I just about had a panic attack!
By 4cuteboys
@4cuteboys (4099)
United States
June 15, 2007 9:35am CST
I went to the grocery store with the two little ones. After shopping I put them into their car seats. I buckled the oldest first, and went to the do the infant. So I buckle him in (he's rear facing) and I give him a toy to play with. I then go up front and proceed to drive away. I get home, go to let the 2 year old out first, and as I am unbuckling him he;s saying "coopy fall, coopy fall" and I look and OMG my 7 month old wasn't in his seat and I didnt see him anywhere. I started to really freak out. I ran over and could see him sitting on the floor of the van, between his seat and the van door playing with a toy. OMG! I dont understand what happened. I know I buckled him because I tightened the straps and everything after I buckled it. Somehow he got out of the seat. I had never been so panicked to see that empty car seat.
What could have went wrong? I don't have a cheap car seat. I think I paid $250 for it, it's a Britax Roundabout. I guess maybe the buckles came undone? Now i'm worried about the safety of the seat. My heart is still going nuts.
8 people like this
20 responses
@KrisNY (7590)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Oh no- I'm so glad that you found him safe in the car though- I'm surprised that your other son didn't tell you when you were driving- Must be he wiggled it around or it didn't quite snap in- I'd tell your other kids to watch closely the next time to see if he is somehow getting it- or if in fact it is faulty. I'm glad it ended well-
@dani4082 (15)
• United States
16 Jun 07
I have to admit here that in a fit of laughter at the thought of the lil guy just sitting there on the floor of the van playing with a toy I could just imagine the look he gave you when you flew to that side of the van he probably had the "gee what's up with you look"
I would have panicked seeing him gone like that though. I would deffinately look into possible recalls for it and if you still question its safety contact your local health department, family center, or even police station they can actually direct you to people within your area who do car seat inspections if they have them where you live and this person will check all the buckles, straps, seat size, etc.... for you for free I believe. I know here in Perry County PA if we contact the family center we can get safety seat checks done. If they find something wrong you might be able to get a loaner from an agency there until you can get a new one and if your seat is still under warranty you can contact the manufacturer.
@tammyr (5946)
• Etowah, Tennessee
15 Jun 07
OMG!! I can only imagine how frightened you were!
Most local law enforcement will do a car seat inspection for free. You can call your local PD and ask if they do. Explain what happened and tell them you are afraid of using a defective seat. They may set up a session to check your s out. Won't hurt to ask!
@4cuteboys (4099)
• United States
15 Jun 07
I think i'm going to call the fire dept! My hubby is police, and I know that he;s said that people ask them to check and most of them have no idea how the car seat supposed to work, but i think the fire dept would be a good shot. cant hurt. I was so scared! I dont think i've ever felt like that in my life. ahh
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
15 Jun 07
OMG!! I would be freaking also. Check to see if there are any recalls on the carseat that you have. For some reason, the buckle must not have stayed. Luckily the baby didn't get hurt!
@4cuteboys (4099)
• United States
15 Jun 07
Good idea, i'm going to check out the website now.
I AM lucky. omg. :( Imagine if it was a little teeny baby? Like a newborn? omg
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
15 Jun 07
Your little guy was probably thinking~ cool, I'm not in that crappy seat anymore:)
@Lucille7 (509)
• South Africa
16 Jun 07
WOW! I have never heard of such a thing before... thank goodness your child was alright. If I were you I would go and get that seat checked and make sure the locks are locking if you know what I mean. He could have gotten so hurt, but luckily he did not... take care...
@packgirl4 (402)
• United States
16 Jun 07
OMG, I would have freaked. I remember when my son got old enough, he got himself out of his car seat when I was on the interstate. He was crawling and rolling around the backseat before I could find a place to get off and get him back in the seat. I was a basket case driving. And he was just laughing away.
I thought we were going to have to buy a new carseat, but luckily he just never messed with it again. He probably never wanted to hear me like I was that day and figured the fun wasn't worth it considering how annoying I was screaming and yelling down the interstate. HA HA HA
@rogue13xmen13 (14403)
• United States
16 Jun 07
My cousin has those, she takes medicine for it, but the only way she can truly stop it is by going to counciling. You have these panic attacks because there is something inside of you troubling you.
@wmaharper (2316)
• United States
16 Jun 07
oh wow, thank God he's okay. I think I too would be terrified! My two year old has gotten out of his car seat, but luckily I noticed before he was really able to get out.. i'm so amazed he didn't start crying when he tumbled onto the floor. wow. That's just amazing.
@youdontsay (3497)
• United States
18 Jun 07
Whoa. No wonder you panicked. Have you figured out what happened? Did you contact anyone about it? Maybe the EMTs at the fire station could be sure it is installed correctly.
I hope you NEVER have another scare like that one.
@mamasan34 (6518)
• United States
18 Jun 07
Was your 2 yr old close enough to the 7 mo old that he could of unbuckled the car seat. Or did you not have the strap tight enough that the baby wiggled his way out. Mabe looking for his toy? I have known 2 yr olds to be very smart at unbuckling straps. How long were you in the car that this might have taken place and you being a good mom concentrating on the road you didn' realize what was going on. Mom's are not perfect don' beat yourself for it. be more aware now that you know things like this can happen. be thankful that you didn't get in an accident.
@KissThis (3003)
• United States
15 Jun 07
WoW 4cuteboys I would have been panicking as well. I always used car seats that have the five point harnesses because I I figure if the fastener came apart at one point or another at least it was still fastened at another point. There was one time when some how my son had gotten out of his car seat. I couldn't figure out how until my daughter admitted that she had undone his car seat from her car seat. After that we kept the children separated.
@tinamwhite (3252)
• United States
16 Jun 07
I would test it some...try buckling it and see if you can get it to release...I am sure that you were scared too!!
I would have panicied too...
Maybe when you buckled it ...it did not truly lock down all the way...I hope that you figure out what happened...because I would not want to use it anymore until I did....
I have buckled my son before and the latch has come undone...thinking it was something I had done...I made my husband check it out repeatedly...it never did it again...I don't know...strange!!
I am sorry that this happened to you...
@ladyljs (1303)
• United States
15 Jun 07
How scary is that!?!?!?
I can't imagine it being the car seat...Is it possible that he has learned to unbuckle himself? Kids can be pretty ingenious when it comes to getting out of contraptions, but then again 7 months old...hmmmm!
I think that I would try putting him back in the seat and watching to see what he does. He might just surprize you!
@4cuteboys (4099)
• United States
15 Jun 07
It was SO scary!lol!! He didnt seem to care at all!
I dont think he could have done it, but he did figure out how to unclasp my dads watch and pull it off his arm, I was pretty suprised about that too lol
@kareng (55044)
• United States
15 Jun 07
I would be panicing too! To know that you buckled the seat is showing that this carseat is unreliable. I would contact the mfg. and see if anyone else has had this problem. It wouldn't hurt to ask for a refund while you are at it. Tell them what happened. I'm sure they would rather give your money back than be possibly faced with a lawsuit in the future. This is a major defect and a child or children will he hurt or killed if this product isn't pulled from the market.
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
15 Jun 07
OMG. I want you to know that MY heart is racing just reading about it! Bless your heart, you must have been in a panic. Thank God there was no accident or anything. As previous posters have said, I'd play around with the buckles and see if they are okay. I like the idea of the mirror, where were all these wonderful things when my children were little?!
@carlaabt (3504)
• United States
15 Jun 07
Wow. That is scary. I'm so glad to hear that he is okay. I would definitely get the car seat checked out if I was you. On our base, the fire department does it for free. I'm not sure if that's the case everywhere, but it wouldn't hurt to give them a call on your base.
It doesn't seem likely that your little one would have been able to get his own straps done. He's what? 7 or 8 months old? I can see your 2 year old being able to, but not the baby. My son just figured out how to unbuckle his carseat last week. He doesn't do it on purpose, just when he is playing with it.
@amaleigh73 (499)
• United States
15 Jun 07
My kids learned pretty young how to unbuckle their car seats. They didn't do it often and usually they didn't really mean it. They would just play with the buckles and sometimes they would just pop open. I also know sometimes if I was in a hurry, I didn't push down on the buckle hard enough for it to "lock" into place. I started double checking every time - it just made me feel better.
@bambi_doe (566)
• United States
15 Jun 07
OMG what an ordeal. Take the seat to the police station and ask to have it instected. call the company and see if there was a recall on it. That should have not happened. I am glad he is alright. Wow I would have erupted. hugs
