my children without a car seat...

As Moms, we have to rank priorities all the time. You made the right call. When my now 8 year-old was 3, she got a fish bone stuck in her throat which was making her vomit and gag (sorry for the TMI). I was home by myself and had to get her to the ER. Not only did we not use a carseat, I let her ride in the front seat so I could keep an eye on her (I was honestly concerned that she was going to choke) and help her when she was vomiting. I do think it teaches us a valuable lesson though about making assumptions about what we see and if there are extenuating circumstances behind it.

I understand as I have done that in an emergency as well. One time my car broke down. It was the middle of summer and 90 some degrees out. The only person I could get a hold of was my sister. I was pregnat with my third. She was pregnat with her fourth. She was due to give birth at any time. Her, all the kids and I managed to get in her car. We also stopped through a fast food resturant because my kids had not eaten. As long as it was with the car being broke down. We just happen to know the person at the drive through window and of course they asked what was going. We explained. The person went and told the manager. The manager came out and ended up giving us all a free meal. I will say we did not have enough car seats for all the kids in the car. I am glad and very lucky nothing happened. But if it wouldn't of been for my sister picking me up. I don't know what would of happen either. As I was having a hard and bad pregnacy that in high heat temputures I would pass out.

Under the circumstances I think taking the time to deal with the car seat would have been more dangerous than going without for a short distance. I would have done the same thing you did. Getting the children out of a flooded area as fast as possible takes priority over a car seat. Some people skip car seats for stupid reasons and deserve dirty looks. Unfortunately, that also means people with a legitimate reason get the looks too since there's not usually any way to tell the difference. The only time I can think of that I've done something similar was almost two years ago when my s/o got hurt badly at his house. His oldest son got off the school bus at 4:30 and found him laying unconscious in the driveway. (I know he'd been there since about 3:00 because I talked to him then and he said he was going out) Anyway his son was so panicked about it that he called me first instead of the ambulance. I was here with my 5 children and a car that only seated 5 people. All but one was supposed to be in a car seat so there was no way to get everyone to fit anyway. I put the baby in his seat in the passenger seat and our then 2 year old in his seat in the back but had my 5 and 7 year old double buckle together in the middle and the almost 10 year old beside them. I wouldn't say it was the best decision I could have made but when you get that kind of phone call it's hard to think straight. (BTW...by the time I got there his son had calmed down enough to call an ambulance. They arrived after me but decided to transport him by helicopter. In the end he was treated for a broken collar bone, a severe concussion, dehydration and sun stroke (from laying out there for what ended up being almost 3 hours with no shade on a day with the temperature over 90F.)

This was an emergency and as long as your child was restrained in some fashion, you should forgive yourself. I know they say that you should never restrain a child on your lap and share a seatbelt either and I never have. I wouldn't put much into other people's dirty looks. If they really knew your predicament, I think they would understand too. It isn't like this is what you do every time you take your children out, right?

I think that in an emergency situation all mothers are just concerned about getting their babies to safty as soon as possible. I know that if I have to rush my child to the er for some reason I would be trying to get their as quickly as possible carseat or no carseat!! I think in the situation it was ok and if you do not regret doing it then I would not worry about it!! :)