When Is It Safe to Keep Using a Car Seat After an Accident?

My family was in a car accident this past week. We were inside our car, which was parked in a Walmart parking lot. I had just finished buckling our infant daughter into her car seat when a car struck us on the driver’s side front door.

After getting everyone out of the car, calling 911, and calming our unsettled nerves, I began to consider the lasting impact of the car accident. Would all three of us be sore the next morning? Should I take my daughter to the doctor to be examined? The biggest question on my mind was the following: Can we safely continue using our daughter’s infant car seat?

I did a little research, and discovered that we would not need to replace the car seat. In a moderate or severe crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that an infant car sear be replaced. In a minor crash, however, there are some cases where it is possible to keep using the child’s car seat safely.

The website of NHTSA gives a sort of checklist to go through to help you decide whether your car seat is still safe and fully functioning after a car accident. A crash is only considered minor and the car seat can only continue to be used if both meet the following criteria:

• Your vehicle must be able to be driven away from the accident. Our vehicle was running perfectly after being hit in the parking lot. Check.

• The door closest to the car seat must be undamaged. Our car was hit on the driver’s side, and our daughter’s car seat is located on the passenger side. Check.

• No one in the vehicle at the time of the crash can be injured as a result of the crash. We had no injuries, even though I wasn’t buckled in yet. Thank goodness, and check.

• The air bags cannot have deployed. Ours didn’t deploy. Check.

• There can be no visible damage to the car seat. No damage visible on ours. Check!

If you were in a car accident and the crash does not meet ALL of these criteria, you will need to either replace the car seat or have the car seat tested for safety.

Some information was taken from www.nhtsa.dot.gov. All information on the website is considered public information and may be distributed or copied.

So, we got into our first car accident with our baby today...

We got in our first car accident with our baby today. It was very minor, thankfully, but it left me feeling very shaken.

Our little dear has been down with a cold for a few days, and we decided a little fresh air would be good for all of us. Since we were running low on groceries, we bundled up and headed to the store.

After shopping and loading our bags into the car, I got into the back and began buckling our daughter into her car seat. My husband waited in the front for us to finish, keys in the ignition.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a car driving towards us. It was approaching driver’s side of our car. I assumed it was waiting for us to pull out of our spot so it could pull in after we left. I was shocked when it kept coming closer and closer, and before I knew what was happening, BAM! It hit us!

My husband and I both stared out the window in shock, and became even more surprised as we realized no one was driving the car that hit us.

We got out of our car quickly – both climbing out the front passenger side door, since the car that hit us was pinning both driver’s side doors shut, and our baby’s infant car seat was blocking the passenger side door in the back. As soon as I was out of the car, I immediately I tried getting our daughter out. My hands were shaking too much, so my husband did it for me.

We had no idea what had happened, but found out from witnesses that someone hit a parked car as they were parking. The parked car that got hit rolled across the parking lot and hit us – thus, the absence of a driver. (In other words: Car A was parking and hit Car B. Car B rolled across the parking lot with no driver after getting hit by Car A and ran into us, Car C.)

It was a very minor accident, but scary, nonetheless. It made me very thankful for my family, thankful for a reliable car seat, and thankful that the car seat was on the passenger side of our vehicle.

I did some research after I got home, and was grateful that we will not need to replace our car seat.

Check back tomorrow to see which types of accidents make it possible for you to continue using your child’s car seat safely.

Tea Tree Oil: Worth The Risks?

I’ll admit it. I jumped on the tea tree oil bandwagon, and I don’t want to get off.

Tea tree oil is said to have numerous uses and health benefits. From relieving the itch of insect bites and speeding up the healing process of cuts and bruises, to clearing up acne and curing athletes food, it seems there is nothing tea tree oil can’t do.

I didn’t start using tea tree oil until I came across recipes for homemade baby wipe solutions that called for a couple drops of the oil. My baby has always had sensitive, diaper-rash-prone skin, and a few sprays of the solution cleared her rash up in no time.

Because I had a bottle of tea tree oil on hand, I began looking up other uses for it.

During my pregnancy, I developed a slight case of tinea versicolor. I didn’t treat it with medication, because I didn’t want to risk hurting my unborn baby. Because I waited quite awhile to treat it, it spread to cover most of my upper arms, neck, and a little on my chest. It isn’t noticeable now, but it will be once I get tan in the summer. I did a little research to see what tea tree oil could do for it.

During my research, I discovered that tea tree oil can indeed clear up tinea versicolor; however, it was also during this research that I became a little wary of using tea tree oil on my baby or myself, or even having it in the house.

Every article written about the benefits of tea tree oil contains a similar warning: “Do not take tea tree oil internally.” I was shocked to read that if an adult consumes a teaspoon of tea tree oil, it can be fatal. I didn’t even want to think about what an accidental ingestion of tea tree oil would do to an infant.

In addition, tea tree oil has been found to alter hormone levels. When tea tree oil was used on young boys, some of them grew breasts. Scary!

The articles all shared a second warning: “Do not use if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.”

To be fair, I realize that many products state that a woman should not use their product of pregnant or breastfeeding. The product manufacturers want mothers to check with their doctor before using any product to make sure it is safe in their individual situation.

And yes, tea tree oil is fatal if swallowed. That is alarming when thinking of how children put everything in their mouths. However, I bet that many dishwashing and cleaning products are also fatal if swallowed.

Tea tree oil alters hormone levels. What other unnatural products are in my home that might do the same thing?

I’ve made the decision to keep the tea tree oil around, because I still prefer to use it over other unnatural medications that are probably just as bad for a person. However, I have completely stopped using it daily on my baby’s butt, and only use it on my rash when mixed with body wash – that way it isn’t sitting on and being absorbed into my skin.

What are your thoughts and experiences with tea tree oil? Is it something a parent should be concerned about?

My Baby's "Big-Girl" Car Seat

Although my only child is an infant, I feel like I have a small window into the world of parents sending their kids off to their first day of school. They dab at their eyes with tissues, give tearful hugs, then burst into tears as they (or the school bus) drive(s) away. They exclaim, “It’s too soon!” What gave me this insight? Today, my daughter will be riding in a convertible car seat for the first time.

I can’t believe she already outgrew her infant car seat. It seems like only yesterday that we were putting her in the car seat for the first time, taking her home from the hospital. She used to look so tiny in it.

Part of the reason I don’t feel ready is because I thought she’d be in it a lot longer. I wasn’t expecting her to outgrow it before she was 6 months old.

I know I’m being silly, and that a car seat is just a thing. It doesn’t really matter what she rides in, as long as she’s safe. I don’t care, though. I want her to always ride in that little infant car seat. She’s getting too big!

Our local Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) office has an awesome program where they give families free car seats as soon as they need them. Since our daughter is approaching the weight limits of her infant car seat, they made an appointment to set us up with a new one. I thought it would just be a matter of me picking it up and bringing it home. I figured I could spend a few days “getting to know” the new car seat before actually installing it into our car.

I was wrong. I spoke with the lady from WIC today, and she cheerfully informed me that they help me take out our old infant car seat, properly install the new car seat, and that my daughter gets to ride home in it today. Isn’t that wonderful?

No, it’s not wonderful. Yes, it’s wonderful that they are so generous and helpful. Yes, it’s wonderful that the car seat will be installed properly. I just don’t feel ready for it yet.

At this rate, somebody be better to sedate me on the first day of kindergarten. College? Don’t even talk about it!