Be safe!

With the holidays upon us, most people will be traveling. For all 3 of you that read here, most likely you're parents. Please make sure your children are safe when traveling! Make sure they are in their carseats, properly restrained !!

Nothing terrifies me more than driving past a car w/ little kids hopping around in the backseat unrestrained.. Yep, sorry guys, I'm one of those parents.. The anal-keep-your kid-restrained-til-they're-old-enough-to-drive-themselves type of parent.

I've been in two major car wrecks- both of which the cops were suprised we made it out alive. Drama Queen was only 5mo during the first one and thank goodness for her carseat. It could have been much worse than the skull fracture she received! Fast Forward almost 5yrs and we were in yet another car accident, Drama Queen received yet another head injury due to what I feel was a carseat malfunction-wont be buying THAT brand every again (email me if you want me to dish on who it was)- , Attitude King came out w/o a scratch and me.. well I had a few surgeries to fix the damage. The driver of the other car wasn't so lucky.. It was a bad accident, 'nuff said.

This time of year always gets to me even more. Our 2nd wreck was at this time of year. Though no fault of ours, I still get panic attacks if there is ice/snow on the road -or heck even on the ground anywhere. I now research my carseats ALOT better than I did back when the older two were small. Back then I believed all carseats were equal.. ohh young mom who knew nothing..

So take an extra moment to be safe and if you see one of those idiots who does NOT have their child properly restrained- open your mouth and educate them.. There are those that just don't know that they're doing it wrong.. They aren't purposely trying to put their child in danger..

For example

It is now recommended that rather than doing the rearfacing just until 20lb & 1yr- you rearface as long as possible! Many carseats go up to 33-35lbs! Some infants seats even going up to 30lbs! I might as well go all out and explain WHY we should be promoting rearfacing longer !

Babies have heavy heads and fragile necks. The neck bones are soft, and the ligaments are stretchy. If the baby is facing forward in a frontal crash (the most common and most severe type of crash), the body is held back by the straps, but the head is not. The head is thrust forward, stretching the neck. Older children and adults wearing safety belts may end up with temporary neck injuries. But a baby's neck bones are soft and actually separate during a crash, and the spinal cord can tear. It's like yanking an electrical plug out of a socket by the cord and breaking the wires.
In contrast, when a baby rides facing rearward, the whole body--head, neck, and torso--is cradled by the back of the safety seat in a frontal crash. Facing rearward also protects the baby better in other types of crashes, particularly side impacts.

Secondly- 5pt harness is better longer! Gone are the days when our toddlers outgrow their booster seats at 40lbs and have to move up to using the seatbelt when they aren't ready yet. There are now a few carseat options that do 5pt harness up to 65lbs!!

Graco is doing something really neat right now! They have a new website that will recommend what car seat is right for your needs. PLUS for every ten people that sign up for the Ready. Safe. Go! Car seat club, Graco will donate 1 car seat to communities in need. So go sign up :)

*getting off my soapbox now!*

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!