SN seat suggestions needed

A new friend has a little girl with SN. At two years old she is a tiny 10 lbs and has part of her brain missing. Obviously she must remain rearfacing but the problem we are having is that her legs do not bend naturally. They are stiff all the time down to her toes. She is 28 in tall but very thin.

We tried her in a Coccoro and the fit was ok... But her feet were tight aganst the back seat and there were big gaps at her hips.

I'm not sure of the budget for this family but are there any suggestions for seats that might fit her better? Leg room is a big factor but I would also like to find something that fits her hips better.

Another concideration is that there are two other children that would be sitting next to her. The 6 year old is in a booster and the 9 year old is in a seatbelt.

I know the logical choice would be a Radian, but I'm not sure if they can afford that. Also, it would deffinatly be overkill for a child who is 10lbs at 2 years old.

What about an EFTA? My DS fit in one at 22-24 months old with alot of leg room. Also the TF offers alot of leg room.

Another option might be the SPICA cast seat from britax since you said her legs do not really bed easily. I know that seat is designed for kids with straight legs.

The graco my ride puzzles well with boosters. I can fit it next to a turbobooster in my tempo. I have to help DS buckle, but it's do-able. The wide part of the seat goes several inches above the armrests of the booster. The base of the seat is fairly narrow.

I don't know about the hip thing, but the newer ones have infant padding that you can use with the second slot up as well as the bottom slot. If she's still on the second slot, you could use the padding and that might help. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about some gap at her hips. With her legs being straight out, she's not going to be pulling them up and possibly tucking them in the harness (like newborns can sometimes do in too-big seats). You can roll receiving blankets and place them outside the harness to fill the gap between her hips and the seat.

The MR also has tons of leg room, especially when it's fully reclined rf'ing. As much as the radian IMO. Here's my 2 1/2 year old, 35" DD's legs. You can see one of her legs is almost fully straightened and she's not jammed up against it, just resting it there:



If she stays very tiny and her legs stay tight, they may run into the problem that they can't keep her rf'ing until an appropriate weight, and that's a parental decision they will have to make. If she's 18 lbs at age 4 and can no longer fit, I certainly wouldn't blame them for turning her. In SN situations, you can't always go by the book.

My only other suggestion would be maybe the safety first avenue? At 45 degrees it has decent leg room. It is nice and narrow.

Mommy2Marcus said:

What about an EFTA? My DS fit in one at 22-24 months old with alot of leg room. Also the TF offers alot of leg room.

Another option might be the SPICA cast seat from britax since you said her legs do not really bed easily. I know that seat is designed for kids with straight legs.

Click to expand...

Actually the seat is designed for kids in a spica cast, which puts their legs in an entirely different position than children with spastic legs that stick straight out. It's about as roomy as a marathon which has a very short seat depth and not ideal for kids with straight legs. If her hips were permanently splayed, it would be a good choice.

What kind of quality of life prognosis does this child have?

I ask because in situations of very serious special needs, there are no blacks and whites. Only shades of gray. Sometimes keeping a child comfortable is more important than 'best practice' (or even mediocre practice).

She is micro cephalic and has seisures but I don't know what her life expectancy is, nor does the family know really. There aren't many other children that have the same defects as her so they don't have anyone to compair it to.

I think I am going to see if the Mom will take baby out with me somewhere to try out seats. She is currently still in an infant seat.