PSA: Get your car seats checked!

Today the girls and I went to Ikea. When we pulled into the parking lot I noticed a sign that said, "Free car seat inspections today." I thought it would probably be good to get Maddie and Macy's seats checked since I never have before and I have heard lots of times that 95% of car seats are installed incorrectly, so we drove over to get it done. I am so glad we did!

Deb, the car seat inspector, had me take the girls out and remove the seats from the car, and then she showed me how to correctly install them. She said that the newest research states that children should be kept rear-facing until they are 30 months old (or until they hit the weight limit of the seat). If they are forward-facing earlier than that they have five times higher of a chance to have neck or spine injuries. After hearing that I decided that we should turn Macy's seat back around to face the rear of the car. We changed the heights of the straps on both girls' seats, changed Maddie's from seat-belted in to latched in, and installed the tethers on both girls' seats. I could never figure out how to do the tethers or where to hook them before so I was so glad to learn how to do it!

Macy when we first got her car seat, almost a year ago now:

Maddie in her new car seat, a year and a half ago, during the winter storm that took out the power (and thus our heat--brrr):

Maddie and Macy both have Britax seats because they have been consistently very highly rated for safety (plus they have super cute covers!), but car seats are only that safe if they are installed correctly. Now I am confident that they are in there as they should be and I have a new peace of mind when we are out and about!

Oh, and Macy didn't seem to care at all about being turned back around. I thought she would throw a fit, but I guess that as long as she can see her sister she's cool. I love having such chill babies!!