New Car Seat Law in 2014 & Simple Car Seat Resource

The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has released new laws about car seat safety starting in 2014.  The law in itself is a little difficult to understand, however the basic premise is: if your child's weight plus the weight of the car seat is over 65 lbs, then do NOT use the LATCH system of attaching the car seat to the car, you should use only the seat belt to attach the seat to the car according to the manufacture's instructions.  The only exclusion is that if a top tether is available to use, you should continue using it with the seat belt, as this top tether will help keep the seat secure and limit movement in the event of a crash, but as always be sure to follow the instructions that came with your seat.

It is also important to note that you should never use both the LATCH system and the seat belt system at the same time because using both can cause failure in the event of a crash.

News about Best Fitting Booster Seats

While, I am not here yet with William, this is good info to know for all my readers who have "littles" who are getting bigger but not big enough or old enough for just a car's seat belt.

IIHS names best fitting booster seats for 2013

More seats than ever receive top rating from IIHS

Booster seat safety ratings released: Inside the report's results

Edited: I just found a updated newsletter where there is a list of car seat and booster seat recalls from SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A.; you can like them on Facebook too.

Wall St Journal Reports: Safety Agency Probes Complaints of Children Trapped in Graco Seats

On Oct 20 The Wall St. Journal reported that there were many complaints regarding consumers being able to remove a child from Graco brand car seats and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was launching an investigation into the validity of these complaints.  The reports indicate that sometimes people need to go so far as to cut the harnesses to remove the child from the seat after normal (non-accident) use.  The models identified are: Nautilus seats from 2009 through 2012 with model numbers 175166, 1761306, 1763461, 8J00MTX, and My Ride 65 seats from 2009 through 2011.  Do you have any of these seats?

The BIG Decision...Which Car Seat?

We have decided on the Chicco Keyfit 30....yea the great debate is finally over!!!  And we will be buying new unless someone I know and trust is looking to sell theirs. (and seriously if you are please send me a message).

I did some internet research and received so much advice about the BIG car seat decision via Facebook that I feel like it would be prudent to share the great advice:

All Registered Up...with the exception of one important item

 Last week my Mom and I spent Sunday afternoon registering for gifts at Babies"R"Us since so many people have been asking about it.  (the husband was working on an exterior renovation project that I am unable to help with since I am pregnant).  The afternoon was really a great bonding experience with Mom and I think it will be one of the most memorable experiences shopping with her in my life.  We picked out everything and more that we think we will need (or would really love to have) with the exception of the car seat **insert dramatic music here**  The car seat has me stumped and is causing me to stress out to the max.