long drives, hanging heads, toddlers in booster seats

[BWVDenise]

For those of you who have driven to WDW (or anyplace far from home) with toddlers...
I have 2 in booster seats and one in a carseat and whenever we are in the car long enough for them to sleep, their heads hang to their knees. So I was wondering about those of you who drive overnight or leave very early in the am to drive while the little ones sleep. Do you just let them hang there, or is there a secret I don't know about yet??
(Silly, I know, but I think of these things)

 

[lisapooh]

I used to make sure the car seat was tilted back so the head did not fall forward and tacked a rolled blanket for her to lean on. When they went to booster seats we gave them large fluffy pillows to lean on.

 

[peg2001]

I have let them hang, all the while feeling like a bad mother for it. The booster seats seem to gbe the worst as mine do not have any side for them to rest their heads. At least with our regular car seat, the little head can rest against the side.

I have seen little neck pillows at a local baby supply store but I wouldn't risk waking my child up to put it around their neck and they certainly wouldn't tolerate me putting it on when they are awake.

On the plus side, sleeping with their heads hanging down doesn't seem to bother them! They have yet to complain of a sore neck when they awaken.

 

[skeezixspud]

... doesn't the seat belt hold them up better than that?

For use with our harnessed booster, I like this head support; it has a fabric flap that lies on the back of the seat, and the side wings lie flat if you want (they have velcro on them, so you can gently push the flap up against the child's head until it's in the right position and stick the wing to the cover.)
http://www.netkidswear.com/adheadsup.html

There are some pillows on the market that can be velcro-ed around the seatbelt at the shoulder, allowing the head to rest on it. Here's an example:
http://www.babyproofingplus.com/itm00999.htm
I would think that it would be really easy to make these if you sew at all, if you couldn't find one in a store.

 

[Lesley]

I usually just assume that if they can sleep that way it must not be uncomfortable for them.

My dd is more of a side leaner, but my ds has always flopped. We got him a pillow to hook onto his seatbelt (he's 6yo) but he won't use it......so we do! Or whoever isn't driving uses it...lol. Really though, the car seat should be fastened tight enough to keep the child from leaning that far forward....just the regular car seat though. The boosters do seem to allow for that much movement. Perhaps a wing type of travel pillow would help..encourage them to keep their heads on the soft pillow instead of just flopping.

 

[Wendy]

We make overnight car trips with 2 kids in boosters at least 4 times a year. For my kids, we bring their regular pillows off their beds and the use those up against the side of the car. It seems to be just enough support to keep their heads upright without them leaning all the way over on the car door. We tried every travel pillow out there, and couldn't seem to find one that didn't cause them to flop over.