I think my girlfriend might be pregnant

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Morning sickness is tough. I had it my entire pregnancy. It usually improves after the first trimester, though.

I agree. Completely stupid.

I'm not a fan of government intrusion into the rights of families. Here in the US, DHS can take your kids away pretty much just for having a runny nose and a bad day at school. The problem with car seats and things like that is that there are so many freakin' rules it's impossible to be any kind of parent and follow them all. The biggest thing you ever have to worry about is if someone holds a grudge or turns psychotic and reports you. It's like if the fuzz gets behind you while you're driving. You can be going the exact speed limit, adjust your a/c, drift towards the shoulder just a little, and you get blue-lit because of "suspicious driving." Happened to me once, and it ended with a breathalyzer. In a similar way, there's entirely too much that the government puts on families that you have to wonder why people choose to reproduce in the first place.

I think you're absolutely right in that it's easy to sell things when laws state you have to have them. Cars already have to meet safety standards, right? So why do we need booster seats? Are cars that unsafe? Even with seat belts and air bags? And why assume you'll even be in an accident at all? You're following the law, right? So if the car is unsafe and crashes happen because other people are disobeying the law, would not car companies and misbehaving individuals be responsible for injuries to you and your passengers regardless of age? And what empirical evidence shows improved outcomes with boosters? There's no real problem except people want to make money, and unreasonable legislation dealing with safety is the perfect opportunity for corporations to scam families.

The REALITY is that judges and law enforcement all know how asinine these regs are. What are they going to do, set up mandatory checkpoints every 5 blocks with measuring tape to see exactly how tall your child is and whether your booster seat is compliant? And how do they know how old your child is? Do THEY know what a compliant seat is? In my experience, they check for up to 6 months after a new law rolls out and then you never see them again. You're not going to get written up on this stuff unless you're already doing something that's obviously wrong. Otherwise, they know good and well these laws are unenforceable.

It's always a good idea to sock away extra cash just in case things get weird and you do get fined for something off-the-wall. But you can't be a good parent and deal with all this anxiety. If you're like a lot of parents, the first time you have a child, you're gonna freak out over EVERYTHING. By the time you have your third, you'll be like, meh...oh, is Sally playing over by the hydrofluoric acid again? Well, if she starts coughing, bring her back over here, ok?

Ok...this is Retro's thread, I know, so my apologies. Something odd happened at Rho's house this morning. Mrs. Rho aka Best Friend didn't finish her coffee this morning and left it on the night table. This evening, she noticed the smell (it's just coffee) and it was bothering her. She took the cup away and complained she could STILL smell it. Best Friend is NEVER overly sensitive to smells, unless...

.... unless she's autistic?

Good luck with that!

We're not getting our hopes up, especially since after what happened last time.

Let's just say it's not that we aren't trying for a baby. We're just not not trying. Whatever happens, happens.

I just think it would be pretty dang hilarious if our due dates are in the same month. IDK...pregnancy and menopause have very similar symptoms, and we're not getting any younger.

In my province (and all 13 provinces and territories are almost identical) it's a rear facing seat for at least one year and 22lb, forward facing until 40lbs and then a booster seat until they hit either 9 or 4'9" in height. I would imagine most first world countries are nearly identical. It is rather silly that I can drive in Canada or the US and that's 63 different regulations: how on earth can anybody be expected to know them all?

Having said that, don't underestimate the important of car seats: I was rear ended when my baby was only an infant and instead of potentially serious injury, he was just startled before going right back to sleep.

Lol....I would have had to sit in a car seat until I was 13. That’s when I hit 4 foot 9.

I believe that car seats have been proven to be safer for kids below a certain height, so it makes sense on that front.

It’s not all that difficult to follow the laws and rules that are out there. People aren’t eagerly looking for opportunities to take kids away from their families.

Look up laws, follow them, and if you mess up on something small, you’ll probably just have to pay a small fine or be given a warning or, perhaps most likely, just a nudge in the right direction.

Not difficult or scary.

I see very few children not in car seats these days.

If you have questions about car seats (installation or age and weight regulations), you can ask your local police station or, sometimes, fire station.

They’ll be more than happy to help you.

Cars which are less than 10 years old (and some older ones, too) have special places where one could insert car seats. It's not difficult once you do it it a couple of times.

They can still be a little tricky. I think I watched videos on YouTube and asked for an opinion at the police station before I had my kid.

They are pro education these days.

I think every car built after 2002 has an UAS (Universal Anchorage System) located under the seats and is marked with a little logo. It is tough at first but you will get the hang of it very quickly. I was quite surprised that when we left the hospital all they do it check to make sure you strap your baby in properly, your car seat hasn't expired and looks to be in good shape: I would have assumed they would have made sure you can put it in the car but overall it isn't difficult. Still, my parents and her parents can't seem to figure it out and I always have to double check their work.

Don't listen to the naysayers: while CPS or the equivalent can potentially be a pain in the butt you have to remember they are just doing their jobs, don't want to cause any difficulties to anyone and they bend over backwards to keep children with their parents even when it is obvious they aren't being cared for properly. Even though you have frustrated me in the past here at WP there is nothing that suggests you won't be anything less than an excellent parent.


While the rear to front facing has to reach both milestones to lose the booster it just has to be one or the other. If you don't reach 4'9" by your 9th birthday it doesn't matter. I think I would probably have been 6 or 7 at that height!

I once knew an 8-year-old who was about 5 foot 3.

The thing is: a car seat is an absolute must. Retro seems like the kind of guy who can pull this off. If he has difficulty, then the girlfriend could take a stab at it.

Right, but there’s no harm in getting it checked out if you’re at all concerned or have any questions.

Lots of parents do so. It’s not a big deal. It’s perfectly normal.

Sometimes fire stations schedule free sessions for parents about car seats and the regulations in that area, and if you want, they’ll check to see if your car seat is properly installed.

Not a big deal.

I also took advantage of free classes that my hospital offered (birthing, breastfeeding, and infant care).

I highly recommend looking into The Happiest Baby on the Block training videos. The information in them was so helpful and worked!

Being prepared went a long way towards soothing my own anxiety and nervousness at the time.

Easy for you to say when you're not the one dealing with a social worker on a power trip. Although I've noticed that "the system" has made more of an effort to place kids with extended family whenever possible. One of our neighbors has a disturbed daughter who legit is a danger to her children. The last couple of times she went into labor, there were police officers and two social workers waiting right outside the delivery room ready to pick the baby up. I don't know what happened to them, but I think it's her oldest daughter lives with grandparents. What's scary is they'll do the same if someone is so much as accused of something. Long story short, what happened to us is we had good reason to think we knew who was calling CPS on us. We never named the person, but it was enough of a concern and it got through the rumor mill that something was happening that my supervisor at the time called a meeting with my employer. I made a point of not doing this alone. My supervisor started to realize that we believed it was someone he was closely related to after we made it clear we were about to go the police and that we already had a lawyer on standby. The tone of that meeting changed quickly, with my boss saying, "I can't tell you what to do, but I'm ASKING that you keep quiet about it." Certain people kept their distance from us after that, but there was never again a problem.

I dislike constantly referring to our drama, because what happens to us doesn't happen to normal people. I don't like being the exception when everyone else has a normal, happy life. But, Twilight, I think you understand probably more than anyone else here as a mandated reporter that life doesn't always go as it should. False accusations are made, children end up in foster homes where they are abused by older children. It's not justice when one person's crusade ends in further disaster for the victims.


On this I agree. To be honest, I think the laws are really there as a way to codify common sense. When it comes to laws that affect families, I think it's more important to follow the spirit of the law rather than the letter. If it seems a law is too complicated or serves no purpose but to trap you, it's probably just because there was ONE idiot who did something extraordinarily stupid and some rich white woman lost her daughter in the process. Think about what you do every day as matter of habit to keep yourself safe, and then fit that into the context of an infant or small child. If you don't freak out about your own safety because you can follow common sense, you won't ever have to worry about laws about your kids.