Our 6 year old is in a high back booster. He is 48" and 50 lbs. if he falls asleep he slumps over. Any ideas on what we can do to keep him better in the car seat?
Thanks
F. B.
I lean the back of the seat back slightly if I know we were going to be in the car for a while or traveling. I have put a rolled up towel under the front of it to keep it balanced but I only do that if we're on the road.
a simple solution is to pull his seatbelt out all the way so it locks when it retracts, does that clicking thing, then it will be tight across his chest and even if he does fall asleep he can't slouch cause the belt will hold him up
It's been a while since I had one in a booster. however, we had the 5 point harness on our high back booster. They didn't get a chance to slump over.
We had a high back one with the headrest on either side, and we used to recline it a little bit. Straps were still in right position against shoulder and lap, but they'd kind of rest their head into the headrest rather than slump over.
We had neck pillows for sleeping while seated in the car seat.
If he's slumping over a lot - I've got to wonder how well the seat belt is holding him in his seat.
A friend used to use one of those neck pillows when her daughter was little and they were out and about for a while. It was almost guaranteed she would fall asleep on the way home. It took her a while to get used to it but it worked to keep her head up instead of chin to chest.
If he's in a high back booster, the seat belt should come across his chest. If it doesn't? I don't think he's in right.
The issue with non-harnessing boosters is that one must stay properly seated for the duration of the trip in order for the belt to do the job in case of an accident.
If your child is not able to stay upright and awake for the duration of the trip, then he needs a different seat. Either a booster that was designed to recline and has head support, or a booster/combo seat that uses a 5-point harness.
It is NOT safe to lock the shoulder seatbelt to keep him pushed upright. This used to be a popular 'trick' a few years ago until it was shown to cause serious injuries.
It is NOT safe to modify the manual's directions for installing the seat. No rolled up towels, no tilting seats back past the stated degree, etc.
