Just one more thing!
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| Mon, 07-27-2009 - 10:29am |
I posted a video of my son dancing in the car on youtube. I didn't want to make it public and I have posted video's privately before to send to family, but I did anyway. So the first comment I get from some lady is that my carseat doesn't fit my son and I need the next size up. I have this HUGE baby. He's 20 months old and 32-35 pounds. He's as tall as a three year old! I knew that he was outgrowing his carseat, but I honestly didn't think there was another carseat after this one until the booster seat and he's too young for a booster seat. I go online to check out these higher weight limit seats and they are SOOO expensive! The cheapeast I found was around 200 dollars from some discount website. The regular ones from babies r us are $279 and up! I definitely do not have the money for this right now. It's going to have to wait a month, but it's so depressing to not even have the money to keep your kids safe!
Here's the link to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v8_ba6OcnE

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(sorry - lurker butting in)
I second the Graco nautilis. $145 on amazon, and it harnesses until 65 pounds so it will last for a long time. My 3 year old is in one. Personally, I wouldnt put a kid in a booster who wasnt at least 5, even though the technical recommendation is 4.
http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Nautilus-Car-Seat-Matrix/dp/B0011URFRE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1248754915&sr=8-1
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Okay I hope you don't mind, I'm butting in with a couple things here. First "He's sooo cute! My DS 12 couldn't get over his sense of rhythm and how he would pause to get the beat and change with the music and my DS6 got a huge kick out of the older boys' laughing.
1. Does your local health dept do free carseat checks? Call and find out because if they do it's an awesome service for putting your mind at ease and giving you direction to solve any problems that need addressed. In my town there's a nurse (or two) who are specially trained in the guidelines and the health/safety reasons behind child seats. Honestly, until he has a growth spurt in his torso region, he looks fine to me. It looks like the impact point on the back of his head is still below the back of the seat and the harness is still ok too. (If he is still fine, that gives you more time to save for a new one)
2. Also, at diapers.com there are Cosco 5 point high backed booster seats appropriate for your son's age and weight. (Of course, double check that against your safety guidelines and the rules in your state - that's another place where the free carseat ladies come in handy) They start around $59 and have free shipping right now. Both my son's were is this type of seat and it was great because when they outgrew the 5 pt harness, it could be taken off and the seat used with the vehicle's belts (I live in a place where they are in seats until a minimum of 8 yrs AND 80 pounds so it was important for me not to have to keep buying seats.)
I typed in "5 point booster carseat" at diapers.com and then I sorted by "price low to high". I'm trying to include a link but if it doesn't work, that's how I got there.
http://www.diapers.com/Product/SearchResults.aspx?FreeText=5+point+booster+carseat&QueryFrom=Search&SortExpression=Price+(Ascending)
3. I found my 5 pt harness high backed booster seat on clearance at the local Toys R Us because it had been the floor model. The tags were still on it and the papers, locking clip etc were all there. The only thing I didn't have was the box and packing materials to have to dispose of in my trash, at my cost! You may want to look around at various stores for something like that. For that matter, I'd keep searching the internet for deals too.
Good Luck,
Lissa
Edited to add that when my older DS was still an 'infant', he grew 2 full inches longer than the safety guidelines for the rear facing infant seat. I went to the health dept (free even for people like me who have good incomes and insurance) and the nurse and I discussed the problem. He was too young age wise for the next level but to big for where he was. I believe she said it was better to err on the side of caution and go with the size not age. Her point was that he'd get hurt worse in a poorly fitting seat and even gave me a card thing that I could keep in the car in case I got pulled over for something and an officer questioned the situation. (not that they can tell baby's age within 5 months by looking, but it was a nice offer)
Edited 7/28/2009 8:43 am ET by lissa3g
When our grandson was born we didn't want to have to buy a carseat every time we turned around.
Children should be rearfacing to either 2 years or to the limits of their seat.
I second the Nautilus. Graco has always done well by my kids. Cheapest I've found so far is $143 at Walmart.com http://www.walmart.com/Graco-Nautilus-Car-Seat/ip/8112222 it looks like he will be able to use it until he is like 5 ft - Heck, I'm only a little taller than that so maybe I could fit!! :P
Very cute video.
" ... it's so depressing to not even have the money to keep your kids safe!"
Just offering a different perspective as
Honestly! Did you really go through all my posts and try to find things that I spend my money on that are wasteful? I find that a waste of time...
The book cannot be gotten from the library as they do not carry brand new books from this Author and as I posted before...I get all my other books from the library except for this one author.
All the towing incidences were not my fault. Even the towing company thinks our condo policies on towing are ridiculous and some guys have stopped towing from our lot. They also said that whoever towed my car filled with vacation items was an idiot and that they wouldn't have parked their car on the street either.
As far as the vacation goes. We have not taken a vacation in 3 years and we had an opportunity to use someone elses house on a lake for free.
Seriously...you said this wasn't meant for criticism, but tie in someone's kids and then tell them that they aren't spending their money appropriately and of course it will be taken as criticism. I do the best that I can and this carseat issue was one that I had no idea I would even need to be thinking about. All my other children have had their one carseat that lasts them until I can get a 25 dollar booster seat. I have already found the carseat that I will buy, I will be buying it in a few weeks and it is none of your business!
Wow...
Why so defensive?
Have you seen my ticker? I only have 1300 dollars left on my original $30,000 in debt! I have worked my ass off to get where I am today and although I have had help from family, I have been doing it on my own for the last year and a half. I have changed almost everything about my life. We have doubled our income by pure determination and sacrifice. We have payed down our debt by 10,000 dollars in less than 2 years!
"If you continue to do what you've always done, you will continue to get the results you've always gotten."
I do everything differently now compared to my previous life and it offended me for you to take a look at a few posts that I wrote out of a need to vent my frustrations about my debt and feel that you know all about my debt or my struggle.
The reason why I was so defensive is because I am here to talk about my problems with people that understand them. I don't expect to come here and have my words turned against me when I wrote those words for support and advice and not criticism.
I wrote the post about the carseat when I thought they were extremely pricey and not in my budget. People posted here giving me suggestions for a cheaper carseat and that was very helpful.
I am a very sensitive person and although you were trying to give me advice on ways to look at my budget and how I'm spending my money, it just struck me as insensitive and hurt my feelings.
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