Car seat hysteria?

[jodifla]

I'm noticing posts these days on the family and transportation boards from people saying they don't want to take Magical Express because the buses don't have seatbelts to install their car seats....they express outrage about how it can't be safe.

And there was another thread about how kids should be in boosters seats until they are between 8 and 12 years old.... 12????

It all seems so over the top to me. How do people in NYC get their kids from point A to point B? None of those subways or city buses have seat belts in them...For that matter, how did so many of us survive in days when their were no car seats?

Here's what I miss: Stretching out in the back seat with my pillow and blanket, and sleeping the whole way to Florida when I was a kid....

 

[WonderfulDreamer2]

I'm noticing posts these days on the family and transportation boards from people saying they don't want to take Magical Express because the buses don't have seatbelts to install their car seats....they express outrage about how it can't be safe.

And there was another thread about how kids should be in boosters seats until they are between 8 and 12 years old.... 12????

It all seems so over the top to me. How do people in NYC get their kids from point A to point B? None of those subways or city buses have seat belts in them...For that matter, how did so many of us survive in days when their were no car seats?

Here's what I miss: Stretching out in the back seat with my pillow and blanket, and sleeping the whole way to Florida when I was a kid....

Oh, me too. Wake up a 4 am, (the car was already packed), climb in the backseat with my blanket and pillow, and when I woke up, we were there Those were the days.
To answer your question, nobody does anything in moderation anymore. My DstepD is 10 and almost 80 pounds and her mom still has her in a car seat . Its over kill to me. She's tall enough and weighs enough for a seatbelt. As far as the buses go....just silliness to me.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Oh me too! I slept in the third row seating of my mom's white/black trim 1990 Chevy Lumina mini-van (we called it the wingless space ship because with the pointy nose and squared off back end, that's EXACTLY what the darn thing looked like) on more road trip vacations than I care to count. Including one when I was 16 on the way (by way of about a zillion other stupid tourist traps) to Orlando.

TOV

 

[cepmom]

I am all for car seat safety....my family calls me the car seat nazi, but I agree ~ between 8 and 12 years old is overkill. My DD8 has been out of her booster seat since 1st grade. A friend of ours is a police officer trained in installing car seats and he told us that if she can sit in the seat and the shoulder belt is positioned properly and her legs bend at the edge of the seat then she is big enough not to use a booster. Every kid is built differently ~ there shouldn't be a general age used to to determine when they can get out of a booster

 

[challada]

WOW, you got the seat for sleeping? I was the kid that was up in the window well, across the speakers back there...older kid got the back seat...youngest got the floor well (that was the rotten spot). I used to hold conversations w/the "mice" that lived in the holes (vents/speakers/?).

But I am glad that my own kids ride in booster seats! On a bus, I don't think I would complain.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I know. There is a law in Illinois that technically all kids between the age of 4 and 8 have to be in those booster seats. I've looked before when I pick my 6th grader up at the Grade school. I very rarely see any of that 3rd grade and under crowd being put into booster seats, so obviously the lawbreakers are numerous.

Also, my little guy just turned 3 years old and at his lat DR. appt he was already nearly 41 inches tall and weighed 39 pounds. There is NO WAY he will be fitting into a Booster seat for 5+ more years.

I strap my kids in 99.9% of the time. But when we have to take a taxi, bus, subway, or train --- I'm just not going to obsess about it. I didn't take our car seat along last time we went on a plane. He just sat in the regular seat. And honestly, I'm one of the most obsessive safety conscious parents anybody will ever meet.

 

[MouseWorshipin]

I remember (when the car was crowded) having to hold my feet up on the seat because my baby cousin was lying on blankets on the floor under me!

 

[golfgal]

If we went by the booster seat guidelines my 8th grader would still need to be in a booster seat, like THAT is going to happen. Heck, the way he is going, he will need a booster seat to drive when he gets his license. I have a couple friends that are very small and THEY should be in booster seats, right.

I am all for car safety and we all wear seatbelts but I took my oldest when he was 8 months old on a charter bus without a seat belt, just his car seat and he is still alive.

 

[Blondy876]

I can remember being in my parents big green passenger van on our way to Canada. My parents had taken out 1 of the bench seats and set up my little sisters playpen and that's how we traveled. She was in the playpen and I got the back seat. It was great.

 

[Disney_1derland]

Here it's 8 or 80lbs whichever comes last. That means that my almost 4 year old will be out of it before my almost 6 year old. My 6 year old will probably be in a carseat until she's taking her drivers test.

Yes, I too miss those family roadtrips where I just piled in, pillows, blankets and all and slept the whole way. Those were the days!

 

[Charade]

I remember sitting on my Dad's lap while he let me steer the car.

All this talk about car seats for kids and not a single school bus in PA (that I know of) has seat belts.

 

[disneymom3]

Weellll, they say confession is good for the soul right?

Hold on a sec, gotta get the flame proof suit on







Okay, so on our last trip to FL my older two--one of whom is 5 and still in a booster, leaned to the side laying on their pillows and technically not positioned right behind their seatbelts. Yeah, since their heads were down to the side, that shoulder harness was definitely not across their shoulders.

Best trip we ever took in the car.

 

[Marseeya]

WOW, you got the seat for sleeping? I was the kid that was up in the window well, across the speakers back there...older kid got the back seat...youngest got the floor well (that was the rotten spot). I used to hold conversations w/the "mice" that lived in the holes (vents/speakers/?).

But I am glad that my own kids ride in booster seats! On a bus, I don't think I would complain.

We lived the high life.

My parents had somehow found some kind of little cot that fit between the backseat and the frontseat, so my sister and I had a double bed.

Yes, those WERE the days.

 

[tinatark]

I can remember sleeping during our trips from Jacksonville to Ocala, Fl - just over 2 hours... in the back of the truck, in a lounge chair, with blankets!

I have strapped my kids in their seatbelts (no longer in boosters) and let them lie over, on the pillow, and sleep most of our early driving. It's the only time I can drive with out distractions/refereeing, etc!

 

[Hannathy]

I remember standing on the floor in the backseat leaning on the front seat for miles and miles when my big sister would kick me off because she wanted to stretch out and sleep! Sitting on the backseat floor so you could color on the seat like a table, Or heaven forbid sitting in the middle in the front seat.
It has gotten totally out of hand with the boosters and seats etc. Our state just passed the booster till 8 law and I have already taught my son "yes sir I'm 8." No way I'm buying one for the last kid when he turns 8 this summer.

 

[aprilgail2]

I used to sleep on the floor behind the front seat of the car for car trips! I remember my cousin was in the front seat and my dad stopped short and he went into the dash board and lost 4 permanant teeth! What a bloody mess that was! My daughter on the other hand is 6 1/2 years old and she is 37 pounds and 44 inches tall (just had her stats done at the Dr Tuesday) and she is still in a booster seat with a 5 point harness....3 more pounds and she will be in the high back booster with a belt but at the rate she grows that could be when she is 7 years old!

 

[challada]

We lived the high life.

My parents had somehow found some kind of little cot that fit between the backseat and the frontseat, so my sister and I had a double bed.

Yes, those WERE the days.

A COT! Wow! You must have been the rich folk passing our big old Buick!

We drove all across the country when I was a kid, so I have many fond memories of the warm sun thru that back glass and my rear on the hard plastic "shelf". One trip across the country, I remember my little brother getting sick all over my new boombox (which was sitting on the floor well w/him since that was his seat)...that was the one time I was really happy to have the window spot farthest away from the puke!

My kids now can't believe we didn't have tvs in the car in the old days...they can't live with the 3 hour drive across the state w/out two movies. They wonder what the he** I did all those hours in the car as a kid!

 

[LisaNJ25]

I'm noticing posts these days on the family and transportation boards from people saying they don't want to take Magical Express because the buses don't have seatbelts to install their car seats....they express outrage about how it can't be safe.

And there was another thread about how kids should be in boosters seats until they are between 8 and 12 years old.... 12????

It all seems so over the top to me. How do people in NYC get their kids from point A to point B? None of those subways or city buses have seat belts in them...For that matter, how did so many of us survive in days when their were no car seats?

Here's what I miss: Stretching out in the back seat with my pillow and blanket, and sleeping the whole way to Florida when I was a kid....

I have no problems not using one a bus.. your lucky if school buses have seatbelts.

My state is 8yo or 80 pounds. Booster seats got up to 100 pounds these days. My kids will be in one until the until they are 8.

If I live in a state that had the 4yo rule I would still use one until they are 8. I would rather be safe than sorry.


I remember driving to SC in the back of my dads pick up truck with my sister. We had one of those pads where you can right on it and than lift it up to erase to talk to my dad in the front.

 

[golfgal]

A COT! Wow! You must have been the rich folk passing our big old Buick!

We drove all across the country when I was a kid, so I have many fond memories of the warm sun thru that back glass and my rear on the hard plastic "shelf". One trip across the country, I remember my little brother getting sick all over my new boombox (which was sitting on the floor well w/him since that was his seat)...that was the one time I was really happy to have the window spot farthest away from the puke!

My kids now can't believe we didn't have tvs in the car in the old days...they can't live with the 3 hour drive across the state w/out two movies. They wonder what the he** I did all those hours in the car as a kid!

We didn't need a tv because we could move around and play games in the car on long trips, we had the wayback of the old stationwagon. My Dad would put a pile of blankets down and we would camp out in the back. We had all kinds of great games to play but now with everyone being belted into the seats, you can't move around like that, so TV's are nice!

 

[Southern4sure]

My dad use to have a Barracuda (sp) car. It had a glass hatch back but it was a small car meant for 2 (I think) but I remember climbing in the very back and waving to all the cars behind us. It was hot as all get out but I had a blast.