Going back to work after having a baby can be a really stressful time. You are obviously going to worry about your child, but you've got to go back at some point.
Rebecca Tafaro Boyer was heading back to work as a nurse, and was happy that her husband, David, could stay with the baby. But she was quick to ask for "hourly updates and recaps" on their son's day when she headed out.
Now she's glad that she demanded the pictures and messages, because it helped her saved her son's life when she wasn't even nearby.
Boyer told the story on Facebook, hoping to help warn other parents about the importance of car seat safety. Even though she says some of her family calls her a "super annoying overprotective mom" she's happy that she is that way, because if she wasn't her son could have been injured badly.
On her first day back to work, her husband was happily sending along the messages. But as soon as she saw the image, she told him to fix the straps of the car seat.
"This afternoon around 2:15, I got a text from my hubby during their trip to Walgreens. My nagging wife reply was to correct William's position in the car seat - the straps were too loose and the chest clip was way too low."
She knows that her husband would have made the change, even if he did laugh at her overprotective attitude.
"And because I know my husband, I'm sure that he laughed at me and rolled his eyes before tightening the car seat and fixing the chest clip."
Only fifteen minutes later, she received a call from him. "At 2:30 my phone rang, my husband's panicked voice came through the line, 'Honey, we had a car wreck. We are fine, but the car is going to be totaled.'"
They hadn't even made it five miles from their house yet. "The boys were less than three miles from our house when a woman pulled into oncoming traffic to try and make a quick left turn."
"David just didn't have enough time to stop - it could have happened to anyone. He slammed on the brakes at nearly 50 miles an hour before colliding with the front passenger side door of her SUV."
Because her husband had fixed the straps so well, her son didn't even seem to notice the collision. "My precious little bundle of joy was so well restrained in his car seat, THAT HE DIDN'T EVEN WAKE UP."
"Even with the impact of the two cars, William only received a minor jolt - so insignificant that he was able to continue on with his nap, and then spend the next two hours flirting with nurses in the Le Bonheur ED."
As for her husband, he ended up breaking his foot. "My husband didn't fare quite as well - his foot is broken in three places, has three dislocated toes, and we go back to the doctor Monday to make sure that he doesn't need surgery.
"The car is a loss, but cars can be replaced - my boys can't."
She takes a moment to remind everyone the importance of setting up the car seat correctly. "All infants should be REAR FACING in the back seat until at least the age of two and snuggly secured in a 5 POINT HARNESS in a car seat base that does not move more than one inch in any direction."
"I am so thankful that my husband took the extra one minute that was necessary to put William in his car seat safely."
Her nagging helped save her son's life. "I can't even begin to imagine how different the outcome could have been."
"I truly believe that the reason my family is at home sitting on the couch with a pair of crutches instead of down at the hospital is because of my annoying nagging mom voice."
As for the car seat that saves her son's life, she is quick to remind people what to do with it.
"And do y'all know what happens now to the beautiful three month old car seat that protected my little monkey man? It goes STRAIGHT IN THE TRASH according to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) my expensive, barely broken in car seat is now garbage."
"Any car seat that has been involved in a moderate to severe motor vehicle incident where the car cannot be driven away from the scene of the crash immediately becomes defective."
She explained that even though it's expensive, it's absolutely worth it.
"When my husband and I realized it would have to be replaced he turned to me and said, 'We are getting the same damn car seat because that thing did his job.'
"I am more than happy to shell out another $200 to Britax for protecting my baby."
She was happy that her husband had listened to her "nagging" and that everything turned out okay. Make sure that if you have a child in a car seat that you are clipping them in properly, because you never know what's going to come around the next corner.
So if you are clipping your children or grandchildren into a car seat, please make sure you take her advice and do so carefully.
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