Guest guest Posted October 18, 2000 Report Share Posted October 18, 2000 I was just wondering what kind of car seats everyone is using for their children who weigh so little, like under 20 lbs. My son Cody is around 16 lbs. now but I still use an infant carrier type car seat. I have another car seat that is supposed to go from birth to 40 lbs but when we put him in it when he was born (at 6 lbs. 2 1/2 oz) he was lost in it so we have been using this one. I still like the convenience of it although it is heavy and most of the time I do take him out to sit in the shopping cart, but I know that some say that to be in a bigger car seat they have to be 1 year old AND 20 lbs, and some just say 1 year old so I am confused--he is getting too long to put in this one much longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 19, 2000 Report Share Posted October 19, 2000 is absolutely correct. It is weight that defines the carseats by mfrs, but it is also height that justifies moving a child if the head is above the top of the car seat to a certain point. Or if the harness is a certain point away from the shoulders. But trying to define that on email - it was too confusing. For example, the police officer told me that if Tyler grows another 2 inches in height before he gets to 40 lbs, then I should take the 5pt harness off anyways, because the harness wouldn't fit him properly. IT IS SO CONFUSING!!!! Remember the days when we rode in the back of our parents car jumping up and down on the seats!!! No seatbelts at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 19, 2000 Report Share Posted October 19, 2000 When my son came home from the hospital (4#) we put him in an infant seat. Before he was 20#, we took him out of that because his head was too high on the seat, so it wasn't safe for him. He went to a toddler seat, although he was still underweight. Again, he's too tall for that seat, although he's only 26#. The straps (was the shield kind) came about of the back of the chair lower than his shoulder height. That was my indication to get a new seat. Now he's in a 5point harness/booster seat. He'll keep the 5point straps on until they come out of the seat below his shoulder height, then he'll just be in a booster with the shoulder restraint. His seat is one of those high back kind. and the seat belt restraint is guided thru the shoulder area so it won't hit him in the neck (when he gets to that stage). I don't know how long we will keep him in a booster. I can't imagine keeping him in one until he's a teenager! The kid doesn't weigh much, but there ARE limits! :-) Sue R. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 19, 2000 Report Share Posted October 19, 2000 sorry digest ppl, but I'm leaving the text of this msg on purpose. Once I saw guidelines that mentioned height. I wish I could find it because at 1 year old, my son was most definitely in an infant carrier and that's where he needed to be. He was only 8 pounds and still didn't have the strength as a 1 year old. these guidelines are just that - guidelines. 's major factor in what car seat he will be in is HEIGHT, not weight or age. Of course, I will keep in the " lower " car seat as long as I can, but then he just gets too long and thats really bad too (whiplash...if the top of the seat is at the base of the neck, that's a major problem). Its funny, I have this thing about keeping the kids in car seats WAY past the time they are legally allowed to be without... and my BIL is just the opposite. His 40# 5 y.o. step-daughter - just a seatbelt, that's it! That's the law here... forget about the recommendations! it boggles my mind why they don't put her in a booster. Sue >This is long, so delete if you don't need info on car seats/booster seats. > >I can't remember how old Cody is, but if he is under 20 pounds but over 1 >year, he should NOT be in the infant seat any longer, it can be very >dangerous for him. > >I just went to one of those drive-in car seat trainings, with the police >department. There are several great carseats that face backwards and then >can face forwards. You need to make sure that it is a 5-point harness >until >Cody is 40 lbs. I have a spreadsheet here that they gave me which lists >every single car seat for the following categories: Infant Only, >Convertible >(what I just described), Forward facing, Combo Child/Booster, and Booster. > >What I was told in general is as follows: > >**Under 20 lbs under 1 year: infant only >**Under 20 lbs over 1 year: Convertible child seat >(If your child is 2 years & right about 18-20 pounds you can move the car >seat to forward facing - they will have the neck strength). The police >said >that rear facing is actually always safer, but that kids legs get too long >and they fold against the seat. Stay rear facing as long as you can. Many >of the newer models of convertible child seats are rear facing up to 22 or >even 30 pounds now!!!) > >**Over 20 lbs over 1 year or older: forward facing child seat or >convertible >seat facing forward. 5-point harness >**Over 30 lbs: it can be useful to move to a combo child/booster seat. >Most >of these are a childseat with 5pt harness until 40 lbs and then can convert >to a booster seat with shoulder strap. My spreadsheet actually also shows >the weight each of these can have. For example, most only go to 40 lbs, >but >the new Century NextStep is a 5pt childseat until 40lbs, and then a booster >until 80 lbs!!!!! (The police recommended this one but said they really >weren't supposed to recommend one over another....) > >If anyone wants a copy of this spreadsheet, I can fax it. Just email me >your >fax #. > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 19, 2000 Report Share Posted October 19, 2000 keep in mind that the police officers aren't " with it " when it comes to very special cases like ours (extremely underweight kids)... they pretty much go by the 5%ile-95%ile or possibly even a tighter range than that... a lot of our kids are below the 3rd. :-) Sue R. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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