What’s with people getting angry that kids are in carseats longer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a theory!
I bet the people who still have or plan to have 11 year olds in boosters are the SAME people who are still masking indoors. I also bet the people who stopped using boosters early or the second they could get away with transitioning are the SAME people who resented masking and stopped as soon as they were allowed.
Amirite?

Not even close. My 11 year old still uses a booster because her height/weight indicates that she needs it. We dropped masks at school the second it was permitted, and I have never once put my kids in an n95 respirator. Why? Covid is very low risk to kids. Car accidents otoh are a major cause of death in children and you can’t control what lunatics are doing on the highway.

Exactly. It is a painless way to prevent or mitigate one of the most dangerous things kids do. So weird how ppl push so hard against it.

You know that people who don’t make 11 year olds sit in boosters use seat belts, right? Seat belts are very effective. The kids aren’t less safe.

Seat belts are designed for and tested in adult sized bodies. If your kid is of that size, great! If someone with a smaller child wants to use a booster to make the adult sized seatbelt fit properly, then they should be able to do that without grandma etc criticizing them. That is the entire point of this thread.

The point is OP is declaring that her 7 yo will still be strapped in at 11. Because she’s the bestest mom irrespective of her son’s size. She has no clue what she’s talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a theory!
I bet the people who still have or plan to have 11 year olds in boosters are the SAME people who are still masking indoors. I also bet the people who stopped using boosters early or the second they could get away with transitioning are the SAME people who resented masking and stopped as soon as they were allowed.
Amirite?

Not even close. My 11 year old still uses a booster because her height/weight indicates that she needs it. We dropped masks at school the second it was permitted, and I have never once put my kids in an n95 respirator. Why? Covid is very low risk to kids. Car accidents otoh are a major cause of death in children and you can’t control what lunatics are doing on the highway.

Exactly. It is a painless way to prevent or mitigate one of the most dangerous things kids do. So weird how ppl push so hard against it.

You know that people who don’t make 11 year olds sit in boosters use seat belts, right? Seat belts are very effective. The kids aren’t less safe.

Seat belts are designed for and tested in adult sized bodies. If your kid is of that size, great! If someone with a smaller child wants to use a booster to make the adult sized seatbelt fit properly, then they should be able to do that without grandma etc criticizing them. That is the entire point of this thread.

Own your choices, and also own the fact that you can't control other people's words and actions. You sound like the same posters who want to forbid older people from telling young parents how much they will "miss these days." Get over yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a theory!
I bet the people who still have or plan to have 11 year olds in boosters are the SAME people who are still masking indoors. I also bet the people who stopped using boosters early or the second they could get away with transitioning are the SAME people who resented masking and stopped as soon as they were allowed.
Amirite?

Not even close. My 11 year old still uses a booster because her height/weight indicates that she needs it. We dropped masks at school the second it was permitted, and I have never once put my kids in an n95 respirator. Why? Covid is very low risk to kids. Car accidents otoh are a major cause of death in children and you can’t control what lunatics are doing on the highway.

Exactly. It is a painless way to prevent or mitigate one of the most dangerous things kids do. So weird how ppl push so hard against it.

You know that people who don’t make 11 year olds sit in boosters use seat belts, right? Seat belts are very effective. The kids aren’t less safe.

Seat belts are designed for and tested in adult sized bodies. If your kid is of that size, great! If someone with a smaller child wants to use a booster to make the adult sized seatbelt fit properly, then they should be able to do that without grandma etc criticizing them. That is the entire point of this thread.

I hope this is remembered when you are are a MIL, Grandma, etc.

My Grandma told me "car seats are cruel. Poor baby, mom should be holding him."
I said "This mom is driving. The car seat is less cruel than him being injured or killed in an accident."

Why can't you say something like "Well Grandma/FIL/Uncle Howard, this is how we do things now. Did you do everything the same as your parents?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28427953/

Even setting aside the significant methodology problems with this study, this finding should calm everyone’s nerves about (the lack of) booster seat use:

“The risk of experiencing an incapacitating/fatal injury was not associated with booster use.”

So all the other injuries don’t matter, only paralysis or death. Gotcha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28427953/

Even setting aside the significant methodology problems with this study, this finding should calm everyone’s nerves about (the lack of) booster seat use:

“The risk of experiencing an incapacitating/fatal injury was not associated with booster use.”

So all the other injuries don’t matter, only paralysis or death. Gotcha.

I guess parenting is picking which hill to die on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents/ILs get annoyed about the car seats because it means they can't drive my kids place unless they have a car seat for them. And car seats, unlike boosters, are harder to install and uninstall on a whim.

But I want my kids in car seats and, also, it's a bonus to me that it means that my parents/ILs don't drive them places because I actually don't trust them very well as drivers and would much rather just drive myself. The grandparents are welcome to ride with us for extra time with the kids.

They complain and I say stuff like "that's how it is now" or "yeah, it's crazy how much this stuff changes from generation to generation" and then just shrug and move on.

I trust my stepmom and MIL as much as I trust myself thankfully. They’re both educators and a bit younger than their husbands. I just get tired of the comments from my dad and FIL.

I don’t want to punish the matriarchs because their husbands can’t hold their tongues. And even though they butch they’ll always allow the carseats and have me do a second check as far as buckling goes. I think deep down they really care and get worried too, but they have to let me know they *think* it’s silly.

Your dad and FIL are complaining because installing car seats is annoying and makes every outing take a million years to get set up. I don’t own a car and I cannot wait for the day borrowing one doesn’t require like five hands to set up car seats and figure out where this particular car/car seat combo needs to hook in. My oldest does get violently carsick so I also look forward to not having to hose down a car seat after every trip. That doesn’t mean I’m going to move them out of car seats against medical advice but it does mean I’m a bit cranky about handling car seats. Fortunately both my kids are big for their ages so we’ll probably be done with the really complicated to carry/install seats sooner rather than later. Your relatives are complaining about doing more work than they expected to take the kids out. If they’re actually safe about it, just keep saying these are the rules these days and don’t worry about it.

As for bike helmets, my 80-year-old mother is the he most fanatic helmet person I know so I don’t think disliking helmets is an inherently old person thing…

Wait you don’t own a car- you borrow other people’s cars, KNOWING that your kid gets “violently carsick”? You have issues

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents/ILs get annoyed about the car seats because it means they can't drive my kids place unless they have a car seat for them. And car seats, unlike boosters, are harder to install and uninstall on a whim.

But I want my kids in car seats and, also, it's a bonus to me that it means that my parents/ILs don't drive them places because I actually don't trust them very well as drivers and would much rather just drive myself. The grandparents are welcome to ride with us for extra time with the kids.

They complain and I say stuff like "that's how it is now" or "yeah, it's crazy how much this stuff changes from generation to generation" and then just shrug and move on.

I trust my stepmom and MIL as much as I trust myself thankfully. They’re both educators and a bit younger than their husbands. I just get tired of the comments from my dad and FIL.

I don’t want to punish the matriarchs because their husbands can’t hold their tongues. And even though they butch they’ll always allow the carseats and have me do a second check as far as buckling goes. I think deep down they really care and get worried too, but they have to let me know they *think* it’s silly.

Your dad and FIL are complaining because installing car seats is annoying and makes every outing take a million years to get set up. I don’t own a car and I cannot wait for the day borrowing one doesn’t require like five hands to set up car seats and figure out where this particular car/car seat combo needs to hook in. My oldest does get violently carsick so I also look forward to not having to hose down a car seat after every trip. That doesn’t mean I’m going to move them out of car seats against medical advice but it does mean I’m a bit cranky about handling car seats. Fortunately both my kids are big for their ages so we’ll probably be done with the really complicated to carry/install seats sooner rather than later. Your relatives are complaining about doing more work than they expected to take the kids out. If they’re actually safe about it, just keep saying these are the rules these days and don’t worry about it.

As for bike helmets, my 80-year-old mother is the he most fanatic helmet person I know so I don’t think disliking helmets is an inherently old person thing…

Wait you don’t own a car- you borrow other people’s cars, KNOWING that your kid gets “violently carsick”? You have issues

Borrow as in let the grandparents (who are very much aware what they’re signing up for) drive us places, rentals, zip cars. I try to limit it as much as possible for all our sakes but some things are just not public transit accessible unfortunately. I put trash bags under the car seat so the actual car doesn’t get dirty. Way to assume the worst and miss the point, geez.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28427953/

Even setting aside the significant methodology problems with this study, this finding should calm everyone’s nerves about (the lack of) booster seat use:

“The risk of experiencing an incapacitating/fatal injury was not associated with booster use.”

So all the other injuries don’t matter, only paralysis or death. Gotcha.

I guess parenting is picking which hill to die on.

And yet most parents are letting kids use backyard trampolines and swimming pools which are also significant injury risks. Police aren’t checking peoples backyards for trampoline or pool safety, let’s face it -because those are rich people problems. I do think this issue is primarily another tax on poor parents. This article is an interesting take on the trade offs: https://www.deseret.com/2022/7/26/23268489/how-car-seat-laws-made-it-harder-to-start-a-family

…Not the least of which is many families buying larger cars to accommodate the car seats which is not good for many reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28427953/

Even setting aside the significant methodology problems with this study, this finding should calm everyone’s nerves about (the lack of) booster seat use:

“The risk of experiencing an incapacitating/fatal injury was not associated with booster use.”

So all the other injuries don’t matter, only paralysis or death. Gotcha.

I guess parenting is picking which hill to die on.

And yet most parents are letting kids use backyard trampolines and swimming pools which are also significant injury risks. Police aren’t checking peoples backyards for trampoline or pool safety, let’s face it -because those are rich people problems. I do think this issue is primarily another tax on poor parents. This article is an interesting take on the trade offs: https://www.deseret.com/2022/7/26/23268489/how-car-seat-laws-made-it-harder-to-start-a-family

…Not the least of which is many families buying larger cars to accommodate the car seats which is not good for many reasons.

The Deseret News?

Yes, I suppose carseats would make it tough to get your quiverfull into one car.

The rest of us can prioritize our few kids.
Carseats don't have to be top of the line

Walmart sells several for $70 and there are free events where people will check your carseat. Even our fire department says you can drive up and they will double check.

[Anonymous]

Here’s a question. My family is all small. I’m barely 5’0 and was probably closer to 4’10 when I started driving (I had to sit on a pillow to see over the wheel). Should I have been driving in a booster seat? Should I keep my kid (who likely will be that small) in a booster seat until college? When does the madness stop?

(DD is currently 7 and still in a harnessed seat because she’s under 50 pounds, but it has been a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a question. My family is all small. I’m barely 5’0 and was probably closer to 4’10 when I started driving (I had to sit on a pillow to see over the wheel). Should I have been driving in a booster seat? Should I keep my kid (who likely will be that small) in a booster seat until college? When does the madness stop?

(DD is currently 7 and still in a harnessed seat because she’s under 50 pounds, but it has been a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately).

You actually probably should look for a solution to the fact that seatbelts are not designed for your family’s stature. Why not boosters? If a short adult told me they use a booster to ensure that seatbelts operated correctly for them, I wouldn’t judge them.

Also, in your case, I’d put my kids in boosters until the recommended age, at least, and explain to them it’s because they are smaller than average. Then I’d make it their choice— explain risks, but let them decide for themselves. They will probably ditch the booster. But they might not.

There is nothing “mad” about using an inexpensive, easy tool for keeping yourself or your family safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28427953/

Even setting aside the significant methodology problems with this study, this finding should calm everyone’s nerves about (the lack of) booster seat use:

“The risk of experiencing an incapacitating/fatal injury was not associated with booster use.”

So all the other injuries don’t matter, only paralysis or death. Gotcha.

So, based on parent interviews, booster seats appear to provide a small benefit against minor injuries, while more objective data show no benefit against severe injuries.

Simply put, when combined, that shows booster seats have a pretty small benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28427953/

Even setting aside the significant methodology problems with this study, this finding should calm everyone’s nerves about (the lack of) booster seat use:

“The risk of experiencing an incapacitating/fatal injury was not associated with booster use.”

So all the other injuries don’t matter, only paralysis or death. Gotcha.

So, based on parent interviews, booster seats appear to provide a small benefit against minor injuries, while more objective data show no benefit against severe injuries.

Simply put, when combined, that shows booster seats have a pretty small benefit.

Hey, if people can drive comfortably with the seatbelt hovering around their kid's throat, more power to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents/ILs get annoyed about the car seats because it means they can't drive my kids place unless they have a car seat for them. And car seats, unlike boosters, are harder to install and uninstall on a whim.

But I want my kids in car seats and, also, it's a bonus to me that it means that my parents/ILs don't drive them places because I actually don't trust them very well as drivers and would much rather just drive myself. The grandparents are welcome to ride with us for extra time with the kids.

They complain and I say stuff like "that's how it is now" or "yeah, it's crazy how much this stuff changes from generation to generation" and then just shrug and move on.

I trust my stepmom and MIL as much as I trust myself thankfully. They’re both educators and a bit younger than their husbands. I just get tired of the comments from my dad and FIL.

I don’t want to punish the matriarchs because their husbands can’t hold their tongues. And even though they butch they’ll always allow the carseats and have me do a second check as far as buckling goes. I think deep down they really care and get worried too, but they have to let me know they *think* it’s silly.

Your dad and FIL are complaining because installing car seats is annoying and makes every outing take a million years to get set up. I don’t own a car and I cannot wait for the day borrowing one doesn’t require like five hands to set up car seats and figure out where this particular car/car seat combo needs to hook in. My oldest does get violently carsick so I also look forward to not having to hose down a car seat after every trip. That doesn’t mean I’m going to move them out of car seats against medical advice but it does mean I’m a bit cranky about handling car seats. Fortunately both my kids are big for their ages so we’ll probably be done with the really complicated to carry/install seats sooner rather than later. Your relatives are complaining about doing more work than they expected to take the kids out. If they’re actually safe about it, just keep saying these are the rules these days and don’t worry about it.

As for bike helmets, my 80-year-old mother is the he most fanatic helmet person I know so I don’t think disliking helmets is an inherently old person thing…

Wait you don’t own a car- you borrow other people’s cars, KNOWING that your kid gets “violently carsick”? You have issues

Borrow as in let the grandparents (who are very much aware what they’re signing up for) drive us places, rentals, zip cars. I try to limit it as much as possible for all our sakes but some things are just not public transit accessible unfortunately. I put trash bags under the car seat so the actual car doesn’t get dirty. Way to assume the worst and miss the point, geez.

Well you have several other problems, then, because you can’t put a trash bag under a car seat for a safe installation, and you can’t hose down a car seat. There are Facebook groups you can join that will help you with car seat safety like Car Seats for the Littles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a question. My family is all small. I’m barely 5’0 and was probably closer to 4’10 when I started driving (I had to sit on a pillow to see over the wheel). Should I have been driving in a booster seat? Should I keep my kid (who likely will be that small) in a booster seat until college? When does the madness stop?

(DD is currently 7 and still in a harnessed seat because she’s under 50 pounds, but it has been a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately).

No, adults don’t have the same needs as children. You have an adult skeleton, which can handle forces from crashes that a child’s skeleton cannot.

At a certain point, past puberty, your child will have an adult skeleton too.

I’m also barely 5 feet tall and have a very small daughter.