passed that law! I also think if you read this post you can see how differently we are informed!
You're right, it could also be where you are from. People don't realize a lot of times, that what part of the country you are from makes a BIG difference in a lot of things! Also, older people have different perceptions on carseat safety, as do younger people who were raised by older peoople (grandparents, etc..). I remember my grandma telling me: "just put your (3 yearold) son in the seatbelt, we did that when you were little". "No Grandma, things are different now". I can remember when I was too young to be in a regular seatbelt and I was in one anyway. Unless it is a TOTAL emergent situation, my kids are always always in their carseats!!
Oh, about the lazy part- I see TONS of people here in south Florida (where I Know everyone knows the laws) who simply don't want to "wrestle" their kids into their carseats. They would rather let them stand up, hang out the window, sit on their lap!!! ( Yes, I see this a lot). I also know a lot of mommies who put their children into carseats & don't buckle them- or don't buickle the seats into the car- what is the point of this? That, to me, is lazy! Sure it takes a few extra minutes to buckle the kids in (esp. when you have 3-like me), but could you really live with yourself if you got into an accident & the carseat, or worse- your child, didn't stay in the car?????!!!!!
That would drive me nuts. I hate seeing unrestrained kids in cars.
My X-inlaws kept Madison one afternoon for Jules a while back. As Jules was leaving, they said they were going to take her to the mall. Jules asked if they had a carseat, and my X-SIL, who is 50 y/o (!) said, *no, I'll just hold her in my lap*. Jules stopped and said *NO WAY!* They just could NOT understand *what the big deal was*, after all, *the mall was just a few minutes away*. Jules told them she would put Madison's carseat in the back of their car, and she HAD to ride in that, or they couldn't take her anywhere.
This is what happens to lap held babies and unrestrained kids. Makes me sick just to watch these crash test videos.
Those are pretty gruesome!
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