Today was VERY productive! That's because we completed the only baby-related task that MUST be done in order to bring our little Lima Bean princess home from the hospital. We installed our car seat! (Thanks to Grandpa Howard and Wanda Bean for the car seat!)
You might think this is a very easy thing to do. But car seats now days come with thick instruction manuals and lots of straps and buckles. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as many as 85 percent of all car seats are improperly installed.
But you can't just drop by a Fire Station to get your car seat installed. In Montgomery County, Md., where we now live, you need to make an appointment -- and there's a two-week wait to be seen! I took the earliest possible appointment date, which was this morning at 9:30 a.m. at the SAFE KIDS Child Safety Seat Inspection Station in Silver Spring, Md.
I am so glad we went! They showed us how to buckle the baby into the car seat. And they made us practice with a doll! We both passed. We also learned how to use the carrier handle and snap it into the base. Then they showed us how to install the base into our car using the LATCH system. We also learned how to use a seat belt to secure the seat without the base. So we're all set!
We also installed a mirror so that the driver can see the baby without turning around. And we put up a sunshade on the window next to the car seat to protect our baby from the sun!
To find a car seat location near you, click here for the NHTSA search engine.
And speaking of cars... Our new VW Tiguan was just named one of the 15 safest cars by Forbes magazine!
I've been told that in Australia (in my state at least), you HAVE to pay to get carseats professionally installed; if you get pulled over, the cop can ask to see your car seat certificate and levy a fine if you don't have one. Assuming it's true as a friend of mine who had a baby back in January told me.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is crazy! We asked the staff who installed our seat if we needed a certificate to show the hospital and they said no, but they could give us one if we wanted it for our baby book. As much as I love collecting worthless paper, I passed. We also asked the hospital during our tour last month and they said you don't need a certificate either. Insanity!
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