We’re really getting ready for baby. His crib is ready and now his carseat is installed–and inspected! When Ilya and I went to the CHP for their free inspection of the carseat installation, the inspector told us that most people installed their carseats incorrectly–and, in fact, that in her five years working there, she only remembers about five people who didn’t need any corrections. Here’s just more proof that I married the right guy: Ilya’s carseat installation was perfect. The inspector only offered one suggestion to prevent problems in the future–and that was just a suggestion, it wasn’t strictly necessary.
The inspector also told us not to put a mirror in the backseat or any additional cushioning in the carseat. Apparently the mirror–which we were going to use to see the baby while driving since the baby is facing backwards–could fly off and hit the baby during an accident. And she said that any additional cushioning wasn’t tested to see how it interacts with the carseat during an accident and therefore could be unsafe. I was surprised to learn both those things, especially since we were planning on using both a mirror and more cushioning to keep baby’s neck from sliding from side to side. I feel like a bad parent for wanting to ignore her instructions and use cushioning and mirrors anyway. Hm….
Well, at least the carseat itself is safe!
growing baby 
Horray for daddy for being a good carseat installer!
I guess no mirror anymore…. oh well. I thought it was a neat contemporary idea. Back to plan B when both parents are in the car with baby, one sits next to baby and narrates to parent driving on the status of baby in carseat.
By: Ana and Bill on November 11, 2008
at 3:25 pm
We love our mirror–I don’t care what the car installer says! We were told just to make sure its fairly soft and light and doesn’t have sharp edges. Good job Ilya, I’m impressed. Darren wasn’t quite so successful :).
By: Darren and Melissa on November 11, 2008
at 9:20 pm