How to Clean a Child’s Car Seat

This post was sponsored by Dramamine® as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central.

May you never need to know these tips for how to clean a child’s car seat, but rather read on to learn how to avoid the mess to begin with.

Road trips.  They used to have a certain allure to them, didn’t they?  Hitting the open road, windows down, your favorite tunes blaring.  It was freeing, with a touch of excitement and je nai se quoi.

As a parent, the mention of a road trip sounds more like prison than freedom.  Being trapped with your wee ones in a moving vehicle is the antithesis of good times.  Especially if your kids are like mine.  More than two hours in the car and child 1 is crying because his Kindle is dead.  Child 2 has projectile vomitted.  And child 3 has had explosive poop up and out of his diaper.

Hell.

And while I quickly learned how to fix Child 1 – portable charger (duh) and Child 3 (double-up on the diaper: diaper 1 in his normal size, a larger second diaper, then a car seat liner underneath his bum), Child 2 presented a greater challenge.

 

You see… on Road Trip 1, I thought it was the chocolate milk.  Road Trip 2, the blueberry muffin.  Road Trip 3, a bug from the cousins.  But on Road Trip 4?  That was an AHA moment.  It was him.  The kid gets motion sickness.

Now that the problem is diagnosed, I have a solution that I feel good about.  The kids gets Dramamine® for Kids prior to any long time in the car.  Dramamine® for Kids is the only medicated motion sickness relief product formulated just for children ages 2-12 and prevents nausea, dizziness, vomiting and queasiness.  He likes the grape flavor.  I like that I don’t have to spend time in a car that smells like puke.

Win-win.

I’d like to help y’all out and just suggest that you skip my trial and error of hoping that it was the blueberry muffin or a virus and just get the kid some Dramamine® for Kids.  You’ll be patting yourself on the back when going over the river and through the woods to Grandma’s house this holiday season!

But, if you need to see for yourself, let leave you with this tried and true method for removing chunky vomit from a car seat.

1.  Don’t dally!  The faster you tackle the problem, the less likely you’ll have to toss the seat.

2.  Get rid of the chunks and goop:  Get anything up with a wipe and towel that you can.  Don’t scrub!  That’ll just make a bigger mess.

3. Remove the cover and straps. Most car seats have removable fabric covers. If you have your manual handy, consult it. If not, you can generally start from the top, unfastening clips, snaps, and buttons until you reach the bottom of the seat.  Check the tag on the cover to see if the it can be machine washed or if it needs to be done by hand.

4.   Wipe down the harness:  Using a soft cloth and cool water, and a gentle soap, wipe off the harness.

5.  Cleaning the buckle*: Invert the buckle in a cup of water, keeping the webbing dry.  Swishto get any of the vomit out of the buckle.  You’d be surprised what can get stuck in there.  *unless specifically mentioned not to do this in the product manual

6. Lay it out in a sunny and airy spot to dry.

Do your kids get motion sickness?  If so, click here for a valuable coupon!