Cleaning a Car Seat

Have you ever cleaned out a car seat? I mean really took everything apart, unscrewed and cleaned? I guess this is something that should be done more frequently than every 4 years. I must have missed that section in the Mommy Handbook.

Sure, I've vacuumed them out before but I've never took everything out and threw the fabric in the wash. It was extremely disgusting and difficult. There are no words to describe the appearance of a 2 year old, half- eaten animal cracker or a decaying Mike and Ike as it lays on your kitchen floor. Once again, I'd like to give a shout out to the manufactures of the Dust Buster.

Whenever any type of food lands on the floor in our kitchen, we immediately call one of our dogs over. My daughter discovered me sitting on the floor trying desperately to pry the car seat fabric from the shell and she called the dog over to eat the pile of debris off the floor. Now, I've seen my dog eat some really disgusting things before, too gross to mention here, but I just couldn't let her eat this. Some of that food had been in the darkest crevices of the car seat and probably hadn't seen the light of day in years.

To make matters worse, I have a bored 4 year old and a hungry dog sniffing around as I begin to become extremely agitated by the difficulty of removing the car seat cover. Of course my daughter thinks this is a good time to sit in the car seat. After shooing her and the dog away, I throw my hands up in despair and give up. Because I would need a screwdriver, I decide it's a job for my husband.

After much cursing by my husband, the fabric liner sits in the washing machine, clean for the moment. I'm sure after 10 am tomorrow it'll be covered in pop tart crumbs and cheese-itz. My conscience is clear for the moment. I've been a good mommy. At least I won't have to do it again for another 4 years.