florida child car seat law
what are the laws regarding children and car seats in florida?
We are travelling to Orlando with 3 children this year, aged 4,2 and 1. We were wonderin what ages children have to sit in car seats??We know we will need them for two younger kids but will we need it for our 4 year old too? Also they cost approx $10 a day to hire, that would work out at $280 to hire for 14 days.. how much would a decent one cost to buy??
As previous posters mentioned, over 4 a booster is not required, but strongly suggested.
State laws are important to know, for sure, but they are the “floor” not the “ceiling”. They are the bare minimum, not a reflection of what is actually safest for your child.
Babies up to 12 months and 20 pounds MUST be rear-facing.
Kids over 12 months but under 30/33/35 pounds should ideally still be rear-facing (all seats on the market today rear-face to 30/33/35 pounds depending on manufacturer, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has said for five years now to keep kids rear-facing to the max limits of a convertible carseat).
Kids should remain in a harnessed carseat until a minimum of 4 years old and 40 pounds (both, not one or the other). Harnessing longer is safer, and there are now quite a few seats on the market that harness to 55/65/80 pounds.
Kids who are old enough, big enough and mature enough to use a belt positioning booster properly at all times should continue to do so until they are at least 4 feet 9 inches tall and can pass the five step test: http://carseat.org/Boosters/630.htm
How will you be travelling there? By plane? If so, the younger two are much safer in carseats on the plane, and if you brought them, you’d already have them at the destination to use.
There are numerous very nice seats for under $280, I would definitely buy your own to use rather than hope the rental company provides safe and proper seats for your child(ren).
The Cosco Scenera is only $40 and a great seat for the 1 and 2 year olds. It can rear-face to 35 pounds and forward-face to 40 pounds.
The 4 year old would do well in a $60 Evenflo Vision or $80 Graco CarGo if s/he is under 40 pounds. If s/he is over 40 pounds look at a Graco TurboBooster. It can be used as a highback booster or as a backless, and can be taken apart to pack flat for travel. The $80 Compass B510 is a great booster, too. It folds flat for travel and has flip-up armrests, nicer padding and is more sturdy than the Turbo.
Hope to help!
Traveling With “a Bump” And/or Small Kids
Traveling pregnant is just a warm-up exercise for your life for the next few years. It’s a peek into your future living with a 2- to five year old. You’ll know the location of every restroom along your route! Then there’s the moodiness – being bothered by everything, including but not limited to whining, crankiness, and cravings. And is there ever room for all the stuff you have to carry, much less for the actual people in the car?
Seriously – if you must travel during a pregnancy, try to do it during the second trimester, when you’re beyond the discomfort of the first, but before you’ve grown huge in those final weeks close to the baby’s due date. Make sure there is enough room to be comfortable in the passenger seats, especially if you will be driving. This is the one time in your life that an upgraded rental model will be worth every penny of the expense! Use common sense – you need to see the family, but be smart. You might be thinking “it’s my last chance to go without kids!” But it’s best to play it safe. Plan a less – rather than more – ambitious trip. Keep your medical information readily at hand, find out where the local hospitals are along your route, and stay out of dangerous areas.
Pack lots of extra snacks – finger foods and small drink containers. Experience tells me to suggest water as the beverage of choice – it tastes the same whether it’s warm or cold, and it doesn’t spoil. If it spills (and it will!) water doesn’t stain or leave a sticky smelly residue that requires an immediate roadside stop for a complete change of clothes. You can even use a splash of it to clean up little messes as they occur. (You do have plenty of paper towels or tissues in the car, don’t you?!?)
Snacks? Cheerios (the original kind) are every mom’s best friend -they aren’t sticky or too sweet (inviting nausea) and they aren’t so salty that they need to be washed down with lots of liquid (necessitating more potty pitstops). Even little children can “gum” Cheerios into mush and you won’t worry constantly about choking hazards. Sharing? Don’t count on it! Everybody gets their own stash. Vacuum the car daily….there will be crumbs everywhere! GET OUT OF THE CAR for meals – everyone needs to stretch occasionally for comfort and safety, and you need some civilization as you dine, even if it’s just fast food burgers.
Remember, too, that your pregnant self might recoil in horror from things that other people might find perfectly pleasant. This is especially true in the early stages of pregnancy. When my wife was ten weeks pregnant with our first child, we traveled to Florida in early February for a vacation to see relatives and the Super Bowl. We were eating sushi that came by on platter after platter (no raw fish, not that I was exactly craving it) when she began to get sick. After that, everything related to the sea – water, waves, you name it – made her nauseous. To say the least she was not happy. What a trip that turned out to be!
My expectant son and daughter-in-law went to San Francisco and to Lake Tahoe afterward. They made a huge mistake driving to Napa Valley – they passed miles of “fragrant” cattle ranches that left her gagging and in tears. Every mother has gone through similar situations.
Traveling with a toddler when you’re expecting another baby is horrible. Our advice is: “Don’t. It will just be exhausting.” Unless you absolutely must do it, don’t. My vice president’s wife said to me one day, “Did you ever notice how helpful strangers can be when you’re pregnant – ‘Oh, let me get that door for you!’ – versus how unhelpful they are when you’re pregnant and have a child?” She will never forget staggering to the back of an airplane with a diaper bag swinging from her shoulder, trying not to whack anybody, while holding her tiny daughter’s hand and wrestling a huge car seat that didn’t fit front-ways in the aisle,. The other passengers and those wonderful flight attendants just watched!
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Learn about brittle teeth and losing teeth at the Aching Teeth site.
Around the region for May 22, 2010
Special traffic detail results in 16 arrests A gun, drugs and a home invasion robbery suspect were found Thursday during a joint law enforcement effort.
