I don't consider myself to be a super paranoid, overprotective mother, but when it comes to car seats, Cole and I have always been very diligent in our efforts to keep our boys safe in the car. We bought Cole a new car back in September, and before that he only had the truck. Whenever someone was in charge of the boys, that person drove the Monte Carlo. Recently we've had a few occasions an extra set of seats would be handy. So, about a week ago I bought a set of boosters for the boys: a high-back for Eli and simple seat for Ian.
For a few days we let Ian use the booster while we cleaned and re-installed the regular five point harness seat. Neither Cole nor I was at ease with the situation, but we went with it. The booster just worried the bejeezus out of me. The seats were purchased with the understanding that they would be utilized on the very, very rare occasion that Cole was called into action unexpectedly and not as our everyday restraints.
Well, last night I finally had both of our regular seats all spiffed up and ready to go back into the car. As I was reassembling the brown car seat, I happened (thankfully) to glance down and see that Ian had, in fact, reached the weight limit for the five point harness. I panicked! I don't know why, but I had it in my head that you could use that seat, with the harness, until 80 pounds. Not at all. The harness is only usable until 40 pounds, but then you take it all apart, and two hours and many, many naughty words later, you have a booster to use until your child reaches 80 pounds. I couldn't believe that I had misremembered this safety guideline.
Then I really started to freak out because after four or five days of using the booster, I had decided there was just NO way I wanted to continue using it on a regular basis yet. Ian meets ALL of the criteria for using a booster...
*4 years old
*40 pounds (He's 40 pounds on the dot)
*43 inches tall
...but I still just feel like he is too exposed to danger in the booster. Yes, the five point harness is a hassle, but it doesn't bother me that much. I just can not bring myself to let him graduate to the booster seat. I feel like I'm not keeping him safe enough. (Maybe I am a super paranoid, overprotective mother. Hmmmm....)
I dashed out to the garage and pulled out the owner's manual of the gray seat, and I was relieved to see that the weight limit for using the five point harness in the gray seat is 50 pounds. That means we'll probably get another two years of use out of the gray seat. Yes, I will still drive Ian around in a harness when he is six, and I will do the same for Eli.
The whole point is...it is SO easy to forget the details of what you bought four years ago. If you haven't done so recently, check your manuals! It takes three seconds. You might be surprised by what you see.
