My son is about a year and a half old and I've been thinking about how to protect my new Mustang I have on order from some of the things children do. Other than trying to avoid having him eat or drink anything in the car, I was thinking of putting something under the toddler car seat.

I don't know if they make anything specifically for that purpose. It's hard to do a search, because I want to protect the cars seat, not the car seat. It's unfortunate that baby car seats aren't called something more distinct. I don't care what happens to the toddler car seat...it can be pulled out, cleaned, or even replaced pretty easily. But I do care about what happens to the cars interior.

I was thinking I could probably find a waterproof picnic blanket I could put under the toddler car seat. Cut a couple of small holes just big enough to attach the anchors. Then anything bad that happens (spills, crumbs, or the real concern...baby getting sick in the car) will hopefully be limited to the blanket, which can be removed/cleaned/replaced. Also might help protect the rear seat from wear and tear of just having the toddler car seat secured in it frequently.

Anyone else thought any about this? I don't have any ideas for protecting the headliner, but he can't reach it yet anyway. Probably if I just never put him in when he's sticky or has access to sticky substances, I should be okay there.

What else should I worry about? What other protections have any of you done?

 

Yes, there is a seat protector that is available to put under a kid's car seat or booster seat. We have them for both of our kid's seats. We got them at Target IIRC, but I'm sure they are available at other places as well, probably Babys-R-Us and other similar stores. It is a gray and black, padded, waterproof and tucks in between the seat back and bottom to stay in place, and protects the car's seat from damage from the booster or kid's car seat.

Aside from that, limit what the kid eats and drinks inside the car, and clean it often. Be careful of letting them play with crayons or markers that could disfigure the upholstery. You can get little containers of interior cleaning wipes that are handy for cleaning up messes right after they happen, keeping some of those in the car along with some paper towels will help a lot too.

Our kids are 6 and 7 now, and have been riding in all our cars since they were babies, and all of them still look new inside. The biggest issue we've had is with the shape of the back seat bottom cushion in our '08 Mustang. Because of the two deep cutouts, the booster seats we use for them now don't stay positioned properly and move around. We're going to try and put some folded up towels under the booster seats to keep them in place.

 

You might also make sure you keep their shoes clean before getting in the car, so that they don't get dirt/mud/etc. on the back of the front seat. And I don't know how picky you are about fingerprints on the inside of your windows, but I always make sure to tell kids that I better not see their hands touching any glass for any reason...or there will be trouble.

 

My Mustang is 100% child-proof.

I just don't let them near it. I guess you could say i'm child-proof.

 

Well I can understand the feelings about the new ford car and I also have this kind of feelings. Actually to save the sits from the children and their stuff you can buy waterproof sit cover those can be washable and can be removable also.

 

Scott -- not sure if you've solved the problem or not but I just ordered some seat covers from http://www.seatshield.com. They're "basic" but extremely functional. Waterproof, sweatproof, odorproof and very easy to put on the seats.

 

duct tape +hand/feet + trunk = job well done

 

That should work! until this guy shows up

 

he'd understand

 

LMAO!

 

My wife used a big blue Ford throw that she put under the car seat. Worked good matched the truck as well.