Finally after years of car-seat obsession I am a child restraint tech!! Any GTA friends need car-seat help? Drop me a line!
P.S. If you wanna do it, DON’T do it pregnant in the summer! I got through it, but man was it hot, and exhausting! We did a 1 & 1/2 hour install and there were a few moments that I was pretty sure I was going to faint, vomit, or faint in my own vomit!
Try doing nothing but installing car-seats over and over…and over again for a few hours! Whew…I may need to make this a new full-time career at some point in my life! The I’d never need to fit exercise into my life after work! I am 1/2 way to being a certified Child Restraint Technician! Tomorrow: Clinic and the Exam!!
In other news, a woman there showed me her Mei-Tei, and I want one! Since I started blogging after the girl was past babyhood, few of you know of my baby-wearing obsession. Let me just say that all the new carriers that have come on the market in the past 5 years are starting to make me very excited…since I gave away all my (5 or 6 at least) carriers except my Hot-sling (which I also gave away, but got back) after the girl turned 2!
I have an annoying rule in my car; I do not move the car until everyone is wearing a seat-belt. I mean adults as well as kids. Many times, adults have complained about my rule. They state that they are more comfortable without seat-belts, that they never wear them, that they’ll pay for a ticket, that they’ll be fine, and that they are adults and it is up to them if they want to take the risk.
Well, not quite. Firstly, I don’t want anyone to die in my car, adult or not. If that ever happened, I would never be able to drive again. I am not sure I would be able to live with myself. So someone risking thier life by not wearing a seat-belt in my car is also putting my mental health, and my livelihood (as I cannot do my job without driving) at risk. Secondly, when someone is not wearing a seat-belt it is not only themselves they are putting at risk, but everyone in the car. If they become dislodged from the seat (and in an accident, they will if they are not restrained), they can become projectile; banging around the car injuring or even killing those of us that are in seat-belts, and possibly hitting the driver who could lose control of the car even more as a result.
Here is a video that perfectly displays this concern. Buckle up!
I finally registered for my Car Seat Safety Technician Training, for June 7&8!!! I am going to have to go about 45 minutes away to do the training, but there are no weekend courses offered near me until October, so I decided to just do it. I can always use a little weekend road trip with a nice audio book anyways. If any of my car seat crazed GTA friends wants to join me in Mississauga that weekend, the number to call is 416-568-1905.
I got the New Car Seat for the girl!!!! After waiting several weeks for the one I ordered at Safety Superstore I did another google search and found this great store, Macklem’s, that had the one we wanted in stock. I picked it up yesterday. They were super helpful; they held it for me all day and then helped me carry it to my car in the snow. They also have a great selection of very nice strollers, if anyone is looking.
We are thrilled with it. Easy and tight install, and she loves it. Looks so much more comfortable in her big car seat, and it is so soft and pretty. Who knew an almost 5 year old would be thrilled to get a car-seat for her birthday? Pics tomorrow (along with pics from her 5th birthday Party!!!)
In related news, I have decided to take the course to be a trained car seat technician. Not to change jobs, of course (though who knows? Maybe I could make a small home business out of it, I know many people have a hard time choosing and installing car-seats confidently, and cannot find a clinic or get to one before they need their seat installed) but just to know more and be more confident with my own car seat usage, as well as to help friends and relatives make the safest choices possible for their little ones. Hopefully SJA will be offering the course again soon, I e-mailed them to enquire.
Are you a car seat freak too? If so, here are some blinkies I found and like! Both for extended rear-facing (which we are long past but I am still a big proponant of) and extended harnessing.
Also, if you are looking for car-seat advice, here is a great place to go!
Before you understand how exciting this is, you need to know that I am a car seat freak. I am beyond anal when it comes to car seat safety. I cannot help it, I just am. There are worse things to be obsessive about.
So, the girl (who was rear-facing until she was almost 2) is still in a harnessed car seat. I know, she is 5. I know, every other 5 year old in the world is in a booster seat. Oh well. At 34lbs and 40 inches, she is still too small for a booster seat. Besides that, she is safer in a harness for even longer than the minimum of 40lbs…and I intend to keep her harnessed as long as possible. Her current car-seat will keep her harnessed to 48lb and 43 inches, so she has a while to go, but the car-seat in the man’s car is pretty well done, so I need to move my car-seat to his car (that she is in to go to or from school, less than a km away, about 3 times a week) and get a new seat for my car. Yeah, shopping!
So, I present, the girl’s new car seat:
The Sunshine kids Radian has the highest weight and height limits in Canada. If I was in the States, I’d be buying a Nautilusor the Gold Standard of Big Kid Car seats, the Regent (drool). But in Canada I am, so the Radian it is. Ok, weirdness of buying a new harnessed car-seat for a 5 year-old aside, is it pretty or what (obviously, the infant inserts will be removed)?
P.S. I strongly recommend all parents consider keeping their babies and young toddlers rear-facing as long as possible, and their preschoolers harnessed as long possible. I don’t wanna get preachy on you all, just sayin’ (and providing the links).
Remember, the bare minimum for turning to forward-facing is 1 year AND 20lbs, the bare minimum for going to a booster seat is 4 years AND 40lbs, and the bare minimum for sitting in a regular seat-belt is 8 years OR 80lbs (in Canada).
