My UO (at least it seems to be around here) is : Car seat safety and guidelines aren't opinion. They are scientifically backed/tested and they should be followed.
No, your coat in carseat wearing, forward facing 18 month old child (who is just now reaching 20lbs) is, in fact NOT as safe as my rear facing, almost 2yo old. It doesn't matter how you argue it, it's not going to change the safety.
Yes! Yes! Yes! And this extends to school age children. Your 30lb 3yo old should not be in a high back booster with a seatbelt and your 6yo doesn’t belong in the front seat with a seatbelt. Also, car seat accessories not sold with your car seat have not been tested and could cause harm to your child in an accident. I don’t get how people can ignore these facts, wouldn’t you want your kid to be as safe as possible?
I will say, I’ve known a few moms who have turned their LO around as soon as they could because their kid got motion sickness or screamed bloody murder rear facing. I understand that.
ETA: DS (2.5 and 36lbs) is still RF, but we will be turning him very soon because we can only have one RF seat in our car. DH is tall so it has to go behind the passenger seat and I want to turn him around as my belly grows so I can be a little farther away from the airbag.
@kiwi - excuse me, but how is leaving a dog in a place that is never exposed to sunlight, and impossible to get above the ambient temperature (which is reasonable for humans or dogs) any different than leaving the dog for an extended period of time in a kennel?
No, I would never, and have never left my dog in a car to run into a CVS, or to complete any other errand- to the point of having this exact conversation with with employees at gas stations when taking road trips.
I’m with kiwi on this one. If the window is open, they can get out. If it’s not open, there is a risk of the temp going up no matter where it is. At a kennel, there is someone watching them (presumably). To me it’s not any different than a kid - if you wouldn’t leave your kid for 2 hours in a car, don’t leave a dog. Maybe that’s my UO. Other than that I’m as pretty “free range” as they go. Not sure there will be any agreement on this though so happy to chalk this up to it being the UO thread and letting it lie.
My UO is that I hate ketchup and applesauce and my toddler always tries to feed me both.
Wow, I look forward to seeing my 30lb dog get out of a 3” crack in the windows.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree on this. I do want to be there when you guys call the cops on someone for leaving their dog in a car parked in an underground garage.
@cdepperschmidt Same here. DS will have to turn forward once the infant seat goes back in the car. Right now he’s 18 months and weighs 28 pounds and I wish I didn’t have to turn him at 2 years old.
I hope I don’t start something that ended already but in my opinion there’s quite the difference between a dog and a child. Hence why you can leave dogs in a kennel at home during some of the day and not a child lol. No, they should not be sitting in a car in the hot sun. But an underground garage for a couple of hours (probably napping) with water and the window down a little bit? I just don’t see anything wrong with that. If she had the decency to make sure there was water and fresh air I’m sure she cares about the well being of the dog and felt it would be ok
+1 for cool ranch. But even better...the ranch buffalo wings ones!! Soooo good. Also sun chips. All the sun chips. I’ll take anything from Taco Bell as long as I have a handful (or 2) of diablo sauce. And Baja blast mt dew. If they’re out of it I’ll straight up walk out! Right now I’d probably cry. As for the dog thing...when I need to leave mine in my car for any amount of time I open the window enough for him to stick his big head out and leave it running with the AC on. He’s a huge scary shepherd and nobody will be trying to steal my car with him in there and my windows are super dark so it’s hard to see that I’m not in there. Most of the time when he rides though it’s in the back of the truck. (No he won’t jump out unless the tailgate is down) We let him stay back there while we shop/see a movie etc. I don’t ever worry about him because I leave him unleashed so he won’t get tangled on anything and I leave water for him. He’s just fine and much happier than if we’d leave him home by himself! He looooves people watching. I did put a beware of dog sticker on the truck window becuse some idiots think it’s ok to pet a huge strange dog without asking!
not that we can't all have opinions, but isn't the point of a thread like this to be able to share our possibly unpopular ones somewhat freely? i think of this as a way of sharing something that normally i would keep to myself to avoid having to defend myself or cause arguments. just thinking that we can disagree without calling out someone for doing exactly what this thread asks for...
...but that may be my own UO and it is very possible that others are here for just that sort of exchange!
@norahkate - I actually kind of think of this as a DMZ- we can all express our opinions, realizing that there will be people who don’t agree. (Like the gun control debate from a few weeks ago, and also the tablets for toddlers discussion.)
Honestly, yes, the people who disagreed with me pissed me off, but their opinion is just as unpopular with me as mine appears to be with them. I’m pretty sure that there isn’t anything they can say that will change my opinion, and probably vice versa. But we are both entitled to our opinions.
@knottieamusements if you post something on the internet, people are going to have opinions. Can't police other peoples opinions. I think its mean, you don't. Differences are fine. But when something is illegal (like leaving a dog in a car) AND ethically wrong/ambiguous, I am going to call the cops to potentially save a life. In my state people get fined $500 for leaving a dog in a car. And in a kennel means they are indoors at regulated temperatures and someone is watching them, or at least minimizes the chance of injury.
https://blog.gopetfriendly.com/is-it-illegal-to-leave-your-pet-alone-in-the-car/ - thats the list of states and their regulations, just FYI. If your state isn't on there, good for you and your opinions. If it is, maybe consider not doing it in the future so you don't get called on and get an unnecessary, expensive ticket.
@knottieamusements if you post something on the internet, people are going to have opinions. Can't police other peoples opinions. I think its mean, you don't. Differences are fine. But when something is illegal (like leaving a dog in a car) AND ethically wrong/ambiguous, I am going to call the cops to potentially save a life. In my state people get fined $500 for leaving a dog in a car. And in a kennel means they are indoors at regulated temperatures and someone is watching them, or at least minimizes the chance of injury.
https://blog.gopetfriendly.com/is-it-illegal-to-leave-your-pet-alone-in-the-car/ - thats the list of states and their regulations, just FYI. If your state isn't on there, good for you and your opinions. If it is, maybe consider not doing it in the future so you don't get called on and get an unnecessary, expensive ticket.
I never said that you aren’t entitled to your opinion, I simply said that I disagree with it and would be happy to watch you defend your position to a cop for a dog that was in a similar position to mine- with water, in a well ventilated car, parked underground.
I have reviewed the blog post that you so kindly provided, and I stand by my position- for every state whose statutes are summarized. In addition, I would point out that the very first item noted in the how not to run afoul of the laws section at the bottom is to park in the shade - an underground parking garage is certainly well shaded.
The baby on board sign is to signal to emergency crews that there is a child in the car, in case of an accident and you are unable to communicate.
I guess this is my UO.. I know that that is their actual purpose, but I still think they are unnecessary since emergency crews are already well trained to look for passengers and small children. Like they're not just going to not look if there's no "baby on board" sticker.
*lurker*
This. What if the emergency workers approach from the front of the car? Yea, I'm sure the first thing they're going to do is run around the car real quick to check for a sticker.
Additionally, children aren't the only people who can't communicate. What about elderly or disabled people who may not be able to respond? Or adults who were hurt in the accident and can't communicate? A baby will probably cry or scream unless they can't, the same as an adult.
So if you have a baby on board sticker to alert first responders (which I think is kind of a dumb reason, but whatever), then do you make sure to remove the sticker whenever the baby isn’t in the car? Or first responders could be needlessly wasting time/putting themselves in danger looking for a baby who was never in the car to begin with?
Re: UO Thursday 3/29
I will say, I’ve known a few moms who have turned their LO around as soon as they could because their kid got motion sickness or screamed bloody murder rear facing. I understand that.
ETA: DS (2.5 and 36lbs) is still RF, but we will be turning him very soon because we can only have one RF seat in our car. DH is tall so it has to go behind the passenger seat and I want to turn him around as my belly grows so I can be a little farther away from the airbag.
No, I would never, and have never left my dog in a car to run into a CVS, or to complete any other errand- to the point of having this exact conversation with with employees at gas stations when taking road trips.
My UO is that I hate ketchup and applesauce and my toddler always tries to feed me both.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree on this. I do want to be there when you guys call the cops on someone for leaving their dog in a car parked in an underground garage.
As for the dog thing...when I need to leave mine in my car for any amount of time I open the window enough for him to stick his big head out and leave it running with the AC on. He’s a huge scary shepherd and nobody will be trying to steal my car with him in there and my windows are super dark so it’s hard to see that I’m not in there. Most of the time when he rides though it’s in the back of the truck. (No he won’t jump out unless the tailgate is down) We let him stay back there while we shop/see a movie etc. I don’t ever worry about him because I leave him unleashed so he won’t get tangled on anything and I leave water for him. He’s just fine and much happier than if we’d leave him home by himself! He looooves people watching. I did put a beware of dog sticker on the truck window becuse some idiots think it’s ok to pet a huge strange dog without asking!
...but that may be my own UO and it is very possible that others are here for just that sort of exchange!
Honestly, yes, the people who disagreed with me pissed me off, but their opinion is just as unpopular with me as mine appears to be with them. I’m pretty sure that there isn’t anything they can say that will change my opinion, and probably vice versa. But we are both entitled to our opinions.
https://blog.gopetfriendly.com/is-it-illegal-to-leave-your-pet-alone-in-the-car/ - thats the list of states and their regulations, just FYI. If your state isn't on there, good for you and your opinions. If it is, maybe consider not doing it in the future so you don't get called on and get an unnecessary, expensive ticket.
I have reviewed the blog post that you so kindly provided, and I stand by my position- for every state whose statutes are summarized. In addition, I would point out that the very first item noted in the how not to run afoul of the laws section at the bottom is to park in the shade - an underground parking garage is certainly well shaded.
This. What if the emergency workers approach from the front of the car? Yea, I'm sure the first thing they're going to do is run around the car real quick to check for a sticker.
Additionally, children aren't the only people who can't communicate. What about elderly or disabled people who may not be able to respond? Or adults who were hurt in the accident and can't communicate? A baby will probably cry or scream unless they can't, the same as an adult.
I roll my eyes at anyone who has these stickers.