United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I was wondering if anyone knew what kind to get. I know Francine said awhile ago what one worked the best I believe it was a century. I did get a new one for Justice but I think the sides will get in the way for sure the left side will. I would also know where to go to get it. Thanks for all your help. Oh another thing what carseat works best in the airplane too. since they dont have a shoulder belt Id have to use the five pt harness on the carseat That would be so hard trying to get the straps around the splint.

There are a few kinds that can work. I have done a little bit of research into this particular question because I used to be a Car Seat Educator and I have a child with BPI so I saw this question a lot in the past... anyway it is important for me to let you know I am no longer a Car Seat Educator nor has my child been in the statue of liberty splint but from the research I have done I believe the best type of seat is a High Back Booster Seat that has the belt adjustor in the front. There are several brands that make this type of seat. I think the best place to look is Toys R Us because they have a nice selection. In regards to airplane travel most seats with 5 point harness are safe for airline use. To my knowledeg there is not any seat made that can be used in an aircraft with out some type of harness system in the car seat.

How old is Justice? How much does she weigh? There is one other type of seat I could tell you about but she has to be 30lbs to use it. An FYI any child needs to be 30lbs to use the cars lap shoulder belts... prior to this they are much safer in the car seats with a harness.. in fact they should use the harness system until they are 40lbs. The seat that I mentioned above should be easier to get the straps around since the adjustor control is in the front. Plus after you have the child in you can then tighten the straps becuase without them being tightened they are not as safe.

hi Barbara - we had a big discussion about this probably a year ago and it was Tina that made us aware that there are those high back carseats in which you can adjust the belts from the front (like Kristie mentioned). We have the 'ole Century where you adjust in the back and it's a real pain in the neck to adjust - so I would highly recommend one of those that adjusts in the front!

Hi!!!!!!! We bought a booster seat for our daughter. She just turned one when we had the Mod Quad. We bought the High Summit by Cosco. It worked well for us. We bought it at Babies R'Us.

Lisa

wouldnt the 5pt harness be a pain to get around the splint. Would it be safe to just seat belt Justice in the carseat without the harness but with the shoulder belt. Justice weights only a little over 30lbs though. I was looking for a design like the baby seats that the buckle pulls over the head. I wouldnt have to worry about putting the straps around her arm then but now a days All i can find in a bigger seat is the 5 pt harness. well thanks for the replys. We leave on Sunday the 23rd.

We never had a problem with the 5pt harness for both mod quad and caps and Maia was much bigger than justice for both surgeries... we just adjusted the straps to get her more room.

If you had the kind that you can adjust the straps in the front - you could let them out to be really long, put Justice in...then tighten them up? If you can look at one and see how it works, that would be great. I haven't used the front adjusting kind myself...wonder how easy it is to adjust.

We have a Century Brevera. We would slide Caleb into a sitting position, therby tucking his splinted arm into the strap before he was in an upright position. Then it buckled nicely across. To get him out I'd take his right arm out and slide him out of the seat, pausing for a moment to get his LBPI arm out from under the strap. I feel it worked really nice.

HTH,

Kari

Might I add that his carseat strap adjusts in the front.

Also, the law requires that a child be in a 5 point harness until he's 40lbs AND 4 years old.

Hugs,

Kari

We used the same car seat as Kari and it worked great as Kari described. I think a lot of it has to do with how you put them in the seat.
In a couple of days in PA the law will be changed that kids 40-80 lbs need to be in seat as well.

Cindy

I answered this yesterday but my computer locked up so I lost what I had so now I am starting it again...
The 5pt harness should be easy to get around the splint since others have mentioned about that I will say no more! The design you are talking about for the baby seat is called a 3pt harness and is only used in infant seat (rear facing only types). There are some older carseat (shouldn'e be used now because they would be too old that had something similar to this but again they are no longer made).

The seat type that we have been talking about adjusts in the front in the same way that most convertible seat (the type of seat most people use right after the infant seat... the convertible can be used both forward and rear facing hence it's name) do.

The 5 pt harness is the considered the safest type of harnes to use. Check your seat for a couple of weight instructions... 20-40lbs with harness and 30-80lbs with lap shoulder belt. If your seat has these instructions you can use the lap should belt for a 30lb child but your child is safer in the harness until the upper weight limit. The harness protects better than the lap shoulder belt. To my knowledge high back booster seats only have 5pt harnesses or can be used with lap shoulder belts.

The laws vary from state to state on child safety seats CSS. NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) recommends that kids be in CSS until they are 8 years or 80lbs (at least this was the recomendation a year ago and I doubt it would change!)
Blessings,
Kristie