15 Crazy Things People Used To Do To Babies

7. Did not strap them in cars

Seat belts didn’t used to be a thing at all, and even once they were invented not everyone used them (seat belt usage wasn’t enforced by law until 1983!). Early car seats were basically just baskets that wouldn’t much protect a kid. Some were more about letting the child see out the window than being safe. Often times parents just held their babies on their laps in cars or let them crawl around the backseat untethered – anyone remember rolling around in the back of a station wagon? One might argue that cars were a lot heavier back then and that traffic collisions were fewer, but still. What were they thinking?