In the final preparations for Baby Kate, we have been cleaning up Will’s car seat. As Will was a normal sized child, he used the infant car seat for a little over a year, until he was big enough for a toddler seat. (FYI to folks without kids: this is very rare. Most infant car seats are used for only 6 or so months.) The seat is a basic Graco Snugride model and retailed for about $80 when we bought it.
Infant seats are one of the things child safety organizations recommend buying new so that you can be sure the safety standards are up to date, etc. I am starting to wonder about this. My theory: the recommendation against used car seats is not due to safety concerns from accidents or misuse. It’s really just about germs and protecting parents from having gross-out moments…the reality is that babies are messy and some messes just don’t go away.
We washed the linen covers… producing black water in the washing machine. This wasn’t entirely surprising since it had been stored (covered) in an attic for the past 18 months. Now those who read this know me and know that I am NOT a messy or dirty person. Things like black water cause a bit of a freak out. But, after a few more washings they are okay. Or at least I am okay with them.
Now I’m trying to tackle the car seat unit itself. Ick. A year of infant use means the straps are messy and gunk is stuck into uncleanable places. (Even dunking the plastic parts in the pool didn’t really help — you can’t dunk the whole thing due to the foam attachments but I did my best.)
So I’m stuck. Am I over-reacting? Am I being too much of a clean freak? Or do I drop the $80 or so bucks on a new seat?
Gwen | 26-Apr-06 at 6:01 pm | Permalink
it’s fine!!! wipe it down with a few chlorox wipes and she’ll be great in it. save the $80 for something much more fun!