Vent Sophia rode in a booster....multiple times...

And my DH was the one who put her there :thumbsdown:


I sold Sophia's Radian and ordered her a Frontier. The lapse in between left me without a seat so I dug up E's Vivo to use in the mean time. I didn't change seats around or anything. Just put the Vivo where S's seat used to be. My plan was that Sophia would go to the Prosport (normally E's ride) and E would use the Vivo. Not a hard concept. There is one booster and one harnessed seat. Not hard to figure out who goes where

Well obviously it was.

I took Sophia to the store in DH's car (the whole booster thing was in my car). I put her in the Radian that was in that car and buckle her and she pats it and says "this my booster?". I was kinda confused cause she doesn't even know what a booster is. THen I remember the Vivo and think she must have seen it so that's why she is asking. I tell her no, you can't have a booster. You are too little. She says "but daddy says yes." I ask her what she means and she says "Daddy let me ride in the black booster seat. I a big girl now!".

What?!?!?!?! I asked her several times, did you ride while the car was moving? And she said yes.

So I asked DH if he put her in a booster and he says "yeah, why?". Umm the kid is 3! She just got done rear facing like a month ago! His reasoning? "well it was in her spot. I figured it was for her. She weighs more than Evelyn and Evelyn can ride in it." Okay, I get it. It makes sense. I tried to explain she's too young. It doesn't go by weight. It goes by age. Just like rear facing. He doesn't get it. Now he's pissed at me for being pissed.

But now Sophia walks around saying "I not 5. I can't ride in a booster Daddy. I not safe!". That irritates him even more

I don't even wanna think about her teeny little body in a booster in an accident Thank goodness it was a booster that fits littles good though. BUt honestly, I don't even know if he knows how to use a booster! I don't think he's ever done it. It was in my car which he never drives but he had to cause I was at the hospital with Evelyn.

:doh: to DH. But, at least everything is fine, no one was hurt.

And I LOL @ Sophia telling Daddy she's not safe now

I feel your pain. My 27 pound 3 year old told me a few days ago that daddy lets her ride in the Turbo and my 16 pound baby rides FF in her EFTA. What is with these hubbies?! Mine didn't even have the excuse yours did-- he was just being dumb, plain and simple.

Im sorry. That had to be really scary to find that out.
But, she's okay. He had good reasoning (for a man!). It sounds like he meant well.

He knows the right way to do things now. If he's sorry and realizes he was wrong I'd move on.

Its a great time to teach that even adults can make mistakes.

Makes me glad we only have one so the seat that I put in is the seat she uses

When I was nannying I had the two girls I watched (one was 7 in a TB, the other a little over 1 and rf) and Peg with me. I had turned Peg ff just for the day because there was no way to fit two rf seats and a booster in my car. She got in and I told her to scoot over to her seat in the middle. She looks at me and says "no, I ride backwards" she was legitimately peeved that the baby got to face backwards and she didn't lol.

I've learned that DH's aren't really trainable... but kids are lol

don't be too mad at him... I totally get his reasoning...

obviously, if this situation comes up again, I'd leave little post-its on the seat... or brief him.

Unless you spelled it out for him, I would have expected 95% of parents, male or female, to do the same thing.

I can also feel your pain. Marcus has rode in a booster a few times, a backless one no less. I can see my DH doing the same thing as your's if I had left a booster in his car.

The last time Marcus rode in a booster was my fault really. I forgot to leave my MIL his seat when I dropped him off. She had to leave the house to go take something to my FIL & all she had was the backless boosters. She called me & begged me not to be mad at her. I was not as it was my own fault. Sigh. Since then I leave the seat no matter what.

Kat_Momof3 said:

don't be too mad at him... I totally get his reasoning...

obviously, if this situation comes up again, I'd leave little post-its on the seat... or brief him.

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I like the post-its idea - sometimes it's best to really spell things out. as upset as I would have been if I'd been in your shoes and found that my 3YO had been riding in a booster, I'd have to remind myself that car seat best practice is not as ingrained in his brain as mine, and that he'd feel about as lost as I would if I were to, say, try to figure out which of the dozens of different types of caulk he has in the garage would be the right one to use on the window sill.

(fortunately for me, though - with twins, it's never been an issue if DH put them in the wrong seat b/c up until I got DD1 the Air Booster for her long legs, they always had the same kind of seat!)

Splash said:

Unless you spelled it out for him, I would have expected 95% of parents, male or female, to do the same thing.

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I make sure to brief dh before I leave him with a couple kids (because he can fit a couple in his car- no more) or if he wants to take a kid (or two) in his car. Usually the briefing is just- "you'll need to pull the headrest up" or "you'll need to push the headrest down", but there's now a car seat in his car and the instruction is "put ds2 in the car seat and tighten the straps" and "Dd3 can ride in the booster".

Dh has been known to take dd1 in his car with no booster. She's well over the legal minimum we had when she was 5, so it's really over the top to make her sit in a booster at double that age....

Splash said:

Unless you spelled it out for him, I would have expected 95% of parents, male or female, to do the same thing.

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I kinda figured I had in a way, but not directly I guess. I've told him multiple times E couldn't ride in a booster even part time till she turned 5. He knew that was why she was still in a harness. I've told him tons of times it won't be full time booster use till she hits 40 lbs. He has asked tons of times when he can have a booster for her in his car and I've said she has to be 5 and 40 lbs. He partners with a guy at work who does seat checks and he watches this guy do all the checks(he actually knows more about CPS than the tech does.) so he isn't completely clueless and knows the rules and laws. And I figured cause I've said over and over E needs to be 5 for part time and 40 lbs for full time, he kinda woulda carried that over to Sophia. Being as she isn't even close to 5.

But you are right, I should have told him directly. It didn't come up cause we never switch cars but with E in the hospital things got messed up with the car situation. I didn't even think of the booster being in my car (cause it never is), so when he left the hospital to pick up Sophia and Joseph from the sitter that day in my car, I honestly never even thought of it being in there. I guess my mind was just on Evelyn. Then we didn't go anywhere after surgery for like 3 days so I wasn't back in my car to even remember the booster but he took her a bunch of times in my car. It was such a jumble. I didn't even remember the booster even being in my car until I took Sophia out and about yesterday and she brought it up. But he knows now and guess that's all that matters

Don't feel bad. I didn't find out until the girls were grown that they got to take turns riding in the front seat on dh's briefcase. Granted that was before airbags and the older 2 were out of boosters at that point. Probably. It's hard to remember what was what back then. But now, the idea of it is appalling.

Wow.

I'm very, very appreciative of my husband right now.

YIKES!!! i like the post-it idea!

fyrfightermomma said:

The lapse in between left me without a seat so I dug up E's Vivo to use in the mean time. I didn't change seats around or anything. Just put the Vivo where S's seat used to be. My plan was that Sophia would go to the Prosport (normally E's ride) and E would use the Vivo. Not a hard concept. There is one booster and one harnessed seat. Not hard to figure out who goes where

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It was just an honest mistake. I'm sure it seemed odd to him, but he likely just proceeded with normal probably thinking you would have said something if you switched the kids car seats up. It probably would have thrown him off even more if you had put E's car seat in S's place and put the Vivo intended for E in her usual place. I'm sure he would have wondered why you switched E's seat place. See what I'm saying? Honest mistake- it sounds like you are the "seat master" and he relies on you to keep him informed. So take pride in your position and that he relies upon you to help him keep the kiddos safe, and go easy on the guy. The good thing is that nobody was hurt thankfully!