Car seat safety is so important. Yet, for some reason, I don’t see many people talk about it after the infant and toddler stage. In fact, I see most people excited to rush their littles out of safety seats as soon as possible. I just really don’t get it. I want to do everything possible to keep my little safe and I believe that you want to do the same for your littles so I always figure that people just don’t know the law or statistics behind car seat safety. Or that people are unaware of their options. Or maybe both! Not to fret. That’s why I’m here. Let’s talk Big Kid Style car safety.
According to the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles,
“New York State law requires that:
- all children under the age of 4 ride in child safety seats
- all children ride in child restraint systems until their 8th birthday
Safety seats and child restraint systems must be certified according to Federal Motor Vehicles Safety Standard 213.
An appropriate child safety restraint system:
- is required for all children until their 8th birthday
- must meet the size and weight requirements for the child based on the Federal requirements and the recommendations of the manufacturer
- can be a child safety seat, a harness, a vest, or a booster seat attached with the vehicle seat belt system, but not the vehicle seat belt alone
- should not be used in the front seat of the vehicle”
Similar laws exist around the country yet by the time our littles reach eight, many of them have already been out of their booster seats for a few years! I remember learning a few years ago that Black and Latino children die in car accidents at higher rates because they are up to ten times less likely to be restrained. You can read my post about it, here.
JustaBXgirl turned 8 this year. That means that technically she is not required to be in a child restraint system under NY law. Does that mean we got rid of her seat? Nope. I have shared my reasons for wanting her to stay in a seat and she gets it. And she happens to love her seat. The thing is, we just got a new (used) car! Yup, we moved and got a new vehicle in the same year. Trust me, I count every blessing!
Our new car has a lot of plusses over our old car except for the fact that it is smaller. Her safety seat no longer fit! Cue all of the tears. Neither of us was happy about the change. While trying to figure out what to do, we used her extra booster that I kept around for when we were in friend’s cars. We weren’t happy with it as a full-time solution though so I was overjoyed when our friends at ClypX reached out to share information about the ComfiGO.
This seat allows JustaBXgirl feel grown in her seat because it doesn’t look like a traditional booster. One of the reasons I hear people let their littles out of restraint systems early is because they don’t want to “feel like a baby.” This allows our littles to feel bigger while still giving the support and protection needed. It takes up so much less space that you can easily fit three across a back seat so it is an ideal option for families with multiple littles.
We’ve been using this seat for about two months. I am excited that we will truly never need to get a new booster seat. This is an ideal option for those with littles over 4 years old and over 40 pounds. This seat is designed to bring the safety belt down to the child rather than lifting the child up to the belt. That means that there is absolutely no bulk. It is convenient to use in more than one vehicle as it takes no time to install, and only has to be readjusted as your child grows. Heading out in a friend’s car, toss it in your bag. I look forward to taking it with us when we get back to traveling.
