Head huggers (not after market)

smackeen · Aug 14, 2012

Well, this was the first time I heard where I live of techs/nurses telling people to take the head huggers out of their infant seats.

I am talking the ones that come with the seat itself and not after market ones.

One of the techs here said he tells everyone to take them out as they are a poor fit and then when the head does not fit correctly, parents will raise the straps (as hugger is on these) causing the straps to be too high.

His idea was no head hugger and just use receiving blankets.

Do any of the infant seats require the hugger in? Or is it optional?

FrauDrA · Aug 14, 2012

We were told exactly this at our prenatal class, at BC Women's and Children's, in 2006.

tiggercat · Aug 14, 2012

I am not aware of any that specifically require the head support, but isn't the chicco keyfit body support required until 11lb? Does he remove those too? The Graco 30s now have a part on the infant support that is required for 4-5lb, not sure if the entire support is required or not.
Generally I check the cushion/manual for guidance and let them know if it is optional/required for what weights, and also show them how to use blankets.

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smackeen · Aug 14, 2012

I imagine the nurses are not looking at manuals. I sure hope the others are.

featherhead · Aug 14, 2012

tiggercat said:
I am not aware of any that specifically require the head support, but isn't the chicco keyfit body support required until 11lb? Does he remove those too? The Graco 30s now have a part on the infant support that is required for 4-5lb, not sure if the entire support is required or not.
Generally I check the cushion/manual for guidance and let them know if it is optional/required for what weights, and also show them how to use blankets.

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Keyfit body support is optional from 4-11 lbs. Must be removed after that. Head support is optional while the harness is in the first and second slots. Must be removed for the third slots.

tiggercat · Aug 14, 2012

featherhead said:
Keyfit body support is optional from 4-11 lbs. Must be removed after that. Head support is optional while the harness is in the first and second slots. Must be removed for the third slots.

That sounds right. I always have to check the manual at clinics, lol.

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Pixelated · Aug 14, 2012

Removing all cushioning, head positioning, and body support is standard advice at our hospital. I always include that as part of my spiel for prenatal checks as a heads up, and go over with the parent when/if any of that is required.

bbartlettnfld · Aug 14, 2012

I've had a few seats clients come to me with that were told this. I usually end up putting it back in especially the Graco Snugride 35 one as it is such a great support. I find I start to get a better fit without the support by about 12 pounds or so.

I also like the On Board head supports.

I usually remove the silly one on the snugride 22 as usually I get a better fit with recieving blankets.

I did have a client come to me who was told by the nurses that she needed to have her harness on the 3rd set of slots on her On Board infant seat for her 6 pound baby. Needless to say I put it down on the first set.

I usually warn the Prenatal clients that the nurses may try to fiddle with the seat to follow what the carseat manual and our RF pamphlet says when leaving the hospital.

catzwoman28 · Aug 15, 2012

Our hospital seems to go back and forth with their advice on the head supports that come in carseats, I was told with my first to take it out ( in 2006 ) , was told in 2008 that it could be in , but she was preemie and did better with receiving blankets.

VanIsleMommy · Aug 15, 2012

unless the manual requires it, I almost always suggest taking the head huggers out and using a rolled rec. blanket personally. IME they do very little to support the head, the babies get PO'd having something bothering their heads, and they contribute to poorly adjusted harnesses. I also suggest removing the infant padding (if it's still allowed to be in according to the manual as an option) for babies that are well past the newborn stage. just one less thing that could interfere with the harness..

snowbird25ca · Aug 15, 2012

Standard advice to remove head huggers is dangerous because it may make a parent go against what a manual says.

For instance, I don't believe that the bottom support in the SR35 can be used without the back support,and that bottom support must be used for babies between 4 and 5lbs and has to be used until the child's shoulders are even with the bottom harness slots with the under-bum padding removed.

Thinking of the different seats out there right now, the Via 35 comes to mind as a seat with a PITB head hugger that likes to get in the way. Some of them don't do a lot but aren't problematic so far as the harness goes, and some of them are really good.

Any advice that is given out universally is bound to be wrong in some instances. Hospitals shouldn't be giving out advice if i'ts not someone who is trained specifically to read the manual and give advice specific to the parent's seat.

And any nurse who is raising straps up to 3rd slots on a newborn should be banned from ever touching another carseat unless she gets proper training. The bottom slots are low enough on the Sure Fit that it could be possible to need the 2nd slots, but no way the 3rd ones would ever be needed with a newborn.

bbartlettnfld · Aug 16, 2012

snowbird25ca said:
And any nurse who is raising straps up to 3rd slots on a newborn should be banned from ever touching another carseat unless she gets proper training. The bottom slots are low enough on the Sure Fit that it could be possible to need the 2nd slots, but no way the 3rd ones would ever be needed with a newborn.

I know! I tried it in the 2nd slot first but it was still slightly above babies shoulders he was a tiny petite lil man.

Here they will never allow nurses to be trained. Our CPST group isn't even allowed to present to the prenatal classes. Though they do give out our information. They are so worried about liability that we can't present yet why would they allow nurses to even touch carseats?

BethAnn

VanIsleMommy · Aug 16, 2012

that seems ridiculous. have you informed them that CPSAC techs carry their own liability insurance? I had two big huge babies and neither of them were even close to being in the third slots. Second easily, but considering my babies were the size of your average 3 month old, I can't imagine how big a newborn would have to be to fit the third slots. OUCH

snowbird25ca · Aug 16, 2012

bbartlettnfld said:
I know! I tried it in the 2nd slot first but it was still slightly above babies shoulders he was a tiny petite lil man.

Here they will never allow nurses to be trained. Our CPST group isn't even allowed to present to the prenatal classes. Though they do give out our information. They are so worried about liability that we can't present yet why would they allow nurses to even touch carseats?

BethAnn

Yeah, I'll 2nd what was just said - CPSAC techs have 2 million liability insurance.

I wish that organizations and retailers could see that there is a higher liability in incorrect information being given out than in giving someone the proper training so that they can give out the correct information.

I wonder if a retailer has ever been sued for failing to give correct information that leads to a parent purchasing an inappropriate seat and subsequently a child being injured? Employees do recommend specific seats, and I have seen employees encourage a family to buy a seat that couldn't be legally or safely used before because they didn't know any different. And if the family hadn't read the manual and returned the seat, the employee who encouraged the purchase of the seat is ultimately somewhat responsible for that 9 month ff'ing kid too.

Head huggers (not after market)

smackeen

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FrauDrA

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tiggercat

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