I won!!! (Regarding t-shield garage sale seat)

We found the date on the seat. 1985!!! Insane! I think that really helped convince her. She wants me to help her find a new, cheap seat now!

Cool, hope she understands and works with you now to keep your child(ren) safe in her car.

I'm glad this worked out. I had to laugh though, b/c I can relate to the behaviour. My mother is a huge garage sale fan and I have to double and triple check everything she comes home with... When my husband and I went on our victory lap to show off our new son (we live overseas) we didn't bring a crib or a stroller after assurances from my Mom that she had both. Well, the crib was a wooden port-a-crib from 1966. The stroller she had picked out was several decades old too with no harnesses. NO HARNESSES. Was I supposed to bungy-strap him in?? Fortunately, she is really receptive to my concerns about safety (Oh sure there are a few eye rolls here and there) and she sent my dad out to Target to purchase a new Graco pack and play and a stroller. The garage sales are great for toys however. She picks out toys roughly age appropriate for my son. Cleans them and bleaches them within an inch of their life. My son enjoys them while we are visiting and then she takes them back to the thrift shop for re-sale.


My Mom's observations after watching install and uninstall my son's car-seat for the umteenth time as we switched cars back and forth was --"If I had to do that when I had you kids I would have only had one." (She had five.) And I have to agree with her... While I wouldn't compromise on my son's safety when it comes to his car-seat. I do think they can be a real head-ache at times. Sometimes I think it is best to acknowledge that they can be troublesome and just move on. Insisting that they are no big deal seems to generate some resistance.

Congrats on your Victory! I'm sure you will get some great advice on a cheap seat.

Like others have mentioned--the cosco scenera is a nice good "cheap" seat, only $40 for the 5pt version at Walmart.

Yay that you won, and where'd you find the dom? On my older sons seat, it was on a sticker, and it'd worn off by the time he was too big for the seat! (He used it from 2000-2004, and I remember the DOM being something like MAY 2000) (HOLY COW 21 year old seat!)

simplysomething (perhaps I should log in and this this would count toward my post count...)

I agree garage sales can be great for toys, especially big ones like the little tykes plastic stuff? All of my kids stuff is either hand me downs or from garage sales, and it looks fine (the cozy coupe is 13 years old. LOL)

It was under the strap on the back. VERY old seat. LOL!

After doing some searching last night for a seat for her, I was seeing alot that only harness to 40 pounds.... My daughter is 37 pounds as of right now. She's 3 years old and 43 inches...but no where near mature enough for a booster. Am I going to be able to find a "cheap" seat that will harness past 40 pounds?

If your mom has adjustable headrests and/or high seat backs, the Cosco Apex is a great seat that will harness to a max of 65 pounds (if she doesn't outgrow it by height) and then can be used as a pretty good booster. It's about $130