Driving straight through to Disney... car seat question

[lpoeppelman]

I need some help from other Disney travelers who drive by car to Disney with small children. My husband and I are traveling through the night to Disney from Ohio. We've done this before with the kids to Destin, FL and believe me, the evening drive down is the only way we will do it. The kids are sleeping in the car and since my husband works 3rd shift anyway, he does the middle-of-the-night shift. It works out great for us.

One thing I hate about driving through the night is the car seat fiasco. The baby will be fine in his infant seat to sleep in, but my 2 1/2 year old may have difficulty keeping his head at a comfortable angle.

What have you done? I thought about putting something under part of the car seat base (like a towel) so it tilts slightly. Has anyone else done this? Is it still safe? Safety is our #1 priority and I'm an obsessive car seat parent, so if this is really unsafe, I don't want to do it. I'd love to know what other parents have done in this scenario.

BTW-- we're looking for a new car seat for my 2 1/2 year old, does anyone use the Britax. Is it better than other seats out there? Don't they all have to quality for safety testing-- just wondering what makes Britax so well-known. I'd love to know your thoughts if you are reading this and have a Britax.

Thanks for your help!

 

[eh24fan]

How about a neck pillow for the 2 1/2 year old? I know they have kid size, I wonder if they make toddler ones? And if they would even be safe? Hmmmm

 

[rottiemom]

Just last summer we did the 500+ mile drive from NY to OH (for Vintage Motorcycle Days) and had no problems with my son sleeping through in his carseat. He was 3 1/2 at the time (but he is a SOUND sleeper & has never had a problem sleeping in the car...your little one may be different). He tends to tilt his head to the side when he sleeps in the carseat.

Oddly enough, we have a Britax Marathon. The seat is now close to 4 years old (Britax are OK to use for 6 so that might be a plus if you've got another little one), comes completely apart for cleaning & has been washed I don't know how many times & the cover still looks new. As I said earlier, my son has never had a problem sleeping in it. I wouldn't put a towel or anything underneath the seat because it not only makes the seat wobbly but it may change the way that the restraining straps come into contact with your child (which could result in injury if an accident occurs).

Oh and speaking of accidents...don't make the mistake that we did the first time we made the drive to VMD with out little guy. We tend to do the drive in 1 shot only stopping for gas. Apparantly if you have a little one happily drinking juice during the ride you need to stop a little more frequently than every 4 hours because diapers have their limits .

Good luck! Your little ones should be fine & get a good rest...it's the older ones that I'd worry about.

 

[kim_o]

It's not a good idea to prop the car seat up in any way. If you were to get in an accident....there's no telling what may happen to a child in a car seat that has been altered. If you use your current car seat, the only recommendation I would have is to get your child a travel pillow or a neck pillow.

If she's under the weight limit for rear facing - that could be an option, since they can recline more while rear facing. (my 3 year old still rides rear facing...and it's great for long car rides because he can sleep easily - not to mention a lot safer if you were to ever get in an accident).

I have a Britax Boulevard for both kids. All car seats pass safety guidelines. Obviously, the Britaxes are a lot more money than some others. Reasons for this: Britax (marathon, boulevard, decathalon, etc) will keep your child harnessed until 65 lbs (or when they outgrow the seat by height), which is MUCH safer than a booster. The car seat installation with the Britax is VERY easy. They are one of the few car seats that you don't have to replace after a minor accident. The straps won't twist on you. the seats are padded nicely. They can also be reclined (though not positive if that's allowed in the foward facing position).

Other seats to look into: Evenflo Triumph Advance (this also can be slightly reclined while foward facing), Graco Nautilus, Britax Frontier. The Nautilus and Frontier are harnessed boosters....so it can harness your son while he is younger, then be a high back booster as he gets older.

 

[rt2dz]

DO NOT put anything under the car seat, it will change the fit and lessen the safety. The exception is when car seats are rear facing; they do need to tilt back some.

Little kids have different neck muscle development (did that come out right?) than adults. What looks uncomfortable to us might not be to them. However, what I do for my kids is get them a pillow. Travel (neck) pillows are made in kids and toddler sizes and are wonderful. DS7 and DS4 love them. DS2 isn't the biggest fan, but when we do long drives I have one handy for when he's sleeping long periods at time.

 

[jinia]

In there luggage department Target has the cutest neck pillows for kids!!!

 

[lpoeppelman]

Thanks for all the information. I'm so glad I posted this. I'm going to look into those Britax models and neck pillows. I love this board!

 

[tanyaandallie]

If your child is under the rf weight and height limits of her current seat, I would seriously consider turning her rf for the trip. That way the seat will be nice and reclined for her and you don't have to worry at all about head floppage. You definitely do not want a towel under a ff seat.

 

[lpoeppelman]

If your child is under the rf weight and height limits of her current seat, I would seriously consider turning her rf for the trip. That way the seat will be nice and reclined for her and you don't have to worry at all about head floppage. You definitely do not want a towel under a ff seat.

My infant is 9 months and almost 20 lbs. But I'm keeing him in the rear infant seat for the trip or a new rear facing car seat if I get a new one. It is the 2 year old I a worried about. He's 32 lbs, so I don't think I can put him rear facing. He's also very tall for his age.

 

[tanyaandallie]

My infant is 9 months and almost 20 lbs. But I'm keeing him in the rear infant seat for the trip or a new rear facing car seat if I get a new one. It is the 2 year old I a worried about. He's 32 lbs, so I don't think I can put him rear facing. He's also very tall for his age.

I am also talking about your 2 year old. A 2 year old can be in a rear facing car seat. My ds just turned ff and he is 3 years old. There are car seats that rf to 35 lbs. Most rf somewhere between 30 and 35 lbs. If you do have a convertible seat that rf to 35 lbs, I would try your 2 year old rf to see if he still fits rf. He has outgrown the seat rf when he has less than 1 inch of shell above the top of his head or when he hits the max rf weight limit of his convertible car seat.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

We have the Alpha Omega and it tilts in its forward facing position. We did that for our night drives to Disney and to Grandma's house. We like this carseat because like the Britax it goes up to to like 65 lbs then to 80 as a bosster. It installs very easy, but the straps do twist sometimes. Just don't prop the car seat up as changing it in any way will change the way it works.

 

[CTmommyx3]

I agree if you can change to rear facing it will sit better for sleeping. I know my seat can be rear facing till 33 pounds. We drove from CT in April and my kids were 6 and 5 and 16 months. They seemed fine the times they slept. Of course if they were way to uncomfortable they will wake up. WE also did a BIG junk of driving at night then I drove early morning. But on the way home we left around noontime and then slept over and left around 9 that morning. But I have no idea how long you have we had about a 23 hour trip. We stopped lots with potty breaks and stretching breaks and had lots to keep busy!

 

[kim_o]

My infant is 9 months and almost 20 lbs. But I'm keeing him in the rear infant seat for the trip or a new rear facing car seat if I get a new one. It is the 2 year old I a worried about. He's 32 lbs, so I don't think I can put him rear facing. He's also very tall for his age.

I agree to this. As I said above, my 2.75 year old is still rear facing. The evenflo triumph advance and the new britaxes all RF up to 35 lbs.

 

[tanyaandallie]

We have the Alpha Omega and it tilts in its forward facing position. We did that for our night drives to Disney and to Grandma's house. We like this carseat because like the Britax it goes up to to like 65 lbs then to 80 as a bosster. It installs very easy, but the straps do twist sometimes. Just don't prop the car seat up as changing it in any way will change the way it works.

FYI the Alpha Omega does not harness to 65 lbs. It only harnesses to 40 lbs. If you have the Apex, it does harness to 65 lbs. If your seat is a convertible car seat (meaning rf and ff and then booster) in only harnessed to 40 lbs.

 

[lilybrooke14]

It's not a good idea to prop the car seat up in any way. If you were to get in an accident....there's no telling what may happen to a child in a car seat that has been altered. If you use your current car seat, the only recommendation I would have is to get your child a travel pillow or a neck pillow.

If she's under the weight limit for rear facing - that could be an option, since they can recline more while rear facing. (my 3 year old still rides rear facing...and it's great for long car rides because he can sleep easily - not to mention a lot safer if you were to ever get in an accident).

I have a Britax Boulevard for both kids. All car seats pass safety guidelines. Obviously, the Britaxes are a lot more money than some others. Reasons for this: Britax (marathon, boulevard, decathalon, etc) will keep your child harnessed until 65 lbs (or when they outgrow the seat by height), which is MUCH safer than a booster. The car seat installation with the Britax is VERY easy. They are one of the few car seats that you don't have to replace after a minor accident. The straps won't twist on you. the seats are padded nicely. They can also be reclined (though not positive if that's allowed in the foward facing position).

Other seats to look into: Evenflo Triumph Advance (this also can be slightly reclined while foward facing), Graco Nautilus, Britax Frontier. The Nautilus and Frontier are harnessed boosters....so it can harness your son while he is younger, then be a high back booster as he gets older.

Since Britax is a European brand, they have to pass European safety tests, which are higher than the US ones. I think they're actually crash tested at higher speeds than the US counterparts.

We've got the Boulevard too, and at 2 we just switched my DD forward facing. So far we haven't had an issue with sleeping, but I'd be tempted to switch her rear facing for a long car trip. Worst case scenario, he has a grand mal temper tantrum, and you can flip him forward again. No harm done. The side impact protection wings on the Boulevard are really good about keeping DD's head from falling down. They're like little pillows.

 

[canadianmom2three]

The Euro standards are a seperate set, and Britax sells different seats to those markets than they do to the US. Britax seats sold in the US pass US standards, just like the seats that they sell to Canada pass Canadian standards. Britax seats aren't safer, they are just sometimes more padded, have nicer covers, and are often easier to use than other models. They would add extra comfort for sleeping and long trips, but are not necessarily safer than any other seats....however, if money isn't an issue, they are NICE seats!!!!

 

[all4fun]

We have the Alpha Omega and it tilts in its forward facing position. We did that for our night drives to Disney and to Grandma's house. We like this carseat because like the Britax it goes up to to like 65 lbs then to 80 as a bosster. It installs very easy, but the straps do twist sometimes. Just don't prop the car seat up as changing it in any way will change the way it works.

Hi there, just FYI, the Cosco AO 3-in-1 seat only goes to 40lbs with the harness. It is a booster from 40-100lbs. Also just be aware the very top position you can move the headrest to is for booster use only. It isn't reinforced so the last harness position is the 2nd from top spot, which is about 15" tall. Easy to miss in the instruction manual (I used to own one of these seats) but it should be embossed in the plastic shell on the back of the seat next to the top "slot" - "For booster use only". Just thought you might find that useful in case you didn't already know!

My infant is 9 months and almost 20 lbs. But I'm keeing him in the rear infant seat for the trip or a new rear facing car seat if I get a new one. It is the 2 year old I a worried about. He's 32 lbs, so I don't think I can put him rear facing. He's also very tall for his age.

After my ds outgrew his AO 3-in-1 seat (just before he turned three, and he was only 27lbs at the time) we bought him a Britax Boulevard to replace it. He rode r/fing in that until he hit 33lbs at 45mos. I don't recall exactly how tall he was but he was probably at least 40" by then. He is in the 90th % for height, just slender. He never complained about riding r/fing. Newer studies have shown that it's 5x safer than f/fing for toddlers so I figured if he wasn't going to complain about it I might as well have him ride the safest way possible for as long as possible. He slept really well in this seat r/fing too. I'm sure I would have said the same about the Marathon as well.

His Blvd is about outgrown (again, by height) so we have moved him up to a Regent which has taller top slots. His Blvd looks almost brand new even though it's over 2yrs old now. I can't complain with the durability of this seat and how easy it was to install and use. DS always seemed comfortable (well until he just go too big for it LOL).

His newer Regent is a big (f/fing only) seat doesn't offer a lot of side head support the way his Blvd does, but it has an OK recline and he will just tilt his head to the side when he sleeps. It's a comfy seat. If you're going to spend more for another seat, you might consider that, or you might consider the new Britax Frontier or the Graco Nautilus. All are ffing only seats but the top slots are taller than the MA/Blvd so they will last longer height wise. The GN and Frontier both convert to boosters as well (the Regent does not but the top slots are the tallest at almost 20").

Of course, if the top of his head is still below the top of the shell in his current car seat, and he's still under the r/fing weight limit, by all means flip him back r/fing for the trip down. YOu can always put him ffing again when you get there if you want. But you may be surprised that he doesn't mind it at all. Kids are really flexible and they figure out what to do with their legs. Check out the photo album HERE to see what I mean.

hth

 

[DevilDuckie]

Something to keep in mind is that a properly fitted car seat will move a MAXIMUM of 1 inch in any direction when strapped into the car. As others have said, propping it is a bad idea, but this tidbit is one that the safety experts who checked ours told us a lot of people don't know. Hope it's helpful to someone.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

Hi there, just FYI, the Cosco AO 3-in-1 seat only goes to 40lbs with the harness. It is a booster from 40-100lbs. Also just be aware the very top position you can move the headrest to is for booster use only. It isn't reinforced so the last harness position is the 2nd from top spot, which is about 15" tall. Easy to miss in the instruction manual (I used to own one of these seats) but it should be embossed in the plastic shell on the back of the seat next to the top "slot" - "For booster use only". Just thought you might find that useful in case you didn't already know!



hth

I have to check out my manual. My dd is almost 40 lbs. I could have sworn it was to 60, but I can be wrong! I just looked! WOW! Didn't know.
In fact, I can use it as a booster alread. I think I might go ahead and do that. Thanks!

 

[kim_o]

I have to check out my manual. My dd is almost 40 lbs. I could have sworn it was to 60, but I can be wrong! I just looked! WOW! Didn't know.
In fact, I can use it as a booster alread. I think I might go ahead and do that. Thanks!

FYI - just because you CAN...doesn't mean you SHOULD. Each step up in child seats is a step down in safety. Most children aren't mature enough to sit in a booster all the time until they are 5-6 years old. 4 years and 40 lbs is a bare MINIMUM (just like the 1 and 20 for Rear facing) for high back boosters. Unfortunately, most children outgrow the harness of the 3 in 1s (alpha omega/cosco/eddie bauer, etc) way before they are ready for a booster.