Ooohhhh. My inlaws thought I was too obsessed with car seats. One time I got yelled at by my brother-in-law's daughter, who is my age by the way, because my husband and I decided to have our daughter in a car seat for a 4 hour road trip. There was a lot of people coming on the trip so she thought I was being selfish. I tried calming her down because little did she know we were meeting her father so that the extra people in both the cars can sit with him in his car. That was when my oldest was 2 1/2 years old. Now, we're cool and she now understands now that she has kids of her own. People have to realize, the laws put in place about car seat safety were made because children died or got seriously injured for not having proper restraints. I will not have those kids die in vain. My oldest is turning 6 next week and I am planning to keep her in her seat for another year. She's really tall, so she should reach the height requirement by then. If not I will have her in it until the recommended 8 years. :)

Make sure you read your manuals for your own specific car seat because they generally state where the handle should be. Whatever it says in there is the safest position for it because it was crash tested that way. Also one thing that drives me nuts is that NO aftermarket products should be used (bunting bags, strap covers, seat covers etc) none of these have been tested with the car seat in a crash and could be a safety hazard if a collision occurs.

@unagie- I had no idea about the handle, but I always wondered if it mattered! I thought maybe keeping it up might protect them but I'm so glad I know now to keep it down! Thanks for sharing!

And I agree. My son is turning 2 in October and I plan on keeping him facing backwards until at least 2.5. Very important!

My nurse when i left the hospital told me to never leave the hanfle of the carseat up over the carseat because in an accident in can snap and cause serious injury. I always put it down, my dad leaves it up no matter how many times i have repeated to put it down. He also thinks its silly i strap her in when we go to the supermarket a few blocks away because she gets fussy sometimes, says just let her sit in the seat, don't bother strapping her. I have said more then once a few feet unstrapped is intolerable to me, god forbid we get in an accident in those few mins what then!? My mom enforces my standards and so I breathe a little easier if I am not there because she straps her in and rides in the back with her.

Yes! I just bought a seat mirror so I can see my son while he rear faces. He loves it when I look at him in it. He is only 6 months but he has always loved car rides. I hope that doesn't change and I hope he doesn't get bored from rear facing.

I'm with you girls ! I'm surprised there's so many people who don't take the time to educate themselves on the importance of car seat safety! I've tried to give a few people some advice on what they were doing wrong, and all of them weren't happy with me.. But honestly, as long as I did my part and told them then I feel much better.. I would hope they would listen or at least do some research on it.. And heaven forbid anything happens if they choose to just leave it.

Yess and people get mad at me when I try to correct them so then I just tell them bluntly what could happen.

my sister drives me crazy with this! she said she's turning her baby around when he turns one just like she did her others bc 2 isn't a law in our state yet! He just turned one the other day , I wonder if she turned it and her 6 yr old step daughter doesn't sit in a car seat at all! Not even a booster , it kills me on the inside! In my car (I watch her frequently) she sits in my step sons high back booster. At first she had a hard time understanding why she had to when no one else makes her and putting the belt on correctly always wanting to put the strap behind her , like come on girl that's not helping you! I had to make her and my nephew watch a video on YouTube about what would happen if they were buckled correctly and i got into a accident. Sounds harsh but it was a fight everyday in the driveway!

With my SIL it would be more than her getting offended. She is literally crazy and anything said to her sends her off the deep end.

I get nervous when anyone watches my lo just because of this...

You are so not alone! The position of the strap is a huge pet peeve for me and for some reason grandparents don't get it! Also the amount of crap I get for my 2 1/2 year old still rear facing is freaking crazy! Thank god I have a back bone because I have no problem telling people to educate themselves!

Yes!! And making sure the top of the chest clip is at armpit level! So many times I see it too low or too high! I'd rather say something trying to help and have someone get offended than have something happen if the parent genuinely doesn't know...for example, if the straps are above the shoulders rear facing or the chest clip is at the waist the baby could be thrown from the car...so many don't realize that.

glad I'm not the only one ladies !! Personally, If someone gave me some advice about safety, I'd appreciate it, not get offended ! Isn't a child's life worth more than pride ? Jeez.

I'll have to say that making sure my car seat straps are at or below my child's shoulders is the most important thing to know ;)

I am all about whatever is safest for my lo. My crazy SIL is allowing my 7 year old niece to be sitting in the front seat of her car. I cant stand my SIL and if anyone says anything to her about anything in regards to her daughter she snaps and goes off. Soooo i have been posting car seat safety pics on facebook hoping she gets the hint.

I'm always saying "Safety first" while I buckle my son in :p

Yes. I agree. I keep harping about rear facing as long as possible. My Mother in law said but its so boring for him to be rear facing. Well i'd rather he be bored and alive thank you.

Yes! I'm the b**** that will say something, too.

Yep that's me!!