Infant Seat Test Flaws Article - Page 5

[Multimomma]

Originally Posted by DahliaRW

Not every seat can be used without the base. Some are base only.

That's funny, I've bought so many over the years, and they all were. Sorry for my poor assumption.

[cschick]

Originally Posted by Ironica

The True Fit and Radian both have padding available to fit the seat better to tiny newborns. It comes standard with the True Fit and Radian 80, and you can order it for the Radian 65. I don't know about the Radian XT.

I understand that the Scenera fits newborns fairly well, too.

Unfortunately, whether a seat is going to fit a newborn isn't something that can really be determined until that newborn is present, since it's really more dependent on torso height than overall height.

The hospital where I delivered does a car seat check before releasing. This is because they found many parents putting torso-small babies into inappropriate seats (if you have a newborn with a short torso, there may be no convertible in which the bottom straps are below the shoulders).

Le babe was so torso-short that the Snugride was almost inappropriate for him at release--the bottom slots where just a smidge below his shoulders.

[lolar2]

Posting because when I click on page 5, it keeps taking me to page 4.

[RunnerDuck]

Originally Posted by lolar2

Posting because when I click on page 5, it keeps taking me to page 4.

All the really *good* stuff is in page 5. You're just not allowed to see it.

(I mean - that's weird... same thing happens to me)

eta - oooh! I'M on page 5! I must be the good stuff!!!

[lolar2]

This is weird.

[Ironica]

Originally Posted by cschick

The hospital where I delivered does a car seat check before releasing. This is because they found many parents putting torso-small babies into inappropriate seats (if you have a newborn with a short torso, there may be no convertible in which the bottom straps are below the shoulders).

Le babe was so torso-short that the Snugride was almost inappropriate for him at release--the bottom slots where just a smidge below his shoulders.

With the padding, I think the True Fit bottom slots fits about like the SnugRide.

[cschick]

Originally Posted by Ironica

With the padding, I think the True Fit bottom slots fits about like the SnugRide.

And now that I know what I know, I suspect that the nurse who reviewed our carseat with him in it (several of the hospital's nurses are certified carseat techs and both do these reviews and run all our local installation clinics) probably shouldn't have let us use the Snugride. We took pictures of him in it, in the hospital, and it's pretty clear he didn't actually meet the real safety requirements for the seat.

But he wasn't officially a preemie, and he was officially "over" the lower limits on the seat. (He was 5lb, 13oz at birth and they measured his length right at 18 inches . . . I don't know his release weight, and he was only measured at 17 inches at his 5 day appt.)

[RunnerDuck]

Originally Posted by cschick

And now that I know what I know, I suspect that the nurse who reviewed our carseat with him in it (several of the hospital's nurses are certified carseat techs and both do these reviews and run all our local installation clinics) probably shouldn't have let us use the Snugride. We took pictures of him in it, in the hospital, and it's pretty clear he didn't actually meet the real safety requirements for the seat.

But he wasn't officially a preemie, and he was officially "over" the lower limits on the seat. (He was 5lb, 13oz at birth and they measured his length right at 18 inches . . . I don't know his release weight, and he was only measured at 17 inches at his 5 day appt.)

Mine were preemies and under 5 pounds at discharge. Probably shouldn't have by the books come home in the snugrides they came home in - but if the baby is too small for a bucket the alternative is stay in the hospital till they grow, or a car bed and I don't know, maybe rear facing in a seat a smidge too big is still safer than a car bed??

There are apparantly a few buckets for 4 pounds and up - I didn't know this or possibly would have gotten those instead of the snugrides, since with twins we anticipated early and small.

[Equuskia]

Why wouldn't the carbed be safe?

[RunnerDuck]

Originally Posted by Equuskia

Why wouldn't the carbed be safe?

Well to be honest I don't know that it's not - that's why I said "maybe."

They say rear facing is safest for an infant. My understanding is the rear facing position can cause a baby to crash... arg, I forget the term they use, SATS?? Before they let babies out of NICU they have them sit in their bucket for a certain length of time (I think it was an hour at my hospital, maybe onlu 45 minutes) with monitors on them to make sure they are breathing, heart rate is good, blood oxygen levels are good, all that. If the baby doesn't pass the car seat test, then I thought that was when they suggested a car bed since there is no medical reason to keep the baby in the hospital, just a medical reason not to put them in a typical car seat. I just had this feeling that a car bed (side facing position) was not as ideal as rear facing, but it's a compromise so the baby can be mobile. Not that the car bed isn't safe, just rear facing is better - but what good is it to protect your kid in a crash if he's already suffocated from sitting in his car seat? It seems to me like if a baby was on the very cusp of the size requirement for a bucket, you would err on the side of putting them in a slightly too big rear facing bucket vs. putting them in a car bed - I thought the car bed was more used for medical fragililty rather than size.

But once again let me point out that I said MAYBE.

[an_aurora]

Carbeds are an absolute last resort only. They don't restrain babies as well as traditional car seats at all.

[star thistle]

Originally Posted by 3pink1blue

FTR: bucket seats don't "perch" on shopping carts. They snap on.

This is not the purpose of the clips on the seat and not the intended use of the cart.

I recently saw a bucket seat "perched" on the front of a target shopping cart. The back of the seat was clearly "snapped on" but the front was hovering 2+ inches over the front bar of the cart. The only thing attaching the seat to the cart was a thin inch of flimsy plastic shopping cart and clips intended for the carseat base. It was scary to say the least.

[veganone]

Originally Posted by cschick

But he wasn't officially a preemie, and he was officially "over" the lower limits on the seat. (He was 5lb, 13oz at birth and they measured his length right at 18 inches . . . I don't know his release weight, and he was only measured at 17 inches at his 5 day appt.)

Mine was pre-term and the exact same size as your LO. She failed the first carseat test and eeked by on the 2nd (the nurse held her feet and sang to her to try to help her not cry since they can desat if they get worked up). They let us use her Snugride. We ONLY used it for doctor's appointments for a few weeks. We stayed home otherwise.

[cschick]

Originally Posted by veganone

Mine was pre-term and the exact same size as your LO. She failed the first carseat test and eeked by on the 2nd (the nurse held her feet and sang to her to try to help her not cry since they can desat if they get worked up). They let us use her Snugride. We ONLY used it for doctor's appointments for a few weeks. We stayed home otherwise.

Doctor's appointments were about all we used it for then too.

Although, he shot up pretty quickly from there . . . even though he only measured at 17 inches at his 5 day, he was already over birth weight, and at his 2 week appt, he was 7 lbs and 20 inches.

[goodheartedmama]

Originally Posted by veganone

A lot of newborns won't fit into a 3-in-1 properly. DD went home at 5 lbs 4 ounces (she was pre-term). The smallest slots on her Marathon were comically high on her until she was closer to 9 months. Honestly. I can't even begin to imagine how they think it's safe to put a newborn in one. Plus the rubber strap covers over her chest would automatically make it not fit a tiny baby, since their torsos are shorter than the strap covers. Here's a photo (those are the lowest shoulder slots) of a newborn in a Marathon: http://www.freewebs.com/sacredjourne...6778505&prev=1

I find that article and the videos really concerning. I think it's disgraceful that the safety test for carseats (the bench slide test) is so inadequate. How do we know what is safe and what isn't when there isn't any good testing of various seats or any safety rating for them?

The marathon isn't a 3 in 1 seat. Anyway, the marathon is rarely a good fit for a newborn, just like all of the other britax convertibles. The slots are just too high. My 4 month old is just now riding in her blvd.

Also--the HUGS can be removed for RF (the rubber pieces)