Car seat on a boat - give me reasons why this is a bad idea

ks227

New member
Sadly, it is not uncommon around here to read about power boats capsizing. A boat "capsizing" means that it rolls on its side or overturns, usually suddenly. It's a whole different scenario than just starting to take on water or listing, in which time one might have a chance to get a child out of a car seat. If adults can become trapped and drown under a flipped boat, then what the heck do we think would happen to a child restrained in a car seat underwater? :(

My brother's in the Coast Guard so I asked him. Children should be in a PFT from the time they reach the dock, and not tethered to the boat in any way - or they should not be on the boat at all!

I would never take a child of mine on a boat 1) in a car seat, and 2) not in a life vest. Not a chance in hell.
 
ADS

HaileysMommy

New member
finn said:
We use a car seat on my parents boat all the time.

For those who worry about capsizing, what size boat are you sailing on & in what weather?

The rule is always & always has been, don't fall overboard, so when we were kids we had life jackets & life harnesses on, now we have flasher life jackets, that are inflatable with in-built harnesses & we are always connected to the boat. Keeping babies contained is the best way to stop them falling overboard, we sail for 5+ hours at a time, there is no way you can hold a wriggly/crawling/walking/climbing baby for that amount of time & whoever said they would wear their baby has never tried to wear a ssc over a life jacket lol

If for some completely unfathomable reason the boat did capsize we each have an assigned task, my Dad gets the life raft, my Mum gets the grab bag, I get dd & dh gets ds, dd is the only one not wearing a life jacket & none of us wear them if we are downstairs but they are always within reach.

There are a couple of other rules, one is stay with the boat, the second is get in the life raft dry lol some boats sink really quickly, but most dont, we also choose our weather very carefully & if the weather did deteriorate, then the kids & I would go downstairs & where dd would be out of her car seat & into her life jacket. :shrug-shoulders:

different boat, same result

ds in his dingy life jacket

ds in his sailing life jacket (you cant see it but he is tethered to the boat)

for the record dd always wears her life jacket in the dinghy.

What about if another boat collides with your boat? How exactly do you put your plan into action when some adults are already hurt/dead/thrown from the boat? As pp mentioned a boat capsizing doesn't always happen slowly so I'm seeing lots of holes in your plan that are really endangering your children.
 

SynEpona

New member
We canoe trip (as in, carry all our gear in a canoe, portage the canoe over trails to get to the next lake etc.), every summer.

DS went on his first trip at 6mth old. Everyone in a canoe wears a PFD. Under 20lb, they wear the Bijoux by Salus, which, while not certified, as Transport Canada doesn't certify below that weight - the manufacturer did have a letter on their website from TC saying that 'if we were mandated to certify below 20lb, we'd certify this one'.

Packs, not people, are secured to the canoe, and paddles of those who might lose them (DS!) are leashed to the boat also. In the event of any emergency situation each person is free of the boat & will float.

On a bigger boat, like FIL's 27' bowrider, all kids wear PFDs and all adults have one with in reach. We've never been on the boat w/ less than 4 adults to 2 kids, so one adult is in charge of the boat, and that leaves 3 to corral kids. We've never felt a need to secure a child in a seat, and wouldn't do so. We always assume that each person needs to be safe independantly -- that we can't rely on any adult to 'save' a child. If the adult hits their head, or is trapped in some way etc. they won't be able to get the child out of the seat. I also never want to have to struggle to keep a baby afloat in an emergency. I'll gladly hang on to them, but if they are floating (since they'll likely be anxious & struggling) I won't have to fight to keep their head above water!

We also only buy the original approved colours. Red/Yellow/Orange. No purple, blue, black PFDs. If I'm counting on it to save a life, I want it clearly visible to anyone who comes to help!
 

finn

New member
Sadly, it is not uncommon around here to read about power boats capsizing. A boat "capsizing" means that it rolls on its side or overturns, usually suddenly. It's a whole different scenario than just starting to take on water or listing, in which time one might have a chance to get a child out of a car seat. If adults can become trapped and drown under a flipped boat, then what the heck do we think would happen to a child restrained in a car seat underwater? :(

My brother's in the Coast Guard so I asked him. Children should be in a PFT from the time they reach the dock, and not tethered to the boat in any way - or they should not be on the boat at all!

I would never take a child of mine on a boat 1) in a car seat, and 2) not in a life vest. Not a chance in hell.

We sail, power boats are a whole different thing. As kids we used to purposefully capsize our sailing dinghy's & hide in the air gap underneath them, because it was fun :) & we don't dock, we anchor up in a bay for 2-3 days at a time & then move to a different bay, if we are on the move, then everyone wears a life jacket, tethered to the boat, if dd isn't in her seat then she has a life jacket on, which is also tethered to the boat. I also used to work with the coast guard here in New Zealand, as did my parents, we are very safety conscious & spend thousands each year on safety gear that we hope we'll never have to use.

What about if another boat collides with your boat? How exactly do you put your plan into action when some adults are already hurt/dead/thrown from the boat? As pp mentioned a boat capsizing doesn't always happen slowly so I'm seeing lots of holes in your plan that are really endangering your children.

I'm curious to know how much sailing you have done? I have logged 28 years, thousands of local, coastal & offshore hours & sail in some of the roughest water in the world, I know how to keep myself & my kids safe. Anyone who is in a collision on a boat, isn't a very good boatie, they should have been keeping a better watch & avoided the collision in the first place. In my years of sailing we have never even come close to having a collision. Also I wouldn't be thrown from the boat as I would be tethered on, the general consensus is, you stay on the boat, if you fall off you are dead, anyway who has ever attempted to pick up something that has fallen overboard knows how hard it is to retrieve things once they have fallen off the boat, that includes people. This is something we practice regularly. You just dont fall overboard. I have known people who have died while sailing & all them because they got separated from their boats & couldn't be found.

We canoe trip (as in, carry all our gear in a canoe, portage the canoe over trails to get to the next lake etc.), every summer.

DS went on his first trip at 6mth old. Everyone in a canoe wears a PFD. Under 20lb, they wear the Bijoux by Salus, which, while not certified, as Transport Canada doesn't certify below that weight - the manufacturer did have a letter on their website from TC saying that 'if we were mandated to certify below 20lb, we'd certify this one'.

Packs, not people, are secured to the canoe, and paddles of those who might lose them (DS!) are leashed to the boat also. In the event of any emergency situation each person is free of the boat & will float.

On a bigger boat, like FIL's 27' bowrider, all kids wear PFDs and all adults have one with in reach. We've never been on the boat w/ less than 4 adults to 2 kids, so one adult is in charge of the boat, and that leaves 3 to corral kids. We've never felt a need to secure a child in a seat, and wouldn't do so. We always assume that each person needs to be safe independantly -- that we can't rely on any adult to 'save' a child. If the adult hits their head, or is trapped in some way etc. they won't be able to get the child out of the seat. I also never want to have to struggle to keep a baby afloat in an emergency. I'll gladly hang on to them, but if they are floating (since they'll likely be anxious & struggling) I won't have to fight to keep their head above water!

We also only buy the original approved colours. Red/Yellow/Orange. No purple, blue, black PFDs. If I'm counting on it to save a life, I want it clearly visible to anyone who comes to help!

Where in the world did you put a 6 month old on a canoe? lol Where we sail there are lots of kayakers, who do the same thing, I obviously wouldn't put dd in her car seat in a canoe, as there is no room, & they are far more likely to capsize than the boats we sail on. Every time she or anyone else is in the dinghy they have life jackets on, that's not negotiable. We wear our life jackets if we are moving the boat, there's not much point in having them within reach, we also go for bright neon yellow or orange, with whistles. We take a grab bag in the dinghy, with flares, first aid kit, vhf, cell phones & food in it (it floats independently) just in case something happens between the big boat & the shore (because despite how it may seem) we are paranoid about safety.

& we're not the only ones who use car seats on boats.
http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=881303&postcount=15

this is the boat we sail on :)
562046_10150940452014358_643244357_12821266_1571873352_n.jpg
 

SynEpona

New member
Basically, we put the baby wherever there is room!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.361164127273711.82119.100001403803202&type=1&l=151645f467

When he was 6mths it was much easier ... he napped under my seat when he needed shade, on my lap (I can paddle in very awkward positions, as long as the lake is flat), or sat up facing me, but I have no photos of that.

When he was 18mth the following summer, it got more interesting, as you can see in the last 3 photos there. In the one where he's on DH's lap, you can even see a moose in the background before DS saw it, got excited and it walked away.

This summer we'll have a just turned 1yo, and a 5yo. Could be a fun trip :) but at least the 5yo can carry stuff now!
 

msg221

Well-known member
We have a ski boat, though it's been a few years since we have taken it out. We had a boat as well when my niece was a toddler and I think the first time we took her out was when she was about 3 or 4. Everyone always had a life jacket on. For what we were doing, which was water skiing and wake boarding, I just can't imagine taking an infant on the boat. It's not exactly a smooth ride and a child that small would just get bounced around! Not to mention it is just way too hot out here in the summer to keep a baby out that long, in the sun. Finally, we have way too many idiots out here who think nothing of drinking while operating watercraft. We always went to one of the lakes much further out that wasn't as crowded.
 

cmcki737

New member
We sail, power boats are a whole different thing. As kids we used to purposefully capsize our sailing dinghy's & hide in the air gap underneath them, because it was fun :) & we don't dock, we anchor up in a bay for 2-3 days at a time & then move to a different bay, if we are on the move, then everyone wears a life jacket, tethered to the boat, if dd isn't in her seat then she has a life jacket on, which is also tethered to the boat. I also used to work with the coast guard here in New Zealand, as did my parents, we are very safety conscious & spend thousands each year on safety gear that we hope we'll never have to use.



I'm curious to know how much sailing you have done? I have logged 28 years, thousands of local, coastal & offshore hours & sail in some of the roughest water in the world, I know how to keep myself & my kids safe. Anyone who is in a collision on a boat, isn't a very good boatie, they should have been keeping a better watch & avoided the collision in the first place. In my years of sailing we have never even come close to having a collision. Also I wouldn't be thrown from the boat as I would be tethered on, the general consensus is, you stay on the boat, if you fall off you are dead, anyway who has ever attempted to pick up something that has fallen overboard knows how hard it is to retrieve things once they have fallen off the boat, that includes people. This is something we practice regularly. You just dont fall overboard. I have known people who have died while sailing & all them because they got separated from their boats & couldn't be found.



Where in the world did you put a 6 month old on a canoe? lol Where we sail there are lots of kayakers, who do the same thing, I obviously wouldn't put dd in her car seat in a canoe, as there is no room, & they are far more likely to capsize than the boats we sail on. Every time she or anyone else is in the dinghy they have life jackets on, that's not negotiable. We wear our life jackets if we are moving the boat, there's not much point in having them within reach, we also go for bright neon yellow or orange, with whistles. We take a grab bag in the dinghy, with flares, first aid kit, vhf, cell phones & food in it (it floats independently) just in case something happens between the big boat & the shore (because despite how it may seem) we are paranoid about safety.

& we're not the only ones who use car seats on boats.
http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=881303&postcount=15

this is the boat we sail on :)
562046_10150940452014358_643244357_12821266_1571873352_n.jpg

I'm sure you have taken everything into consideration and for your situation it seems to be a good plan you have in place but for a pontoon boat in a recreational setting a car seat with out a life vest is a very bad idea. Allot of times in the states these types of settings have jet skis and motor boats and everything else zipping around and it can be quite dangerous. When I was a senior in high school a very close friend of mine died in an accident on a jet ski after being hit by a boat on a recreational bay much like this boat would probably be used on.
 

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