My friends and I have a term: "Car Seat Nazi". We use this to describe people who are extremely particular about car seat safety in vehicles. I was recently asked by one of these friends if I was a Car Seat Nazi. I said no.
Fast forward to this past weekend. Gracie and Bradley were going to spend the night with Doug's parents, and they were all going out to dinner Sat night. This meant Bradley and Gracie would be riding in the car with their grandparents. I am fine with them riding with their grandparents and they've done it before many times, but as I was discussing the plans with Doug I mentioned that we should install B's seat or check their installation if they already had installed it. That's when it hit me: I am a Car Seat Nazi.
But you know what? I'm ok with that. I may still have my six year old in a 5 pt harness when many parents of six year olds have their children in booster seats, but I'm ok with that because he is safer. And my nine year old isn't required by law to sit in a booster anymore, but she's small for her age and will continue sitting in one for a while. She may complain sometimes that her friends don't have booster seats and that they can sit in the front seat, but she is safer so I'll listen to those complaints while she continues to sit in her booster seat. And my baby girl will turn two in February and she still sits rear-facing in her carseat. The new recommendations are to keep kids rear-facing until they are two, but I know that rear facing is the safest way and will probably keep Danielle turned around for far longer than her second birthday.
These things make me different from many other parents, but I'm ok with that. I do it because I want to protect my kids as much as possible. There are so many things that are out of my control, this is something I can control.
So call me a Car Seat Nazi if you want. I'm ok with it.
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