How safe is your child's carseat?

While Browsing my new Kiwi Magazine, I read a little something that let me know that I could go here to check the toxicity of my child's carseat. Wow, one more thing to worry about. Turns out, our exact Britax Boulevard wasn't listed but similar ones were and they were all a "medium" on the scale. Hmmm what to do? The magazine recommends a $110 bamboo seat cover to protect your child. Ahem, after spending $300 on a carseat, I don't think I should have to buy a flipping carseat cover to protect my kid from toxic fumes. Anyway, it appears that the clip is the offending piece, at least in the Britax models., a cover would not protect him from that. Yes, the clip that is 1cm away from their little noses has over 800ppm of Bromine. I guess it's better than lead?

Then I started thinking about how safe his car sseat really is. I got a pricier one because I thought it was supposed to be safer. But unless the child is strapped in properly, it absolutely does not matter what kind of carseat you have. I am always pretty obsessive about making sure he is snug in his seat- one of his first words was "tight!" I know that not everyone is so careful. Once, when Finley was just a little baby, I was helping a friend out to the car with her daughter. She had already strapped her in and I was telling the girl bye. I asked her mom if she wanted me to tighten the belt, as it as as loose as could be and the clip was around her belly button. Mom said no, the girl didn't like it that way. I wasn't sure if I was a paranoid new mom or if she just didn't know any better. She must have not known.

Speaking of paranoid, I was just reading this article on car seat safety and it suggests that all people, adult or child, would be safer rear facing in vehicles. It says that, " In countries like Sweden, children are often kept rear-facing much longer, even to 3 or 4 years old. Auto related injury and death rates for rear-facing children in Sweden are near zero because of this." I had heard of parents doing "extended rear facing" but Finley was such a nightmare in the car when he was rear facing, I didn't even consider it. After reading this article, I wonder if I should attempt to turn him back around. At least he will be able to see out the windows in his big seat. With all the cell phone talking and texting while driving going on, (not me!) I'd rather have a fussy kid than a dead one!