Car Seat Blues
Posted by Kate
Yesterday I got Connor's big carseat put in my car. He was 27 1/2" at three months, and the infant carseat only goes to 26", so I have been after Dave for awhile to put in it. He kept saying that he would wait until it was warmer, and then when it was warmer he wouldn't do it. I got exasperated, because I didn't want to take Connor anywhere in the car (although it had been pretty warm, so we were walking everywhere) and decided to do something about it myself. We have an Ontario Early Years Centre in town , and their staff will help out with carseats, so I booked an appointment with them. I have been going to the EYC for a new parents' group since Connor was about a month old and it is a really great place. The whole experience was great for me: Janet and Marie put the carseat in my car while I watched, and someone else took care of Connor inside. It was not so great for Connor though--actually it was probably traumatic for him. First you need to know that he dislikes wearing clothes. In the house now he usually just wears an undershirt and socks, but sometimes even the socks come off. He cries when he has to wear a sweater. But we had to make sure that the straps were at the right spot, so I piled on his undershirt, pants, shirt and outside sweater, while he was inside. Then I strapped him into the carseat, which insulted him even more. It took him quite a few minutes (and undressing down to his undershirt) to calm down after. But he had to put it all on again 15 minutes later so we could go home. It was really cold outside and that scared him. So he was crying and flailing while I tried to do the seatbelt up, which wasn't very fun. He was so tired from all that that he fell asleep 30 seconds into the one minute drive home. I think we will take a break from the carseat for a few days.
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Yesterday I got Connor's big carseat put in my car. He was 27 1/2" at three months, and the infant carseat only goes to 26", so I have been after Dave for awhile to put in it. He kept saying that he would wait until it was warmer, and then when it was warmer he wouldn't do it. I got exasperated, because I didn't want to take Connor anywhere in the car (although it had been pretty warm, so we were walking everywhere) and decided to do something about it myself. We have an Ontario Early Years Centre in town , and their staff will help out with carseats, so I booked an appointment with them. I have been going to the EYC for a new parents' group since Connor was about a month old and it is a really great place. The whole experience was great for me: Janet and Marie put the carseat in my car while I watched, and someone else took care of Connor inside. It was not so great for Connor though--actually it was probably traumatic for him. First you need to know that he dislikes wearing clothes. In the house now he usually just wears an undershirt and socks, but sometimes even the socks come off. He cries when he has to wear a sweater. But we had to make sure that the straps were at the right spot, so I piled on his undershirt, pants, shirt and outside sweater, while he was inside. Then I strapped him into the carseat, which insulted him even more. It took him quite a few minutes (and undressing down to his undershirt) to calm down after. But he had to put it all on again 15 minutes later so we could go home. It was really cold outside and that scared him. So he was crying and flailing while I tried to do the seatbelt up, which wasn't very fun. He was so tired from all that that he fell asleep 30 seconds into the one minute drive home. I think we will take a break from the carseat for a few days.
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