Transitioning into the bigger car seat...

"In bringing up children, spend on them half as much money and twice as much time." ~Author Unknown

Raychel is 20lbs and 27 inches! Our current car seat is a max of 22 lbs and we are waiting until she hits the max weight & height before installing the "big girl seat". I know we could technically do it now b/c she could use the other one since it starts at 5 lbs (guess we're trying to get the most bang for our buck) but it's doesn't go with our current travel set (yay Graco!).

Prior to having Raychel, I didn't know anything about car seat safety. Growing up, I took the bus or subway often and my memory of using a car seat during my early schooldays is blank. I don't recall if there were a lot of restrictions about car seats - or may be my family didn't see it as an issue (not trying to say they're unfit parents, who really knows why)?. So when I was doing my baby registry, we decided on two different sized car seats simply b-c we noticed a pattern that a lot of travel stroller sets didn't have car seats passed 22lbs so we would need another one for when she is bigger.

So where are we now? Preparing ourselves for the next car seat phase.

While I was pregnant, we learned in our pre-natal classes about the importance of having a car seat made in Canada since it's against the law to have any other car seat installed in your car b/c of our safety standards and laws. This fact was good to know b/c I have family in New Jersey and they could have easily bought us a car seat as a shower gift and we would sadly have to decline their thoughtful gesture. The instructor even said that we should have our car seat installed by a pro at either a police station or car seat clinic a few weeks before the due date to help us be prepared for the baby's arrival and departure from the hospital. Ray just told me that he paid $40 to have it installed at a clinic and we needed to book an appointment (no walk-ins at this location).

So where am I going with this blog entry? Well, I don't need to reiterate the importance of car seat safety and ensuring that your car seat is properly installed. I know (and hope) that it's engrained in your mind just like your own seat belt safety. Raychel is my precious cargo and we have been very fortunate to have a good properly installed rear-facing car seat all this time. Switching to a bigger seat b/c she has outgrown the max height and weight requires an acknowledgement that she's growing up (yikes) and that we have to take the same precautions to install the next one as we did before she was born.