Wednesday, April 21

Driving Miss Jenny

When Doodles was a wee lad (as opposed to his big honking self now), I rode in the back seat of the car with him, because his little head would loll about in the great big car seat. That and I was just plain nervous about him back there all by himself. He hated riding in the car and he would scream and scream and the only thing that would pacify him was a pinky in the mouth. At about two months (okay, three months), I developed the confidence to ride in the front seat once again and Doodles did fine on his own in the back. At first, he'd fall asleep as soon as the car started moving, but eventually he'd remain awake and quiet, checking out the passing world.

Last week we went to the Cambridge Police as they very kindly install car seats. Since, as I mentioned, we have a big honking child, we got ourselves a big honking car seat, the Britax Marathon. The consensus on the Britax Marathon is that it may be super expensive, but it's one fine car seat and it will hold our child for many, many years. For the next four months (I explain, for the non-parents out there or for those parents who are old enough that they weren't required to use a car seat for their child), the car seat needs to be rear facing. When Doodles is both twenty pounds (which will be any moment now) and one year old, the car seat can be turned around to forward facing. (Before one year, a baby's neck muscles aren't strong enough to withstand an impact in the forward position).

I should mention that Adam originally installed the seat. I said, "Are you sure it's right?" Adam said, "We have LATCH. It's a cinch. You can have it checked if you want, but this baby's in great." Any guesses on what happened? Five cops swarm our car to put in the car seat. The first thing they say is, "This thing is anchored in here in reverse! This car can't have the seat in the middle." They pull the seat out and reinstall it on the rear passenger side. They did quite a number including pulling out some floor molding (which they promised to replace when they switch the car to forward facing in four months) in order to bolt the seat to the ground (anything for the safety of my Doodles). Of course, in the process, they had to move the front passenger seat up so far that it is unusable. "You'll need to sit in the back with your baby, which is what you should be doing anyway. But if you sit in the front seat and get into a crash, you'll be so close to the air bag that it'll kill you when it deploys." Never mind the cramped leg room. So, once again, I'm back to the back and Adam is our chauffeur. I feel kind of dumb sitting back there, but come August (which is really not so far away) when we turn the seat around, I'll have my front seat back again. Funny thing is, we bought the station wagon because it seemed like such a bigger car! I know now why folks with two or more kids end up with a minivan! Any of you with kids and carseats, I highly recommend calling your local police department and seeing if they'll inspect your seat. Especially if you're absolutely sure you got the seat in right.

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