Tummy Shield Is A Seat Belt For Pregnant Moms-To-Be

Chris Ford — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:59:00 GMT

Here's something I came across for all of the Droolicious moms-to-be out there. The Tummy Shield is an Australian seat belt contraption for pregnant women that supposedly keeps the baby-to-be safely in-utero while mom is traveling in the car. Which, all things considered, seems like a pretty good idea to me.

The way it works is, there is a seat cushion that the mom sits on with a buckle that goes between the legs. Then you put the shoulder strap seat belt on as normal, except you buckle it to the center between your legs, preventing the lap belt from going across the pregnant middle. It's kind of hard to explain, but you can see how it works from the photo, and there is also step by step instructions here.

It's an Australian product so I don't know anything about if it has passed U.S. safety tests or not, and I'm not vouching for it personally, but it looks like something new-moms-to-be might want to check out.

Check it out at Tummyshield.com.au (via InventorSpot.com).

7 Days of Car Seats: Graco Nautilus 3-in-1

Chris Ford — Sat, 10 May 2008 12:06:00 GMT

When I'm thinking about what makes the perfect car seat, I'm thinking about three things. How safe is it? How many years will I be able to use it (reasonably)? And does the color match my car? Since Erin already took my favorite Britax car seat for toddlers, I'll tell you about my other favorite - the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat.

So for the first criterion, I'm convinced it's very safe. The five point harness works up to 65 pounds, it's steel reinforced. and has a high back. It also lets the child sit more upright than a lot of toddler-only car seats out there which I like too.

As for how long it will last, the cool thing about this seat is that it's a convertible seat. It converts from a toddler seat (with the 5 point harness) to a high-back booster to a backless booster. You'll be getting use out of this one until your kid is old enough to sit up front, which is pretty cool.

And the colors are happily neutral. In my world, kid-stuff like car seats shouldn't match the kid, they should match the car. So if you're looking for ducks and bunnies this might not be for you, but for my car it's perfect.

Check out the Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat (it retails for around $150) at GracoBaby.com

droolicious : automobiles

Tummy Shield Is A Seat Belt For Pregnant Moms-To-Be

7 Days of Car Seats: Graco Nautilus 3-in-1