Car Seat Conspiracies

When I took inventory of car seats before baby #3 was born, I counted five of them. Ironically, I have purchased six of them in my mommy-hood lifetime. The first infant carrier I purchased I resold because it was a "travel system" (you know, where the car seat clips into the annoyingly bulking and incredibly difficult to steer stroller). I had to buy a new car seat when Zoë grew out of the infant carrier, so I thought I'd save some money and get the one that converts from rear-to-front-to-booster. I then had to buy a second car seat for her when I left her with a babysitter in the mornings (so I was up to 3 for my first baby).

I bought a new carrier before Megan arrived. I also decided to buy another forward-facing one for the van (so we could have children moved without rearranging car seats between vehicles). And, I also bought a new booster seat for Zoë to have in the van. So, that makes it 6 in all.

Well, I started looking at expiration dates, and that's when I started getting mad. Car seats are technically only suppose to be used for five years. After that there is a risk of fatigue in the material rendering the seat unsafe. Hmmmm. I can maybe buy that. The experts also used to say that you had to throw away a car seat if you were ever in an accident- again for the stress-fatigue on the seat. They've revised that to say "carefully inspect for fatigue". So, do I need to replace my "old" car seats with new ones? I'm still arguing with myself.

I then started calculating- if I had another kid, I'd have to replace one infant carrier, and both the two convertible seats I'd bought when Zoë was little. Megan would have a forward-facing for a few weeks/months until she was big/old enough to fit in a booster seat (there's 2 new seats) And, I'd have to get a new infant carrier since the one I bought for Megan would be too old. And, I would still would have FOUR KIDS in car seats/booster. Indiana law, by the way, requires children to be in a car seat or booster until they are 8 years old. That means all three daughters will still be in car seats/boosters for another two years! Which means I'll have to replace EVERYTHING TWICE- essentially buying each child her own infant carrier, convertable, and booster.

It's a conspiracy. If you take the MINIMUM cheap-o price (not your $250 Britax 'special'), then you're looking at spending $150 per kid on just car seats. I guess it isn't much if you consider it is suppose to keep your child safe. It certainly does restrain them and I think they sleep better (when younger, anyway).

But, I still say it's a conspiracy.

This morning I was reading a report on a study (so it's now third hand for you). It stated that in nonfatal collisions:

Their analysis revealed that "the odds of a baby under one year of age dying in a car accident drop by 73 percent if the infant was riding in a baby car seat," and 76 percent "for children between one and two."

Nothing was said of injuries. But, get this, and for me this is the kicker!

In children age 2 to 3 years old, "seat belts were almost as effective as car safety seats in preventing fatalities."

Uh huh. Seat belts were doing a pretty good job. I wish they would expound on that more... "almost as effective" means what exactly?

I then read the original article. Well, there goes my hope that I won't have to buy more car seats. See what you get when you quickly read something from a second-hand source? The original article states that the car seat reduced fatalities by 60% for children ages 2-3 (no report on boosters). It said that seat belts were nearly as effective in this age group, but didn't account for injuries.

So, I guess I'll still fork out the money, and try to make sure all children are in age/size appropriate car seats when riding in my vehicle. Not that I plan to get in a collision, but hey, there are a lot of crazies out there. Although, maybe I won't freak out quite so much if I don't have an appropriate booster for a five- or six-year-old. I'll still make them buckle up.