When I was 38 weeks pregnant with our 3rd child, I took apart and washed the car seat.  My husband went out of town.  I went into labor and left all the pieces of the carseat everywhere.  When it was time for us to leave the hospital, we got to the car and the carseat was all put back together, but forward facing.  It was hysterical that we had to wait while my husband tried to figure out how to fix the carseat.  It was a convertible instead of an infant carrier.  I quickly went out and purchased a new carrier.

I really like this website: http://www.thecarseatlady.com/ for all questions regarding car seats.  Before my daughter was born, I got hooked on extended rear facing, and plan to leave her that way until she reaches the weight limit of the seat for rear facing.  This (only 9 seconds!) video really reinforced it to me.

I was able to pick up a Britax Marathon on sale, though it was a big bite, I’ve not regretted buying it.  It’s easy to install, and I feared that my daughter would hit the height limits of a smaller seat before reaching the minimum weight of a booster seat.

I had to laugh when I read the part about reading the manual - I did just that!  And that’s how I discovered that you can buckle in an infant seat without the base, something that my sister-in-law whose baby is 10 months old didn’t know!  It pays to be a nerd sometimes.  :>)

I’m amazed how much carseats have changed since my older ones were little. The big things that I learned were 1. Car seats expire. 2. Rear face as long as possible. 3. Then keep harnessed forward facing longer too. We just bought a carseat/booster seat for our 3 yr old that harnesses to 65lbs before converting to a booster seat.

I can’t tell you how much I miss those old T-shield carseats.  I know the 5-point harnesses have been proven to be safer, but the t-shields were so much easier to buckle, especially when dealing with winter coats.

Great article, Blair!

Though I am glad they keep our children safe, especially with the rise in speeds, I wonder what the rates of death were without them?  We are in need of car seat #6 already.  And, in order to lawfully put all the kids in the car, we need an adult sized seat space for each one!  Again, I appreciate the job the care seats do, but I cannot wait until they don’t need them anymore!

Blair tipped us off that we should have a car seat for one of our children. To fit everyone in (4 car seats total), we use two Combi Cocorros, which were the narrowest car seat I found. They go up to 35 lbs in weight I think.  Supposedly you can fit three of them across in even a Civic or Corolla, though we haven’t tried that.

Lenetta, thanks for the website!  That looks like a great one!  I’m also a big fan of Britax seats.  Like Becky mentioned, car seats (like the one in the picture!) do expire, and they’re always coming up with new versions that are easier and last longer.  Glad we have car seats for safety reasons, but I agree with all of you that they can be burdensome and can make for quite a production when you need to take it apart to clean it, or install it in another car.  Glad most of us are trying our hardest to keep our kids safe!  (and glad you found some good seats for your car, Devin!)

Great article! (and comments). I am a big fan of a product called the Mighty Tite. If I was paid for everyone I told about it—I would be in a higher income bracket!! LOL
If you drive an older car that does not tighten enough to secure the car seat then you will probably love it, too.
Car Seat safety—- appropriate tightness and position were the ONLY things my husband and I argued about! Pretty good, in retrospect!

how timely, just this week my friend sent me the link for the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. it lists which carseats are rated as best bets/not recommended for fitting when a child outgrows the harness and moves to using the cars’ belt. it also points out how the seat belt should fit to properly secure your child. here it is if anyone is interested in checking their seats’ rating: {http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/boosters/default.html}

I don’t work for the company or anything like that, just sharing a GREAT carseat find…

Sunshine Kids makes SUPER SLIM (14.5 inches wide at the base) carseats called the Radian 65, Radian 80, and Radian XT.  They are made of steel, so they are pretty heavy, but they go from birth to 65 or 80 lbs in a 5-point harness.  They are on the expensive side, but it sure beats buying a new car to be able to put 3 across one row, and they are made of higher quality materials, so they don’t “expire” halfway through one kid’s use.  They also make a SUPER SLIM booster seat.

I just cannot say enough about how much I love, love, love this seat!

Car seats and kids is one thing my husband and I debate.  He hates the hassle and I’d rather the safety factor be an issue.  But when we had to buy a bigger vehicle for #6 we were both pretty upset.  I sure wish the state of TX had taken a childs size and not their age into consideration when requiring booster seats.  Makes no sense to have a seat be “age restricted”.  Age doesn’t make you safer in a car seat.  At the time we had an 8 seater Sienna but it didn’t allow for any combination of car seats to fit 3 in the back row (I contacted Toyota about it).  Wish I’d known about the Sunshine Kid’s one and given them a shot.  Now we’re in a 15 passenger, but happier with the room anyway.