Anyway, we now have a $400 piece of equipment we can’t really use because we’re blind/low vision but not in a way that’s hereditary, so we got zero useful family advice and the world just isn’t built to provide useful info to parents like us.
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We had horrible issues with things like this as non-car owners. It’s shocking to me cars are just not expected to be safe for entire classes of people. Instead we buy expensive after market fixes that research shows most people do not install correctly.
@metrauxjulia.bsky.social obviously you should not interview me as a fellow journalist for your project, but I am like 9000% sure we’re not the only expecting/parents to have ever run into this.
My mind is blown as a person who doesn't have kids and as a person who lives in a city where people use public transportation/don't own cars. I have an all capital letter "what?" in my brain now.
This is a super important story to highlight! Just wondering how you plan to get around with the baby. Part of the problem is that the US is built to use cars. The only place I can think of where not having a car really works is NYC.
We have a stroller for walking/public transportation and we thought we could take the car seat in ride shares (which we use sparingly anyway because they’re expensive).
I have a friend in DC who left the hospital with her baby and took the bus home. I guess she was still required to bring a car seat? I had my first at Sibley but drove home.
Our infant car seat had a base but could also be used without base. Once kids were bigger we got Cosoco scerena next (spelling may be off) it’s very light weight and good for people who don’t own car and need to easily put in. And has really high ratings.
Oh god, I remember laboriously having to install a car seat base in a rental car to get our kid home from the hospital. IIRC, we soon discovered that the anchor clips weren’t required — you could just belt the whole thing in. But also… 1/2
A thing I wish someone had told me is: There is nothing people want to get rid of more than baby stuff. It’s bulky, it’s vital for a year, and then it’s useless. Depending on your comfort with getting a used one, a post on a local Buy Nothing group would probably yield a more-suitable replacement.
(When our kid was born we were showered with gorgeous hand-me-down clothes from an acquaintance with a slightly older kid, and when it came time to get rid of them 6 months later I realized: “Oh. She was very kind but also, she absolutely needed these out of her house.”)
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