to worry about using a car that has been heavily smoked in?

[mollysmum82]

Later on in the year I will be having DC2 and I've been told that my KA isn't allowed car seats in the back (something to do with size and impact) so it looks like I'll need to get a new car. Around the same time my parents are emigrating and they've asked if they can keep their car at our house, so they have access to transport when they come back for holidays. They've said that they are happy to swap cars, so we can fit a seat in their slightly bigger one, which is really nice of them.

BUT I'm a little bit worried as they are both chain smokers and have smoked in their car for 7 years now, on lots of long journeys...and they don't worry about putting the window down.

DD1 was admitted to hospital every month for the first year of her life with breathing problems, so I'm just a little worried that being in a car like this could set her off (and that DC2 could be the same).

Am I being mega paranoid? Do smoke fumes linger and could they cause problems? Its so sweet of them to offer to swap so I probably sound really ungrateful!

Third-hand smoke is a hypothesis as far as I'm aware; it's not been proven. I would have thought that a decent valet and a good airing on top of it not having been smoked in for some time would be plenty good enough, honestly.

Congratulations on your pregnancy BTW and good luck.

I need to get my glasses checked. I thought this thread was about a smoking cat.

You are being daft. Buses, trains, and aeroplanes all allowed smoking on them until recent years. They have not been replaced.

Any house you live in, unless a new build, is likely to have had smokers live in it at some point.

Third hand smoke is a complete scaremongering tactic, brought about by researchers who were paid to submit a "result". There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that there is any harm from third hand smoke.

If your worried get the car valeted.

If it helps DS has asthma which is triggered by smoke but he has never had a problem in the car of a smoker who isn't smoking in the car IYSWIM

Oh ffs.

Just clean the car thoroughly, shampoo the seats if they are fabric, and give it a good airing. It will be fine.

I thin iCal air fresheners are probably more toxic.

air fresheners are probably more toxic.

completely agree... along with the carbon monoxide that is pulled in through air filters from other vehicles on the roads..

I was violently sick all over our car once, had the car valeted and it came out fresh as a daisy

just Febreze it.

The research that was plastered all over the media on third hand smoke (and was published in Pediatrics) was a consumer telephone poll about beliefs surrounding the health risks of smoking, that had been conducted in 2005.

See here for a good debunk of the third hand smoke myth, with links to the relevant research.

Disclaimer, I do smoke, I don't smoke in my car because it makes the car stinky. Honestly, give the car a good clean to eliminate as much stinkiness as possible, and you'll be fine.

On a completely different note, you can have car seats in a Ka - some of the newer models have ISOFIX points, so definitely can. My mother has a KA and fits two child seats in the back with no issues - no buckle crunch or movement problems...

Oh, and the Euro NCAP testing (safety testing) specifically tested the impact rating including a child in a car seat here . That test is from the older model too.

Who told you that you can't put a child seat in the back of a KA?

YABU

The Britax fit finder suggests a number of seats that fit the KA: www.britax.co.uk/car-seats/fit-finder

The newer model KAs have ISOFIX for car seats also.

Thanks so much for the Britax link Hulababy. We use maxicosi and all the toddler seats have to go in the front so its great to know we have an option later on. Looks like I may be able to keep my KA after all.

Thanks for your good wishes sunshineandbooks!

Thanks for the valeting suggestions - I didn't know third hand smoke hadn't been properly researched so that's a relief. DD was so poorly with her breathing that I worry about everything nowadays.

sorry but pmsl @the smling cat comment!

as others have said,give it a good clean air it out will be fine,that or get a new car.

ffs smoking cat even!!!