How do you secure your "stuff" while traveling?

todzwife

New member
After reading about the little boy who was nearly scalped by his sippy cup, I realized we have way too much 'crap' floating around in the car. In an accident we'd have seventy bajillion projectiles flying at us.

I just ordered a cargo net for the SUV from the auto maker, but I'm unsure as to what exactly I need to eliminate in the car altogether.

What do you do about water bottles, snacks and sippy cups? I have a 20 oz kleen kanteen (insulated) that would do a number on someone's noggin if it got loose from the cup holder. Is the cup holder not an option?

What about the kids' leapsters? Books, barbies and the baby's rattle? She needs SOMETHING to do since she's essentially staring at the back seat.

Any suggestions are appreciated. I'm traveling alone with them several times this summer and I need us safe!
 
ADS

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
We only allow very lightweight paperback books, crayons and paper, and soft toys (like stuffed animals.) CDs and DVDs are in a case, tucked under the front seat. Sippies are plastic take 'n toss, half filled. Snacks are lightweight like small plastic bags of crackers, etc.; extras are stored under the seat in a bag or in the cargo area. Heavy things are in the cargo area, on the bottom, tucked under each other and the seat in front as much as possible to take advantage of compartmentalization.

Good lightweight entertainment options are a baggy of crayons and a very small note pad or some sheets of paper; cloth finger puppets (IKEA has a set of 10 for very cheap); stuffed animals and soft dolls; CDs to sing along with. I don't allow any handheld electronic toys, hardcover books, or anything hard or heavy (if it needs batteries, it's probably too heavy) for my kids. (I've got a scar on my face where my phone hit me... It was in my hand when we crashed...)
 

Kiss Me Deadly

New member
Very good idea for a post. I was thinking about this today as I was putting my stroller back into the back of my car. It's always behind the 3rd row, but would it stay there in a crash?

Crayon rolls are great, and you can make your own...
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Very good idea for a post. I was thinking about this today as I was putting my stroller back into the back of my car. It's always behind the 3rd row, but would it stay there in a crash?

Do you use tiedowns? Most vehicles have some kind of cargo hooks or anchor points you can use with a tiedown or ratchet strap to more securely hold a stroller in place.
 

lovemybabies924

New member
I'm hoping to find whatever was made for my odysseys cargo area used cheap cuz I have tons of stuff

Sent from my iPod touch, sorry for any auto-correct typos!
 

laudymama

New member
All of the above and will add about the cupholders- no, not an option. Years ago I was rear ended at a standstill by a car going around 60+MPH.....I had my cell phone in the cupholder next to me. It flew out, hit the dash and shattered on the floor and that wasn't a terrible accident (although painful!). Sometimes it's easy to forget about our "essential everyday items" and just leave them around because we're used to having them with us, but I always remember that incident and think of the what ifs in a worse situation.
 

Chris

New member
Oh man, I worry abou this more and more. We have a ton of stuff "living" in our van. Silly thing is that I have stow and go, but it is a pain to acces so everything is in the cabin of the car with us. Time to organize and rethink my clutter!
 

todzwife

New member
Oh man, I worry abou this more and more. We have a ton of stuff "living" in our van. Silly thing is that I have stow and go, but it is a pain to acces so everything is in the cabin of the car with us. Time to organize and rethink my clutter!

This was me today. I pulled a huge tote bag full of toys, books, water bottles and baby socks (she likes to pull her socks off in the car).

It scared me to think of some of that flying at their heads.
 

MaggieQ

Senior Community Member
Do you have a link about the poor kid and his sippy? I'd love for parents to not look at me like I'm *insane* for buckling in my purse. I have a hard time convincing the dangers of projectiles for some reason.

Sent from my EVO using Car-Seat.Org
 

bella_1818

New member
We went to a car seat check when I was still expecting DS and ignorant of most everything. They has pictures of children who had all been hurt by projectiles (the umbrella in the eye pic stuck with me). We're generally great about loose crap in the car...except the GPS. It periodically flys off the dash when I brake hard, so I can only imagine an accident.
 

Ninetales

New member
I can probably fix most loose things in my car. My husband tends to keep extra sweatshirts for his job on the floor in the back, outboard. Would those be dangerous or are they light enough?
 

Ducky5306

New member
Maybe not great for the environment and not the most cost efficient but when we travel my ds gets juice boxes (actually we get the foil pouch type the organic ones or just plain crappy carpi sun) I don't like having to remember to bring stuff in so just tossing it works for me..

When we so the juice ''boxes'' I get the small 4 oz ones to avoid bathroom breaks every 5 min! They also make water juice boxes at whole foods!

Sent from my HTC using Car-Seat.Org
 

smileybrea

CPS Technician
Do you have a link about the poor kid and his sippy? I'd love for parents to not look at me like I'm *insane* for buckling in my purse. I have a hard time convincing the dangers of projectiles for some reason.

Sent from my EVO using Car-Seat.Org

FOUND IT! So so sad! I get the same looks when talking to parents. http://thestir.cafemom.com/baby/120581/almost_deadly_sippy_cup_incident

Other articles that came up with a quick google search:

http://www.geek.com/articles/news/woman-in-car-crash-killed-by-laptop-20090416/
http://kansascity.injuryboard.com/a...y-projectiles-in-a-crash.aspx?googleid=283050
http://www.examiner.com/auto-tips-in-charlotte/projectiles-your-car-the-stuff-your-car-can-kill
 

PunkyMonkey

New member
Wow thank you for posting this.... It really didn't occur to me that everything in there could become a projectile. I carry a laptop at all times and that last article made me cringe, I will be stowing it away under my seat from now on. Thanks again!
 

mommycat

Well-known member
Straw sippies - I would not use the take'n'toss sippies with the hard straws. We have those and they're great but in the car it's a hard pointy object that they may have in their mouth and it makes me cringe. I would use something like these, with a soft rubber straw:
41CAlOKcaHL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


I put anything hard/heavy/pointed in the trunk, most of the time. People think I am nuts for insisting they put stuff in the trunk. I had to move a pair of skates :eek: (no covers) off the backseat and into the trunk in someone's car before when they took DS1 out for a while. We do baggies or small plastic bowls with rubber covers for snacks, and the take'n'toss sippies. I like to use stainless steel sippies when I can but NOT in the car. Those are heavy when they are filled, even part way. My cell phone goes in my cupholder but that has a sliding cover over it. My purse does sit out but it's small and usually holds a few receipts and my wallet, so I think it is a limited risk. The long scraper/brush gets tucked down between my seat and the door in the winter and I hope that it is ok there, though I worry - but having it in the trunk when there is a foot of snow on top of it is not very practical. :(
 

mommycat

Well-known member
Wow, just looked at the article. :wow: They say it was a "soft-spouted sippy" but I wonder how hard the plastic shell was (assuming plastic). I can't seem to think that one of the thin-walled take'n'toss would do so much damage, though obviously it is quite possible that this impression is wrong.
 

Holly

New member
Wow, just looked at the article. :wow: They say it was a "soft-spouted sippy" but I wonder how hard the plastic shell was (assuming plastic). I can't seem to think that one of the thin-walled take'n'toss would do so much damage, though obviously it is quite possible that this impression is wrong.

Someone that knows the mom through a FB group said that the boy's cup was a nalgene soft spout sippy, so not your typical soft spout sippy.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Straw sippies - I would not use the take'n'toss sippies with the hard straws. We have those and they're great but in the car it's a hard pointy object that they may have in their mouth and it makes me cringe. I would use something like these, with a soft rubber straw:
41CAlOKcaHL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
I concur. :)
The long scraper/brush gets tucked down between my seat and the door in the winter and I hope that it is ok there, though I worry - but having it in the trunk when there is a foot of snow on top of it is not very practical. :(

Can it go UNDER your seat?
 

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