[splach78]

How the HELL do you miss the sort of thing?

That's what I was wondering. I am in such a habit of getting my kids out of their carseats that I have found myself opening the back door of my car even when they aren't with me.

[FITZ]

I am in such a habit of getting my kids out of their carseats that I have found myself opening the back door of my car even when they aren't with me.

Putting kids in carseats in the backseats is part of the problem. A 3 year old could escape a hot locked car if he weren't tied up in a carseat, an infant is at high risk in the backseat strapped down because they fall asleep and can be forgotten. A small infant in a carseat should be placed in the front seat next to the parent.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I'm curious ... I'm not a parent, so I'm not up to date on the details of all the insane government regulations about how your own child is allowed to ride in your own car, but are infants required to be in the back seat in many states? I know older children, who are not riding in special car seats, are. If so, has there been an increase in these forgotten-in-the-car infant deaths that correlates with government decrees aimed at protecting children? My mother would never have dreamed of putting me in the back seat at any age, unless the front seat was occupied by someone else, but I gather it is now common for infants to ride in the back seat while their driving parent sits up front alone. Out of sight, out of mind, you know. Have ANY of these forgotten children been in the front seat? I'm quite sure that infant carseats either already exist or could be designed to be quite safe in the front seat, keeping the infant below windshield level, and protected from those insane airbags (which I will NEVER have in a car of mine).

[Poohbah]

I am in such a habit of getting my kids out of their carseats that I have found myself opening the back door of my car even when they aren't with me.

Thank God! My wife isn't the only one who does this!

[glory]

LOL--ditto here! I at least look back in the seats even when I know they are not there--I can't help myself.