Thursday, September 17, 2015

Car Seats on the Move-- Traveling edition.

Child Passenger Safety Week is this week September 13-19 (and it will culminate on September 19 with National Seat Check Saturday!)


In honor of the occasion, I wrote a story for the City Dads Group blog about an accident that the bear and I had, and why he will be in a 5 point harness until he learns to drive.

That being said, I realize that you can't always bring a bulky car seat everywhere you go.  I'd also like to point out a couple of alternative safety systems.  One which we use all the time is great, especially when you are traveling. And one that is just being made, and we are going to try.

Get the Ride Safer on Amazon.
Please note, the vest to the right is NOT A 5 point harness vest.  But it's better than nothing when traveling.

It's called the RIDE SAFER.  We've had ours since he was 5 (over 40 lbs), and it's been a life saver when travelling (and in a pinch as an extra car seat.  It packs small, requires no installation, and is very easy to set up.  It uses a regular seatbelt system to place the seatbelt in the appropriate place on a child, so that they can use a seatbelt like an adult would.  When using this system, it's important that kids sit up straight.  If they slouch over, it will not work.

Ours is slightly different than this one (it's blue) but it's the same idea.




The other one that we have been checking out just finished an Indie-Go-Go round, and we are waiting for them to ship us one so we can check it out. It's a British invention called the Mifold Grab-n-Go Booster Seat, and they bill themselves as the first innovation in car seats in 50 years.  I'm not sure that I believe it, but it seems like a good idea.  (And their video is great!)

It's also not a 5 point harness.

The basic idea is that instead of bringing the car seat up to the position of an adult, it holds the seatbelt down to the kid's level.

The Indie-Go-Go round is over, but I'm sure you'll be able to continue to pre-order mifolds for the foreseeable future.

Find out more about mifold at mifold.com





There's no question that the 5 point harness is safer.  But having a car seat, any car seat, when travelling, when in a taxi, or in a pinch is better than none.

If you've got other suggestions, I'd be happy to hear about them in the comments.

No comments: