Car Seat Confusion Pt.2

Some of you may have read my post last week called Car Seat Confusion as the title of this post clearly puts it, this is part two... more. confusion. More anxiety over something that should be small and simple, but is not.

After finding the correct size/age/weight limit on Vada's infant car seat I became kind of excited about the possibility of putting her into her "new" (new as still in the box and never used new, but old in the sense that it was bought over a year ago and has been sitting in the same corner of our basement since the day I purchased it) car seat. I brought the new seat upstairs, took it out of the box and placed it on the living room floor, just to see what Vada would think about it and you know what? She seemed to really like it, which makes me think that she also needs one of those child sized reclining chairs--seriously! Anyway, I waited until Justin got home and left the final decision up to him. Should we change Vada over to this new seat meant for older and more distinguished (aka "larger" babies)? He said yes and took it out to our van. About a half an hour later he came back into the house, slightly frustrated and slightly on edge because he was more afraid of my reaction than I think he was frustrated at the situation...

The situation was this..., I was all for the new seat. I was. Change can be good. It can simbolize growth and milestones that are met. In this case change meant exactly that and it also meant a new sweet seat for Miss. V herself. The problem was that I still wanted her rear facing. The seat that I bought said the seat would sit rear facing just fine, only it didn't. If you look at the first two photo's you'll see a sight that should be very familiar to any parent and that little silver ball and that green area in the middle is the cause for this new confusion. When the seat is in a rear facing position that freakin' ball goes into the red. Red as in "stop", "do not move forward, do not pass go" and certainly "do not collect your two hundred dollars!"

So Justin switched the new seat into the forward facing position and I had to accept it because what else could the man do? No seriously, Im asking... is there something else he or I could do to get this seat into a rear facing position? Am I over reacting here? Maybe a little? I mean I had both of my older girls facing forward as soon as they turned one. It's just that I know better now-- you know?  

I may have not liked the whole idea but I think that little Miss sure did. At first she was all like "what the heck" (her words not mine) and I was all like "your big now and Papa says..." then she was all like...

 Okay, okay so that whole conversation never really took place and yes I need some serious sleep right about now but she does like her new seat and for the most part, I do too. 

I have this mirror in my van that is above my rear view mirror and when I look into it I can see the whole inner van, well everything behind me of course. It's nice looking into Vada's sweet face. It's nice to turn around at a stop light and babble to her about anything and everything and watch while i listen to her ramble something back to me in return. I am just a worrier im sure...

The main thing that concerns me, besides the seat facing forward, is Vada's poor neck. When she falls asleep it just doesn't look right. The way it looks may have a little to do with her lower tone. I remember J and K looking uncomfortable when they were asleep in their car seats too but with the AAI possibilities I am concerned that she doesn't have enough support for her neck. What do you all think? Here's two thoughts. 1. I think that the fire department men are suppose to be knowledgeable in car seat safety, if not I know of a pregnancy center near by that it. Maybe I go to one of these places and have them check it out. 2. The seat came with a cushion-like pad that is typically used for smaller children-- maybe I try using that? My thought with the cushion is that its not going to stop her neck from going so far forward like in the third to last photo that I have shared here. I just don't know.

Nope. This looks neither comfortable nor safe.

Car Seat Confusion

I'm not overly protective but I don't throw caution the wind when it comes to the safety and protection of my children. That's one of the reasons that Vada is still in her infant car seat. Yes, infant, as in the one we brought her home from the hospital in. I have had conversations with Vada's doctor and he said that I should keep V in this seat for as long as she fits, for extra protection for her and since I had already planned to do so I agreed with him. However, this morning I had two mom's look at me in utter shock when I told them that V was still in her infant seat. I had explained why she was still in it (she still fits, extra protection, helps support her because of the lower muscle tone, protects her neck..) but the shock didnt disapate quickly. Which had me second guessing myself, so I came home and got online to see if I could find the weight and height limit to Vada's car seat. Somewhere I thought that I had seen that it was thirty-three pounds. I found two car seats that looked just like hers and each had different limitations so I ran outside to see if I could find a model number or something. It turns our that the seat actually had a sticker on it with the details that I was looking for! Duh!

Alright, it says twenty-two pounds and under and twenty-nine inches or smaller. Vada weighs twenty pounds and ten ounces and is around twenty-eight and a half inches. She's right there, sitting on the cusp of change. So the big question is Should we make that change?

I took these pictures on my cell phone today to use as a visual aid of sorts...

Her legs look a little cramped in the above and below pictures but she naturally sits this way and regardless of what seat she is in she will be rear facing because she is suppose to be.

The below pictures were taken a couple of days ago, again with my cell phone...

Personally, I think that she looks bigger in these pictures than she does in the above pictures that I took today and that might have to do with the fact that she is really stretching out...

Look at those looong looking legs... at least you know that she is comfortable!

This one cracks me up! Its like her legs are yelling for room! So, when I look at these I am confused. She hasn't quite met the criteria for getting out of the infant seat but she seems to need a new seat and more room. Parents, what do you think? More specifically, parents of children who have low muscle tone, what is your thoughts on this?

Last year about two months before Vada's first birthday I bought a new car seat, only to realize that my little girl was a slow grower and was nowhere (at that time) ready for her new seat. I packed it away until today and I just pulled it out to look at it's requirements. Here they are...

(Just to clarify I don't think that these mom's were judging me, I think that they were just really surprised. And if they were, well, we all do things differently.)