General discussion - Mom and Dad Esq.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by nononono
Also totally opposed, I found the services of one for 30 hours of travel (and that was just the getting-there piece) with my then-4-yr-old to be quite valuable. THere are only so many times singing Baby Beluga is going to please them.

Also, earplugs might be useful.

Ipod video.

[mommylawyer]

Can anyone recommend a good portable DVD? Could we go with a cheapie from, say, Target, and not regret it?


yeah - i am in the fairly immediate market for this too as we have a long airplane trip next friday.....

[Oliver_Wendell_Ramone]

Originally posted by mommylawyer
Can anyone recommend a good portable DVD? Could we go with a cheapie from, say, Target, and not regret it?


yeah - i am in the fairly immediate market for this too as we have a long airplane trip next friday.....

I think battery life is one key, at least. Some of the cheapies won't last through a movie. Okay for porn, perhaps, but...

We've had good luck renting at the airport for a couple of long plane trips. Won't help the drivers, but a good option for flying mommylawyer.

[bold_n_brazen]

Originally posted by Oliver_Wendell_Ramone
I think battery life is one key, at least. Some of the cheapies won't last through a movie. Okay for porn, perhaps, but...

We've had good luck renting at the airport for a couple of long plane trips. Won't help the drivers, but a good option for flying mommylawyer.

I bought this one http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/ESA-5...oductDetail.do for the Brazenette for plane travel. It's small enough that it fits in her lap, and cheap enough that I don't care if it gets dropped. Battery lasts about 4 hours.

(Shortly after buying one, I dropped it on the garage floor, cracking the screen off. I now have two batteries, after replacing the broken player, which is a great thing.)

[Cletus Miller]

Originally posted by Oliver_Wendell_Ramone
I think battery life is one key, at least. Some of the cheapies won't last through a movie. Okay for porn, perhaps, but...

We've had good luck renting at the airport for a couple of long plane trips. Won't help the drivers, but a good option for flying mommylawyer.

We looked at a lot of them and there didn't seem to be much difference (other than battery life and weight) in the 7" screen models in the $150-250 range and there aren't a lot of options more expensive than that. I think it's because laptops with dvd drives start at about $450-500.

For the drivers, get a 12v adapter to plug into a cigarette lighter/car power outlet. Then the battery life issue is moot.

[viet_mom]

A video has been making the rounds about a boy who died when the seat belt holding in his booster seat didn't work. It's a tearjerker but if you want to watch it, here it is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

The point of the video is that you don't *have* to switch to a booster seat from the safety of a 5 point harness car seat as early as you may have thought & that some 5 point harness seats go as high as 80 lbs. I called our local car seat safety program and told them I had switched to a booster seat from my Britax Marathon recently (Vietbabe is 33 lbs; 34", age 4). They told me to definitely switch back to the Marathon (Height/Weight limit: 27"-49" lbs; 20-65 lbs). There is also a Britax Regent car seat (5 point harness) that has weight/height limits of: 22-80 lbs and 19"-53".

As the video makes the rounds, our entire street is switching to Britax car seats. Just wanted to pass the safety (or Australian investment) tip along.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by pony_trekker
Ipod video.

Good for 7 hours.

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by viet_mom
A video has been making the rounds about a boy who died when the seat belt holding in his booster seat didn't work. It's a tearjerker but if you want to watch it, here it is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

The point of the video is that you don't *have* to switch to a booster seat from the safety of a 5 point harness car seat as early as you may have thought & that some 5 point harness seats go as high as 80 lbs. I called our local car seat safety program and told them I had switched to a booster seat from my Britax Marathon recently (Vietbabe is 33 lbs; 34", age 4). They told me to definitely switch back to the Marathon (Height/Weight limit: 27"-49" lbs; 20-65 lbs). There is also a Britax Regent car seat (5 point harness) that has weight/height limits of: 22-80 lbs and 19"-53".

As the video makes the rounds, our entire street is switching to Britax car seats. Just wanted to pass the safety (or Australian investment) tip along.

That is a tear jerker, but it sounded to me like they buckled him in wrong. The seat belt latch failed, and I would hapily represent his family against the manufacturer.

That said, I second the endorsement for Britax seats. We use a Britax Marathon, and little dL (25 lbs, 31", 9 months) seems to like it. I think he will be happier when he turns a year old and we turn the seat around to face forward.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by viet_mom
A video has been making the rounds about a boy who died when the seat belt holding in his booster seat didn't work.

I think it's misleading and misinformed.

First, the problem was that the seatbelt failed--which is a seatbelt problem, not a child seat problem. This could happen with a five-point booster as well, if using the seatbelt. Using the top tether won't necessarily help because the seat still comes loose. Indeed, it may turn the seat-baby into a projectile.

Second, as an alternative, a 5-point seat may use LATCH. But LATCH is not always designed for use over a certain weight. Heavy child plus seat may exceed the weight limits. There are two problems in this regard. First, the LATCH loops may break too easily. Second, the straps used to buckle in the seat to LATCH are much thinner than the typical seatbelt, and are therefore not as strong. So, you're using 1" web-belts instead of 21/2" web-belts to hold in the seat.

[viet_mom]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
I think it's misleading and misinformed.

First, the problem was that the seatbelt failed--which is a seatbelt problem, not a child seat problem. This could happen with a five-point booster as well, if using the seatbelt. Using the top tether won't necessarily help because the seat still comes loose. Indeed, it may turn the seat-baby into a projectile.

Second, as an alternative, a 5-point seat may use LATCH. But LATCH is not always designed for use over a certain weight. Heavy child plus seat may exceed the weight limits. There are two problems in this regard. First, the LATCH loops may break too easily. Second, the straps used to buckle in the seat to LATCH are much thinner than the typical seatbelt, and are therefore not as strong. So, you're using 1" web-belts instead of 21/2" web-belts to hold in the seat.

No doubt about it - it was definitely a seatbelt failure which could happen with a child seat too. But if the seat belt failed with a car seat, wouldn't the top tether at least help keep the seat and child inside the car? (The child in question was thrown outside the vehicle which rolled on him).

Also, since the car seat is held in with the lap belt, might there be more seat belt failures linked to shoulder strap problems as opposed to lap belt? Anyhow, Vietbabe was complaining about the shoulder strap so I think the booster seat was going to be more dangerous for her. She'd probably end up moving the shoulder strap behind her head and I wouldn't see her b/c unlike the car seat position (middle), the booster seat goes behind the driver or passenger side.

[tmdiva]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Second, as an alternative, a 5-point seat may use LATCH. But LATCH is not always designed for use over a certain weight. Heavy child plus seat may exceed the weight limits. There are two problems in this regard. First, the LATCH loops may break too easily. Second, the straps used to buckle in the seat to LATCH are much thinner than the typical seatbelt, and are therefore not as strong. So, you're using 1" web-belts instead of 21/2" web-belts to hold in the seat.

We don't have LATCH in our current car, but we do have a Britax Husky (now relabeled the Regent) for my 6-year old (46.5 in, 47 lbs). Anyway, when we got it the instructions very clearly said NOT to use LATCH, but to use the regular seatbelt, for kids over a certain weight.

tm

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by viet_mom
No doubt about it - it was definitely a seatbelt failure which could happen with a child seat too. But if the seat belt failed with a car seat, wouldn't the top tether at least help keep the seat and child inside the car? (The child in question was thrown outside the vehicle which rolled on him).

Also, since the car seat is held in with the lap belt, might there be more seat belt failures linked to shoulder strap problems as opposed to lap belt? Anyhow, Vietbabe was complaining about the shoulder strap so I think the booster seat was going to be more dangerous for her. She'd probably end up moving the shoulder strap behind her head and I wouldn't see her b/c unlike the car seat position (middle), the booster seat goes behind the driver or passenger side.

It's all speculation, but I would guess that the number of deaths occuring when a child seat is ejected from the car and the child is then run over is lower than one per year. You're probably right on the teather, but my point is that the benefit of th tlikely creates some other risk.

From the movie it looked like the failure was that the buckle came undone. I doubt that the belt is weaker on the shoulder part than the lap part.

As for vietbabe, if she's taking the seatbelt off, and you can't see it, there's not much choice unless you can find another way to enforce the rules.

[SEC_Chick]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
That is a tear jerker, but it sounded to me like they buckled him in wrong. The seat belt latch failed, and I would hapily represent his family against the manufacturer.

That said, I second the endorsement for Britax seats. We use a Britax Marathon, and little dL (25 lbs, 31", 9 months) seems to like it. I think he will be happier when he turns a year old and we turn the seat around to face forward.

AAAAAGGGHHH!! My long reply was deleted, sparing you my carseat diatribe. Short version, AdL, please rethink turing the little one forward at one year as the AAP and everyone else now recommends that you keep a child rearfacing to the rearfacing limits of the seat (33 lbs for Britax). See the link below for additional information about extended rearfacing.

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

Seatbelt failure is rare, a much larger problem is that people are putting 3 year olds in boosters when no 3 year old is mature enough to sit properly in them, using LATCH in the center seat (which is only permitted in certain Fords and Mazdas), using expired carseats, putting infant carriers forward facing and all sorts of gross misuse. Essentially, each step up (rear to forward facing, 5 pt harness to to booster to seatbelt) is a step down in the safety of your child.

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by SEC_Chick
AAAAAGGGHHH!! My long reply was deleted, sparing you my carseat diatribe. Short version, AdL, please rethink turing the little one forward at one year as the AAP and everyone else now recommends that you keep a child rearfacing to the rearfacing limits of the seat (33 lbs for Britax). See the link below for additional information about extended rearfacing.

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

Thanks for posting this. I was going to post the same thing but my post would have been less helpful.

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
Thanks for posting this. I was going to post the same thing but my post would have been less helpful.

Yes, thanks for posting that. While I appreciate the information, I am not sure if I can go much beyond 1 year with our seat facing to the rear: he simply doesn't fit. Though he's "only" 25 lbs, my son is exceedingly tall and, even now, his legs are scrunched up, like the kid in the picture on the site that you posted; and he doesn't like it very much. He prefers keeping his legs straight.

That said, I will take this new info to our pediatrician and see what she has to say.

AdL