OT: Am I the only one who makes my kids sit in the back seat of the car??

[nchulka]

Well said!

Absolutely bizarre statements on this thread, and they show a total lack of ignorance in regards to child car safety. There are car seats that some of us very petite women can fit into, so there are definitely seats available for older children.

My kids hop out of their seats, and we walk down the street to school. Drop off and pick up is very busy, so no one is paying any attention to how children are sitting in the car. So, I can't imagine who would make a comment to someone in a car? And, if kids made fun of another kid for being in a seat, then the apple probably doesn't fall far from the tree...like some of the grown adults on here who are bent on making others feel embarrassed for properly securing their children in their vehicles. What horrible parents who actually understand the risk that is involved in driving a car with children as passengers.

Most people should be aware that car seat safety laws/recommendations/rules are minimums; therefore, it is advantageous that people keep their kids secured until those requirements are met.

Just the other day, a woman was jailed here for having a 5 and 6 year old in improper car seats, while speeding down the highway.

This is one of those makes my head hurt threads...Tiger

I guess that is my problem, I lack ignorance!!

 

[badblackpug]

There needs to be a sensible middle ground. Not taking routine precautions like seat belts being worn at all times, and helmets is one ridiculous end of the spectrum, and cramming 7-10 year olds in a 5 point harness is the other.

 

[Habbott]

There needs to be a sensible middle ground. Not taking routine precautions like seat belts being worn at all times, and helmets is one ridiculous end of the spectrum, and cramming 7-10 year olds in a 5 point harness is the other.

But what if you're not "cramming" the child into a 5 point harness? Cramming implies that the seat is not the right fit, but there are quite a few seats on the market now that harness up to 80lbs. I am in the process of shopping for one of these seats.

I honestly don't care what other people do, but in my car, they follow my rules.

 

[CammelleandBre]

My daughter still sits in the backseat and in a booster seat. She will be 10 in January. Safety first.

 

[Mom2Luci]

My DD is 4, 49 lbs and 43". She is still in a 5 point harness in ALL cars she is in - even if it means leaving a carseat with family if they are keeping her for most of the day or overnight. She still has quite a bit of room to grow in her bigger seats (Radian 80 and Radian XT) which are built for kids to be harnessed until 80 lbs. Honestly, after my mom was almost killed in a single car rollover accident (hydroplaned into a storm sewer cover), car safety is no joke to me. The car does not move until every passenger is buckled in safely. I make my 11 year old niece ride in the back seat when she is with me.

There will always be people who think extended rear-facing or harnessing is going overboard trying to protect your child from a slight risk of an accident. For me, I couldn't handle the "what if's" if we were in an accident and I didn't do everything I could to protect my daughter.

 

[Tiger926]

There needs to be a sensible middle ground. Not taking routine precautions like seat belts being worn at all times, and helmets is one ridiculous end of the spectrum, and cramming 7-10 year olds in a 5 point harness is the other.

But what if you're not "cramming" the child into a 5 point harness? Cramming implies that the seat is not the right fit, but there are quite a few seats on the market now that harness up to 80lbs. I am in the process of shopping for one of these seats.

I honestly don't care what other people do, but in my car, they follow my rules.

Exactly! I wouldn't expect people who are adamant about not fastening their children at certain ages, to even have any knowledge of current car seats, nor the current traffic regulations. If they think it's ridiculous to use that product, I can't imagine that they would be knowledgeable about the height and weight restrictions of those products, so to them, it's cramming as they are probably not aware of new car seat technology.

As you said, it's not cramming if child is within the weight/height restrictions of the seat.

Tiger

 

[adventure_woman]

But what if you're not "cramming" the child into a 5 point harness? Cramming implies that the seat is not the right fit, but there are quite a few seats on the market now that harness up to 80lbs. I am in the process of shopping for one of these seats.

Since you are shopping - I have both the Graco Nautilus and Britax Frontier. I like them both - however, the Britax is a PITA to install. If you are debating on either of these seats - go to BRU and try to install them both in your car to see how they fit. I wish I had done this! (I bought the Britax first and then the Graco as the back-up)

 

[Habbott]

Since you are shopping - I have both the Graco Nautilus and Britax Frontier. I like them both - however, the Britax is a PITA to install. If you are debating on either of these seats - go to BRU and try to install them both in your car to see how they fit. I wish I had done this! (I bought the Britax first and then the Graco as the back-up)

Good suggestion. I assumed the Britax would be easy since my Marathon is. Guess not. We have a buy buy baby next to our Bru, and they both allow that. BBB just offers better options for higher weighted seats. We have a marathon and a grace Argos right now. I hate the Argos. It's going to be the seat I leave at my parents house.

 

[Colleen27]

I am trying to restore some common sense, people have taken "safety" to ridiculous levels. America in 2012 is so safe that people have to invent things to be afraid of, things that have such a small risk of actually happening. We live in the safest time period ever in history so now we create fear of ridiculous things like drop side cribs, unbuckling our seatbelts for a second, letting a 5 year old play in the front yard alone. I don't have my kids wear bike helmets, they're totally silly for little kids on subdivision sidewalks! If my kids were teens or adults and were serious cyclists on busy roads and at high speeds then yes wearing a helmet would be appropriate. A 6 year old biking on a sidewalk in a quiet subdivision, ridiculous! I did say (on another thread) that I will encourage my son to join the military and you are saying that that is lacking common sense and not caring for my children's safety?? WOW!!

In my family, carseats are retired when legally permissible (now that the law is 8; prior to the change DS was out of his before 8 but not at 4 as was the law at the time). I'm certainly not driving my 4'7" 11 year old to middle school in a booster seat, and she even sits up front from time to time. Likewise, my teenager, who has been taller than both grandmothers since the 6th grade, has been sitting up front for years (he's 5'8", 180# at 14).

I guess I'm just a risk taker - I didn't sign my kids up for ECGs before starting sports either though there's a group in my area pushing for that, we don't get flu shots even though it kills a handful of kids each year, and I let them learn to swim as babies/toddlers in direct contradiction to AAP recommendations. Our culture of fear has gotten absolutely ridiculous and I am beyond sick of being told all about how "good parents" take measures to protect against every minuscule risk that crosses their minds.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

812 fatalities due to motor vehicle accidents on one stretch of road near my home. It was 752 on October 21st. That does not seem like a minuscule risk. Super the airbag is turned off when your too small child is seated up front that means there is nothing to protect their skulls from slamming into the glass or dashboard but at least they won't bee killed from the airbag exploding into them and crashing face and chest bones.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Sadie22]

I refuse to start the car until my petite MIL, in the backseat, buckles her seatbelt. If my DS is with us and DH is driving, DS sits in front and I sit in the back because DS gets carsick in the back. He's an adult so that's fine.

When the kids were young they used appropriate car seats in appropriate placements for what we knew at the time. The vehicles did not have airbags then. How far we have come in terms of safety for our little ones.

 

[set1208]

My kids are 2,4,6 and 12. The 12 has been up front for a while because she is extremely tall and the size and weight of an above average adult (5'7" and 160 lbs). My other three each have convertible seats that can hold them in the 5 point harness up to 60 pounds and they will be in those seats til they max out. From there, the seats can be used as boosters up until 100 lbs.
Once they are tall enough to fit the seatbelts properly, only then will they get out of a car seat.

Watch a video or two about children in accidents using crash test dummies and you'll be strapping your kids down like NASCAR racers.

I am vigilant about kids and carseats and I have called the police more than once for seeing toddlers and little ones actually jumping around in vehicles. They become projectiles in an accident or suddenly stop. It's something close to my family's heart unfortunately.

Buckle your kids! If you can figure out how to post on a message board, you're smart enough to look up how to fit your child safely in the car. Believe me...you don't want to see your child in an ambulance or hospital bed due to your own negligence.

 

[mamato3girls]

I am pretty big on car seat safety and honestly could not give a flying flip what the laws say, when it comes to car safety my kids follow my law. I don't know when my kids will be in the front seat but honestly doubt it will be before they are 12-13. My 6 year old is still harnessed, she is barely 40 lbs and just 40" if she stretches really tall. I imagine she will be harnessed for at least another year or two. My middle was rear facing until she was 3 years and 10 months old. Car accidents are the number 1 cause of death in children under 5 years old and i think it's my job to do what I need to so my kids are safe in the car. I'm sure some other parents think I'm ridiculous and honestly that's fine but at the end of the day I know I have done what I need to so my kids are safe in the car.

 

[pyrxtc]

12 and under in the back seat. After age 4 and 40 pounds, they move to seat belts alone. In NH there is no law for booster seats or for age limits on the front seat thing.

 

[mjkacmom]

My kids are 2,4,6 and 12. The 12 has been up front for a while because she is extremely tall and the size and weight of an above average adult (5'7" and 160 lbs). My other three each have convertible seats that can hold them in the 5 point harness up to 60 pounds and they will be in those seats til they max out. From there, the seats can be used as boosters up until 100 lbs.
Once they are tall enough to fit the seatbelts properly, only then will they get out of a car seat.
.

I consider myself pretty strict, and it's easy when you have an average or above average child (ds14 was 5'1" and 80 at 8, 5'9" and 125 now), and dd16 met the out of booster requirements close to 10.

However, dd11 (almost 12) is much shorter than your dd, and almost 100 pounds lighter. I can't see her getting to 80 pounds until she is well into her teens. She just measures at 4'8". She carpools to dance every day - I stopped the booster over the summer.

Dd9 and ds9 are almost an inch shorter than she is, he's a few pounds more, she's a few pounds less. Again, with daily carpooling, we stopped the booster this summer.

Only the older kids get to sit in the front, though, even though my airbag shuts off if someone is too light.

 

[emma'smom]

Your free to do what you want with your kids, but just as a point of information, Ohio's law is NOT 8 years and 80 lbs. Here's the law:

Ohio’s revised child restraint law requires the following:

Children less than 4 years old or 40 pounds must use a child safety seat.
Children less than 8 years old, unless they are at least 4 feet, 9 inches tall must use a booster seat.
Children ages 8-15 must use a child safety seat or safety belt.

As you can see....your child can legally ride with just a seat belt one they are 8--no lbs involved. Just sayin'...

My DS (9) is not allowed to sit in the front, except for very rare occassions. He is tall for his age and still had to sit in a booster until he was 8 and 80 lbs like Ohio law dictates. My DD (8) is still in a booster because she is not tall enough nor does she weigh 80 lbs yet, so she will be in her booster until the law says otherwise. She will not be riding up front until she is big enough to not need a booster. Not to mention that my 17 month old is still rear facing in her car seat, and will be until she is 20 lbs., as the law requires. I think that parents should follow their own path within the confines of the legal limits. Each state is different.

I have friends that are like me and have kept their kids in boosters/car seats until they are big enough according the the recommendations and law, and others that have allowed their kids to ride upfront after the age of 5. I don't judge other's decisions, but I do what I can to keep my own kids safe and legal.

 

[hsmamato2]

The only place I know where kids are in 5 point harnesses past 5 or boosters past 7 is here on the Dis, I have NEVER seen it in real life

I have..... I've seen kids close to middle school age in car seats....

 

[hsmamato2]

FWIW...I'm a big safety person, always on other kids about seatbelts,etc...I'm known as the 'seatbelt nazi' to my kids friends.....however, I kept my kids in booster seats only until I could comfortably place the belt across them without them looking like they were going to slide under it....I think my oldest was 7 (back in the day) when I 'released' him...sorry,but he felt like an idiot around his friends. And that is a consideration.... again,I'm more of a middle ground person, but safety is a priority,but I also feel like every year some new rule is invented that is kind of a 'scaredy cat sky is falling' kind of rule about cars...no,my kids didn't ride front seat till 12....but I'm also not a fan of babying kids till they're old enough for a drivers permit and license either.... "out of the booster seat,into the drivers seat" type of thing....Again, there are plenty of tiny adults who should be in car seats according to some of these guidelines....I know for sure that worst case scenario,my SIL would be injured by driving and getting in an accident b/c of how tiny she is....but I don't ask her to sit in a 5 point carseat in my back seat either....(she fits into a childs 10-12 clothes)
SO I see the points of some here who others have labeled 'non caring parents' as simply being somewhat reasonable. I'd like to bubble wrap my kids too, but it just doesn't work.

 

[pacrosby]

I fight about this will my adult kids all the time. Children under 12 by law must sit in the back seat in my state (Massachusetts).

This is not true. It is a recommendation not a law. Even babies can legally be strapped into a front seat (think little two seater or truck). Not recommended of course, but legal.

I still think it's funny how some people get all over others, even going as far as to call them negligent, because they aren't following the letter of the law (as interpreted by them) here. Earlier in this thread I mentioned how it was legal for a child to ride on the back of a motorcycle. Are those parents not negligent because they aren't 'breaking the law'? Or are they negligent anyway because....well.....you think they are negligent eventhough they aren't breaking the law? Am I, the nut who lets her kid unbuckle for 3 seconds to pick that pencil up off the floor, more negligent than the guy who lets his kid ride on the back of his motorcyle siimply because unbuckling for 3 seconds is "against the law"? Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? But that's essentially what you are implying when you use "the law" as the basis for your argument.

Can't we just let people make their own decisions here? It's not like anyone's saying we should do away with seatbelts entirely and just let our cards fall where they may. Everyone agrees that safety is a priority. We just don't all agree on the extent to which we will go to be safe. Face it, you'll never be completely safe. Scary I know, but true.



Edited for spelling

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Negligence (dictionary.com)
1.
the quality, fact, or result of being negligent; neglect: negligence in discharging one's responsibilities.
2.
an instance of being negligent: a downfall brought about by many negligences.
3.
Law . the failure to exercise that degree of care that, in the circumstances, the law requires for the protection of other persons or those interests of other persons that may be injuriously affected by the want of such care.


Let's face it we cannot wrap our children in fluff but I know with the knowledge that I have that I do the very best that I can within reason and ability to keep my children safe. I have no doubt that if I was in a accident that I would ever second guess putting my children in a seat belt or having them sit in the back seat. My children wear helmets when skating or biking. I will always have it in my heart that I am doing the best that I can. Regardless of the law which I do choose to follow. Prior to it being law I as a child ALWAYS had to wear my seat belt because my grandmother worked in ICU and CCU and refused to move the car unless every person was buckled. Airbags were not a issue as they did not have them. People did not drive 70 miles per hour when I was a child either. In addition There were fewer cars on the road. People also smoked in car, smoked in restaurants, did not have car seats, had lead paint, sucked in asbestos at their jobs and in their houses. Most people do better when they know better. Negligence is having the ability to do better while knowing better and doing less anyways.