Can I just start by saying how pretty that number 30 looks? My countdown app now shows 9 weeks and some days till this baby should exit and that is single digits. Such a relief and a good feeling to know we are finally getting somewhere.
Back to the real stuff though, other people’s comments about your impending baby lifestyle, namely, how you will transport your new bundle of joy. I’m not quite sure about people’s automatic assumption that you should be running out to buy the latest and greatest family friendly vehicle to shove the car seat into. It has been an increasingly common question brought up to us about whether or not we were going to be looking at the go-to SUV or the mini-van and it has made me crazy.
We currently have two vehicles. A Ford F150 and a Ford F550. Let me picture this for you in case you aren’t knowledgeable in this area.
I do believe there are some factors to think about when you are wondering about what is best.
- Can your vehicle safely hold your child’s car seat.
- If you are adding a 2nd (or more) child, can all car seats safely fit into the vehicle.
- Can your stroller fit into the trunk, bed, back-end, etc? You don’t realize how huge some of those suckers are and how not huge some trunks are.
- Can you safely get your child in and out of the vehicle without smacking their head, your head, their car seat, etc. around on the ceiling, door, and such.
- Will your child be safe in an auto accident.
- Is the auto conducive to your lifestyle and where you live.
We live on a mud road, we have to have 4 wheel drive, we haul things, transport things, tow things and actually use the crap out of our trucks. Not having a truck for me is not an option but everyone has been on our ass to think otherwise. What difference does it make what we drive? I truly don’t care what you are driving your child in. I take that back, I would probably judge you if your primary car seat hauler was a Corvette, there is something unrealistic about that. But if you are a loud and proud mini van driver, good for you. If the soccer Mom SUV is your all time favorite, that is great. If your compact car makes you happy, then more power to you. Because that is what works for you.
While everyone makes changes to their life before their nugget enters the world, we refuse to baby proof every aspect of our life. We have a life now and will have that life after she is born. We know that she can safely be put in this truck, driven around and it is the best thing for us.
Over the weekend I took to Facebook to announce that we did indeed decide to do something about our vehicle before the baby arrived. For all those worried I informed them I did in fact trade in my 2013 truck for a 2015 truck. Hopefully we put that one to rest.
What choices, if any, have you had to make about what is parked in your driveway?
Through My Mistakes 
We also have an F150 and I drive a Focus. Although I would love to upgrade to a soccer Mom SUV, we are keeping the Focus as it will be paid off in the new year = more cash flow for maternity leave. Small sacrifice for now. We tend to drive the truck more often on longer trips or out of town. I anticipate we will probably do the same once baby arrives, but my small car is good enough for city driving.
A focus is perfect in the city! Easy to park and good gas mileage. And I don’t blame ya on keeping it for awhile with no car payment…that is a huge score financially!
Yes – fingers crossed she runs well and nothing comes up!
“Because that is what works for you.” Amen! If it makes the person happy and thrive, why try and change it? My husband and I both has 4 door sedans, 2001 cars, but they manage. We’re not in the position to upgrade anything other then our oils, but at the same time, I don’t think I would. They work for us. I’m happy we haven’t gotten a hard time about our vehicles, but man, people feel anything is fair game. 😐
…both have*
Every family is soooo different in what works for them. By all means, I’ll share what works with us but it may be the worst fit for some of our friends. No big deal in that!
No big deal at all! 😊
We drove a 4 door sedan and felt pressured to get a family friendly vehicle. We ended up getting a Mazda CX-5 and I’m glad we did because the trunk space is awesome without being such a huge car
The pressure sure does suck but I’m glad you found something that works for you! It is amazing how important trunk space becomes when there is a stroller involved!:)
OMG we have so much stuff. The carrier, the car seat the stroller the toddler seat for the stroller (just in case) and the car seat adapter – ugh
I drive a truck too and the only thing I’ve thought about changing is getting a bigger truck. 🙂 I’m going to purchase a topper to make sure I can lock that expensive stroller in the bed!
Good for you! Our supercrew leaves plenty of room for me to move around in the backseat and we have a cover on ours to keep the gravel dust out of the truck bed and keep it locked. Highly recommended!