So do we just keep our mouths shut? 3yo and no carseat

thatoneredhead · July 2012

My aunt and her boyfriend have a 3yo daughter. A few months ago, I was picking her up from her dad (they had gone out, got a baby sitter, but drank more than they thought they would, so asked me to get her- so I mean, they are usually on top of it when it comes to her safety) I asked where her carseat was. He said it was a pain to get out and she goes without one alot times, so we were fine. I was shocked. I told him since my tags were expired I absolutely had to have one- oh yeah- and because that is ridiculously unsafe. I was hoping it was the alcohol talking.

So just the other day, he is picking her up from my moms house, no carseat in his car. Well the baby's much older sister freaks out and gets my mom. So hes trying to get her in the car and here comes my mom running out with a carseat. It really made him mad.

He calls my aunt and tells her how we all undermine his parenting and he has the final say etc. When it came up in my conversation with her she totally defended him and said that since its his kid, its his call. I totally agree with that theory 99% of the time, but dang. Thats just plain ol' against the law and for good reason. Oh! and on top of just not agreeing, we are not allowed to even say anything to him.

So there goes my little cousin, all 30 lbs of her, no carseat. If I hear "parents hover so much now" or "We didnt have carseats back in the day" from him one more time Im going to scream. Im not sure if Im asking for advice or venting.

EMOmamma · July 2012

Call the cops. The parents obviously won't listen to you. If you know he's on the road with her not in a carseat call & give an approx location & descroption of the car - say you just saw them drive by and let them deal with it.

joleine · July 2012

You need to report them to CPS. I know it's family, but you don't mess around with car seats. When I took my car to the police station to have the car seats inspected, that is what the police told me to do if I saw someone/knew someone who didn't use car seats.

JuneBugBaby2012 · July 2012

That makes me so sad. The child has no choice to become a projectile when her father gets in an accident. I hate seeing little kids roaming around the car. I'd probably make an anonymous "passer-by" phone call.

cchill01 · July 2012

I'd go with trying to call the police when you know where they are. If you go the CPS route, they'll know it was you. But, honestly, it probably won't make a darn bit of difference. If he's that stupid, a ticket won't change anything. Very sad.