In order to fit everything we needed for the show, we had to take Lucy’s car seat out of the Altima. While it was sitting inside our entrance way waiting for Eric to put it back, I noticed the emergency sticker on the side was horribly out of date.

I’d forgotten all about this ingenious piece of contact information. I got it from the Kiwanis Clubs of Durham a few years ago: It’s a bright yellow sticker that goes on the back or side of your child’s car seat, and includes child’s name, address, parents, emergency contact, doctor and phone numbers for all.

Unfortunately it’s to be used in the chaos of a car accident or other tragedy, but it’s invaluable and offers some peace of mind should you or whomever is driving be unable to communicate.

I updated Lucy’s, and added one to Alice’s car seat, too — I just wrote out the same information on a piece of bright paper and taped it on (layering the tape across to prevent it falling off when wet, or the ink running).

Thought I’d share the great tip. Have any of you done this, or have other ideas?

Speaking of car seat safety, Cindy sent in this horrifying story of a 2.5-year-old boy dragged behind a truck after his improperly-installed car seat popped out (the boy opened the truck door and fell out in his seat). The article certainly highlights how imperative it is to have car seats in properly, and to lock doors when driving (I did not know to do this, but will from now on).

There’s a wealth of car seat safety info in our resource guide — including when and where car seat safety checks are held in Durham Region — under health and safety.

Possibly related posts:

1. Cross-border car seat shopping not a good deal
2. Booster seat babes
3. The Equinox
4. Special invitation: CPR/childhood emergency prevention seminar
5. Junk in the trunk, erm, front seat. In a bag.