Have you seen this? Would you buy one?
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I voted no because we already have our infant seat and are pregnant with our last. If starting all over, I'd say maybe.
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It would not be the primary reason I would choose a seat. I picked our seat based on how it fit in the car, rf limits, ease of install. Those are still more important to me than the alert.
I know everyone says this, but I really can't imagine a situation where I could forget. We don't drive very often and 99% of the time if I do drive I'm with C, so I'm not in any habits where I could go into autopilot.
It also seems like there are cheaper ways to add extra reassurance- leave your purse in the back with the kiddo, leave a stuffed animal in the front seat.
But still, interesting idea.
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Also (keep thinking about this) our kids are in more danger while on the road, than of being left in the car. I'm really not trying to say this isn't a good start, but kids are probably in much more danger from improperly used car seats and texting drivers. So for me, this is low on my list of worries compared to an accident.
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I probably wouldn't buy a car seat based on it having this feature, but I think it would be awesome if ALL car seats eventually have some sort of feature like this! Forgetting the kids in the car is one of my biggest fears, so having something that would make that harder for me to do would be so helpful!
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I think it's a great feature, anyone could be in the position to go into autopilot and simply forget their sleeping kid in the backseat.
To me, something like this should be like LATCH, installed in every seat.
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At first I was thinking it was kind of ridiculous. But then I started thinking it's not that different then how cars already beep and remind you when you leave you lights on.
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I think it makes sense for a secondary car/driver, since they might be inclined to forget. If I ever go anywhere alone, I automatically open the car door to get the kids out in any event!
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I agree with @looch, I think this should be a standard seat feature.
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I also agree they should be standard. I sincerely believe this could happen to anyone, and I think it's dangerous to get into the mindset of "oh, I could never do that." Seriously, read "Fatal Distraction" by the Washington Post. Totally changed my perspective on these situations.
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I was kind of bummed it wasn't available on a convertible seat! This is my worst fear. I'm pretty crazy about it, I put my stuff (including my key to get into my office) in the back with LO and his stuff in the front and I have a reminder on my work calendar that is the first thing I see when I turn on my computer and then there's also a reminder on my cell phone that chimes right around the time I drop him off. But I'm a firm believer that this could absolutely happen to anyone. It happened to a principal when I was in high school. Of all people you'd think would be conscientious and responsible. It was absolutely devastating to the community and really drove home, in my mind, that it could happen to anyone.
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@MrsSCB: I totally use the "if you could misplace your car keys your brain has the potential to forget your child" when explaining this to people who say "it could never happen to a decent parent!". that article changed my life.
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@Mrs. Lion: So true. I remember reading it when it came out, long before I was even thinking about having my own kids, and when I finished I thought, "wow, I am never going to forget this."
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I guess I take back the "it could never happen to me" comment. It's more that I mean I am more likely to be in a car accident with C in the car, than am I to forget her. So I do think features that can help prevent this happening even once are worthy, I'm still more interested in features that make sure I, and anyone else who drives with her, use the car seat correctly.
But yes, if you can forget your keys, or leave your headlights on, you can forget other things too.
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@Foodnerd81: my response was not at all directed at you. I'm in the same boat you are...it would be very unlikely for me because having the kids with me is my norm. I've just heard nasty comments from other people (my family included) about how a "good parent would never" and that's what I was referencing
I think it's a neat idea for all seats to start including. I probably wouldn't replace my current seats for that feature, but I would consider it for dh's car. he very rarely drives the kids somewhere without me, so I can see the risk being a little greater there.
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@Foodnerd81: I hear you, and I agree regular car accidents happen much more often. I definitely wouldn't buy something solely for this feature if it didn't have everything else I want, but I think it would be awesome if it could become a standard add-on. I work in a medical center and we just had a press conference about hot car safety, so this topic has really been on my mind this week!
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It's not available to buy til August and I would want to see it reviewed before buying. We have our car seats now (Chicco key fit).
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I think going forward it would be nice for the seats or the cars to all come equipped with something like this but at this point I wouldn't buy it solely for that. I voted "maybe."
As a sidenote I'm seeing a lot of that "those parents are terrible parents" crap on facebook and it is so sad to me.
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So this has to be connected to the car somehow, right? I wonder if that excludes it working in some of the more dangerous situations- like, if you move the seat to your spouses or grandparents car, who don't usually drive the baby around? And it's only for infant seats, not convertibles yet? I guess that makes sense- infants are most likely to be sleeping and quiet back there (plus, you are usually the most sleep deprived and prone to mistakes).
@Mrs. Lion: I didn't feel you were pointing at me, no worries, and I'm glad you understood that I meant my circumstances make me feel I'm less likely to do this, not me being a better parent than someone else.
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While I think this type of tragedy can happen to anyone and I like the idea of innovation in this area I have some questions about this feature.
It sounds like you would hear it every time baby was with you so it seems like you would adapt to it easily (or it would drive you nuts) unless you rarely drive with LO.
I often waited in the car with napping baby since I had a crappy sleeper. Would the sound wake baby? Could I shut it off so it wouldn't drive me nuts? With the infant seat (which this is) I could remove the seat and try to nap elsewhere but we weren't always successful with the transfer.
I'd love to see it in action. For now I'll keep parking in the covered lot at work.
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@Foodnerd81: They said it connects to your car to determine when your car is on or off. The car has to be 2008 or newer. It says it won't use a ton of power and shouldn't drain your car battery.
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@Applesandbananas: you're really smart to do all that. I also firmly believe it could happen to anyone, even amazing parents.
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There's a clip (search baby alert childminder on Amazon) that alerts you if it isn't unclipped and you get too far away. So if you walk away from your car with the baby still clipped into the seat, it lets you know. I'd be more likely to buy that than a whole seat (especially if it's only a bucket seat, since we didn't get one of those) though I agree that I would really love for it just to be a feature in all seats.
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If 50% of the carseats had this feature, them yes, I would definitely buy one of them. Since it's only one carseat so far, it's probably not perfect enough for me to buy that carseat.
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