Kid climbs into carseat. HOW do you keep car from being filthy?

[seashells]

Especially in the winter. OK, so my kid walks out the door and onto the shoveled and salted and sanded pathway (which also still inevitably has some snow on it), we open the door, kid gets in and stands on the back seat to get in the car seat.

Is there something unusual about what I just described? Do most kids not stand on the back seat to get into the car seat? Are most kids really that much taller and stronger than mine to leap from the backseat FLOOR right into the car seat?

Or do you wipe and vacuum the car every day?

I'm not a car neat freak at all, but I can't be the only one that is not going to extremes... is it just part of having a kid that your back seat is filthy from their boots/shoes?

[ChristyMarie]

I've tried tucking a towel in so that it stays on but it always comes off. I have no clue and have given up.

Looking forward to hearing the suggestions!

[mlh]

Our car is also a mess...they walk all over the front seats and back seats, not to mention trash and crumbs all over the place. We just clean the car about once a month (or really once every 2 months, but we try). Our cars are old, so I just try not to worry about it...just a part of having kids!

[mamadelbosque]

My car is just a mess. We live on dirt road and as of this moment have zero concrete around our house (though we're getting side walks put in, we'll still have dirt/gravel where the car actually is...). My car is a mess... I don't think theres any way to really prevent it, bar making your kid remove their shoes as soon as they sit down in the car... and that just sounds like a serious pita to me.

[an_aurora]

My older (walking) kids climb in the van, kick off their boots, and climb in their seats. It adds like 2 seconds to the process

[seashells]

I'm happy I got what I wanted.

I'm happy just knowing we're not the only ones.

Off to live the rest of my life...

[enfpintj]

we've always had a full size bath towel underneath the car seats, so it hangs down over the front of the seat where they would step. It works. The seats in the van still look good. My dd just started sitting in the big seat and it looks great. You have to shake out the towel on a regular basis to get rid of crumbs, but it keeps the seats clean. Thank God for an organized dh.