As a kid I remember my mom taking me and friends to the pool, the park, our house - we had to drive everywhere because we lived in the mountains outside of town. I don't think I used a car seat till 5 and definitely not till 8 - our car had lap belts only in the back and no airbags in the front. II also remember riding in the front seat and sharing seat belts in elementary school. How times have changed. =)
Now that our stepdaughter is 5, I've begun to wonder how we are going to do the friends carting thing. I mean I guess we'd always have to make sure to leave her car seat/booster at school/daycare if she would go over to a friend's or whatever. Currently we always just go and meet our friends w/ kids places. Is this how you do it? or do you cart car seats around wherever you/your friends w/ kids go?
Edit: I also wanted to add how much of a pain in the butt it is to lug the car seats around. I baby sat a 2.5 yo and picked her up from school and had to drag her and the car seat to the car and install it in the freezing cold. I can definitely sympathize with not wanting to switch stuff around.
I stopped using them when my kids went to school so five years. If the buses don't have them......
I started using the booster seat when they were two. Ya know the thing that the seat belt fits through. Never forced it on anyone that drove my kids around mind you.
it may be a pain in the butt but I'll take a pain in the butt over the kinds of injuries that could be sustained in an accident any day - yes we all try our best to drive safely but there's a lot more distracted drivers on the road now so I think of car seat 'best practice' is doing what's within my control to keep the kids I drive as safe as practical. A spare backless booster seat is affordable and doesn't take up much space and means that the lap portion of the seat belt will be positioned where it's supposed to - across the child's lap - rather than up on the abdomen where it could seriously damage the soft tissue and internal organs in an accident. And often times with my daughters' peers, they had spare boosters and we had spare boosters so my kids rarely had to bring their own boosters for a playdate.
This link explains how to tell when your child can fit the vehicle seat belt properly without a booster http://carseatblog.com/3966/the-5-step-test/ . My girls are 9YO now and still use boosters in my car because the seat belts don't fit right without them.
Ah yes, when we know better, we do better. Having a 9yr old, 5yr old and a 4yr old ,we've had our fair share of friends in the car. I have a few spare booster seats I keep in the back or toss them in if I know friends are riding with. You can pick up no back booster seats for $12 at Wal Mart. a small price to pay to kee pall the kids in your car safe.
It depends. Sometimes everyone transports their own kid. Sometimes I put my friend's booster next to DD's seat and take two. If there is a specific friend that often takes her for an afterschool playdate, then make specific arrangements with that person. Same as you would if Grandma picked her up. I've also found that friend carting is different than it once was. When they are smaller a lot of parents prefer to do the driving. Your arrangements may vary by the family. I typically drop my child off/drive along with and take bigger people if riders need to be shuffled around. I don't see it as an inconvenience to keep my child safe vs putting her in the wrong type of seat.
My uncle also used to roll around in the back window. They were very lucky not to be in an accident when he was doing that. I've seen accident footage from the 50s or 60s when they had things like huge steering wheels with spikes on them and no one used seatbelts. No, thank you.
Please be very careful with yard sale finds. If you aren't 100% sure that the seat hasn't been in an accident, you could be doing harm by using it.
You can get a booster seat that is the seat part only, no back or anything. It puts the child up high enough and still helps position the belt so it is safest, and is lightweight and easy to switch from car to car. That is what my son uses.
In our state it is the law that kids are in a booster until they reach either 8 years or 80 lbs (most kids hit 8 first). Regular car seatbelts just don't hold a smaller child in sufficiently well to be safe. I would much prefer the slight inconvenience of switching the seat to another car than the horror of a severely injured or killed child because I didn't want to bother!
I know exactally how you feel! We just moved here from CA in January to VA and in CA my daughter would be out of a booster now and just in a regular seat. She is 6 years old and the size of an 8 year old. But, since we moved here we have to lug that thing around for 2 more years. I usually just meet friends places. Too hard to be moving car seats around
I found a couple booster's at a yard sale and picked them up. I also have extras around from my mom's car and hubby's truck that I use. I love taking all the kids with me whenever I can.
Try the yard sale idea. Or ask around if people have hand me downs laying around. :)
I have a 1 and 2 year old and a small car... so when we meet up with friends we all just drive our own kids to that location.
I could not fit another car seat in my car and other moms can't take on my two kids, seats. I suppose as they get older and the idea of friends coming along appears, we will have to think it over. But I imagine it will be the same- "we will meet you there"!
Safety first!
