Reaf Facing vs Forward facing
It is also important to make sure they are buckled in correctly. The chest clip should be across their chest in line with their underarms. I see so many pictures of kids on their car seat on Facebook with the chest clip down at their tummy. The problem with this is is in a crash the chest clip can cause severe damage to their internal organs, that is why it needs to be across their chest bone. It is also important to ensure the harness is tight enough. The rule of thumb is you should not be able to get more than 2 fingers between the harness and the child's collarbone. Something we don't have to worry about too much in Texas is thick jackets, however thick jackets should be removed prior to putting the child in the seat. A thick jacket can compress during a crash causing too much room in the harness possibly even ejecting the child from the seat. Here is how you test to see if a jacket is too thick for the car seat.
- Put the winter coat or snowsuit on the child.
- Put the child in the car seat and buckle the harnesses as you normally would before car travel. Adjust the straps to the appropriate fit for your child.
- Take the child out of the car seat without loosening the straps at all.
- Take the coat off your child.
- Put the child back in the car seat and buckle the harnesses again, but do not tighten the straps.
- If you can fit more than two fingers under the harness at the child's shoulder bone, the coat is too thick and is not safe for use with the car seat.
On to more fun things! This year was our first year to get a real Christmas tree. Eric had the idea of going to a Christmas tree farm and actually chopping down a tree. I was hesitant about a real tree due to the mess and "maintenance" it requires, but it has actually turned out to be quite clean and easy to care for. We had such a good time wondering through the field and picking out a tree.I think we will try and make it an annual tradition. Claire was happy to be outside and even met a "gagga" while we were there. In case you don't know a gagga is her version of saying doggy. She apparently hears the word a little differently, lol. We got home and decorated the tree. Well, Claire had more fun undecorating it as quick as we could hang stuff. Shockingly she hasn't messed with it since. Cooper messes with it more than she does. He thinks the branches are his own personal back scratcher. Special dog. Here are some pictures from our tree picking day ;-)
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