Car seats, must follow instructions...

I have been witness to some lazy and dangerous practices with my neice and her carseat.  I don't know why, but her mom never put her in the carseat the proper way, and it scares me to death!  We all know that most carseats have a shoulder straps the buckle inbetween the legs and also have a clip the buckles over their chest.  This is so important to use the carseat the way it was designed other wise your child can suffer great truama in an accident. 

For example, my SIL would put her baby in the car seat and clip the part over the chest.  Thing is that the clip there is not built to restrain a child on an impact, espcially from the side and back.  It will snap and the child can be ejected from the seat, resulting in more injuries.  Also if you clip the clip in between the legs, but not the one on the chest, same thing.  The baby can easily slip out of the straps and be ejected as well.  You have to use both!  My SIL told me that my neice would cry about it and fight to get out, but I never saw her even try to buckle her the right way, so my neice did not learn that it's important to be buckled that way. (turned out she was just lazy and that's how she buckled her, and only when her hubby and her hubby's MIL was not their...another story.  My neice gets buckled the right way when we go out, or is with other family members, and she loves to help buckle herself.  If your child is like this, make it a game to get them buckled, sing a song, and tell them how important it is to be safe in the car.  Not to mention that the police will give you a hefty ticket for not have them restrained properly.

Another thing that upsets me is when the child is not restrained at all.  Again, SIL would have my neice get into the car and she would just drive off, not putting her baby in the car seat.  I would see my neice bouncing on the seat as they were driving off.  And SIL does not drive slowly nor carefully at times.  Been there, done that, got freaked out.  So many babies get hurt, ejected from the car, or even die because they are not properly restrained.  And many parents don't realize that seatbelts are made for adults and older children, not infants and toddlers.   And even if you are going to park the car outside, or on the next street, please take the time to buckle them, you never know when an accident may happen. 

When I was a child, I would always buckle up.  My "father" would often drive drunk home, with us kids in the car, and I was petrified.  He would do crazy things, like swerve all over the road and speed up then slow down really fast.  Let me tell you cause of it, no one is allowed to get into my car and not buckle up.  I don't move until we are all buckled, I'm that OCD about it.  Even my babies, I have to check their buckles if someone buckles them in, as I have gotten the question "Do we buckle this also?" meaning the buckle in between the legs.  I'm like "oh yes, you have to, that's the most imporant part."  It amazes me at the lacksadale attitude some people can have, and they have kids! 

Ok, what I am saying is, please, please use the carseat the way it was intended, both the clip on the chest and the buckle in between the legs must be buckled for it to securely hold your child safely.  If they fus, perservire, after all it's their lives in our hands.  And make sure that the whole carseat does not move more then an 1" in any direction to ensure it's held properly in the car.