The Cost of Inflation

My morning’s research into infant car seats showed me that a lot has changed since my children were babies. Today’s car seats have all sorts of bells and whistles and prices that would have bought a crib back then. I’m not sure I could afford to raise children today if the price of car seats is indicative of how much it costs! Take a look at this.

For as long as I can remember hospitals have had a policy of not sending a baby home in a car without a car seat. But I thought there used to be programs within the hospital for those who couldn’t afford one. Arlington Hospital confirmed the rule still is enforced and they no longer provide any assistance.

I looked into used car seats and found numerous admonishments about their safety. Calls to the Salvation Army and Good Will would indicate they may not even carry them for that reason.

It used to be that subscribers could get car seats for $25 from Geico, in an effort to support safety and as a perq for their customers. I called to find out that program had been discontinued. I guess they think everyone can now afford to be safe on their own.

I called Glenda's school to see if they might have some leads on a free or affordable car seat. It turns out car seats are given out to students who attend a one-hour class given by the Arlington Car Seat Safety Program. My suspicion is that Glenda either didn’t attend the class or they ran out of car seats that day. I just spoke to the woman who runs the program who insisted she still had to take a one-hour class, even though she is currently in the hospital giving birth. She is verifying who got the car seats after the most recent class.

The cheapest new infant car seat I have found goes for $49.99 at Kids R Us. If all else fails, I will just go buy it. A $50 car seat is starting to sound like a real bargain!