The $40 that Saved Our Babies' Lives

Traveling with your little one can be difficult. Gone are the days of deep, uninterrupted conversations with your partner, catching some Zzzzs in the passenger seat, or listening to your favorite podcast. Traveling in our 4-some (Ryan, Alejandra, Jonathan & Sebastian) means repetitive children's music, crumbs everywhere, and a constant battle to keep the boys entertained and INSIDE their car seats.

Yes, the dreaded car seat... How many of us have been uncertain/worried about their proper installation? As parents, it is our responsibility to do everything possible to protect our children. I'll be honest, when installing a car seat for the first time, I found the inch-thick users manual a bit intimidating, so I did what many parents do, "my best.." With the car seat sturdy and buckled, what could go wrong?

And then we learned the facts:

-In the United States, Car accidents are the #2 cause of death among children ages 1-4 years old. (source)

- Rear facing car seats are up to 5 times more effective than forward facing car seats for protecting and preventing injury. for babies up to 23 months old (source)

- A child is involved in a car accident every 33 seconds (source)

- 49% of rear facing car seats are installed incorrectly (source)

-61% of forward facing car seats are installed incorrectly (source)

-20% of booster seats are installed incorrectly (source)

- Properly installed car seats reduce the risk of death by 71% for babies under 1 year old and 54% for toddlers ages 1 to 4 (source)

So about the $40 that saved our babies' lives.. On our monthly voyage to San Jose, we learned about a woman named Melania Carranza who is the owner of Car Seat Safety Costa Rica. Melania is the only Car Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) in Costa Rica and certainly the only one I've ever met. After a phone call with Melania, we had scheduled a time, date, and meeting place for her to inspect our car seats and show us the proper way to install them. The class took about 30 min and we learned so much about our specific seat model and how to best install it into our vehicle.The price for the class was $40, but the value that we received was priceless.

Want to schedule an appointment with Melania yourself? If you are in San Jose, you can contact her through her facebook page. If you are in the Tamarindo area, then we have good news. Melania will be doing a 1 -day training in Tamarindo on Friday, July 6th, 2018. Come with your car, your baby, and your car seat and Melania will show you the correct way to install your seat no matter the make or model.The training will take place in the Auto Mercado parking garage. The price is $40 and you can sign up for your private 45 min window between 9am - 5pm. For more info and to schedule your appointment, make sure to join our event on Facebook.