I love it because I don't have to lug that heavy seat (with a heavy baby in it) in and out of the car everywhere I go. Now I just get to lug the heavy baby with me. Griffin loves facing forward, and who could blame him? I mean, for the past 12 months the only thing he could really see when facing the other way was a grey headrest. Not very exciting.
Just as much as I'm thrilled to not have to carry that carseat around, I miss it because if Griffin fell asleep, we could just carry him into the house like that without a problem. Now, we have to wake him up and try to get him to fall back asleep in his crib. And you know what they say about the best laid plans...
The problem with this seat is that as much as Griffin loves facing forward, he hates getting into the seat. First thing in the morning isn't too bad - he's still tired and excited to be getting outside. It's the afternoon that's a killer. He's over tired and kind of cranky. He might be hungry and probably just really wants to play or walk. But then there I am, trying to stuff into that car seat for his own safety and all. How horrible of me. The kid can throw a total meltdown - to the point that he will somehow manage to escape from the arm straps and end up standing up in the carseat and facing the headrest. Maybe he really did like that view.
It was causing me a lot of stress. He did it every day when I picked him up from day care. Our provider had to get him in the seat because he would fight it so bad for me. He did it in the parking lot at Target, our local grocery store, and his doctor's office. Screaming. Crying. Straightening his legs. The works. I would stand there and sweat and swear just trying to get him in the car. Think of a swear word and I said it.
Then I had an idea...
As we walked to the car one morning, I handed Griffin his Baby Einstein musical duck and his face lit up. I grabbed him, got him in the seat, and secured the seatbelt, all while he pushed the buttons and listened to the music. Success! And it has worked ever since. I told Patrick today that I don't care if I have to do this every day until he outgrows this seat because a) it works and b) I'm not sweating my ass off in my day care provider's driveway and various parking lots trying to get him in the carseat all while strangers think I'm abusing my son.
So thank you Baby Einstein duck. I love you {and I don't care how annoying and repetitive your songs can be, I would gladly have your music haunt my dreams just so Griffin keeps getting into his carseat without any problems}.
2 comments:
Samantha is the queen of "just one more thing." Every time we go to put her in her car seat, never mind that there are about 568 toys in our cars, she always comes up with one last thing she needs. So inevitably, Mommy or Daddy trudges back into the house to grab the little white blanket, or the Dora doll, or the sticker book, or the stuffed Kung Fu Panda, or the Ariel umbrella, or her red Goddard backpack, or...well, you get the idea.
The kicker is that once you get it, and her eyes light up, and she screams because she's so happy to see it, and you climb in the front seat and start the car, and you put it in reverse...she needs another one more thing. And when you refuse to get that thing because, seriously, you already said the previous thing was the last thing you were going to get and let's just get going, already, she screams in the other, bad way. For a while.
Luckily, eventually she gives up and starts being cute. So we've got that going for us, which is nice.
I can picture him now...:). I can remember going through the same things with my kids--some more than others. It happened way more with my first than with the others because I hadn't really developed my mommy voice yet. Having something to redirect attention is a lifesaver. I'm so glad he has a duck he enjoys!
On another note--how did you get the picture at the bottom of your post?
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