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Mom2FiveGirls

Active member
Dd#3 turned 6 yesterday. She is about 44" tall and is right around 40 lbs. I converted her nautilus into a hbb a few weeks ago and she did well. Well this past week we drove about 2.5 hours and about 3.5 hours. After an hour or so I had to keep reminding her to stay still. When she fell asleep she slumped way forward. Then yesterday we went somewhere about 30 minutes away and she fell asleep about half way there and same thing...she slumped really bad. Most of the time she will only be in the car 15 minutes or do and she does well, but it's apparent that she's just not ready for longer trips in the hbb. Would you put her back in the harness full time (she has about an inch to go before she is too tall for the nautilus harnesses) or keep her in the hbb and use a harnessed seat for longer trips? She is not happy with the idea of being harnessed again, but of course, her safety is more important. Would the TB help with the slumping when sleeping or not?
 
ADS

mommycat

Well-known member
I would probably just convert to harness for longer trips, except that 30 min isn't that long and it was still an issue? I wouldn't switch to the TB altogether because you had to tell her to keep still, so it sounds like she still needs the harness for longer trips. DS1 fell asleep in the (harnessed) Nauti night before last and also slumped forward quite badly. He did not have the same issue with the Radian or the TF. :( Would one of those neck support pillows help, I wonder? Something smaller in the back than typical, like this: http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/06/neck-pillow.html
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
If the long trips are far and few between I'd booster her, and then put the harness back in for when she's going to sleep. If it's often I'd harness her full time again.

Wendy
 

NVMBR02

New member
We are at the same point with my 6 year old. She is in a booster 97% of the time. (she isn't really a car sleeper). If we are going to be in the car for longer than an hour or so drive I'll likely switch out her seat for a harnessed one.

The turbo may or may not help. I'd try her in it and see. If she can learn to lean her head to the side that would likely help some as well.

Can you lock the seatbelt to help her stay in position?
 

christineka

New member
I would just get a dedicated booster if I could at all manage to afford one. My ds had horrible head slump in the nautilus while harnessed. I knew I could not let him ride in it as a booster or he'd fall over. He fell over in the turbo as well. He sleeps fine in the vivo (and bodyguard), though. For some kids, the deep sip wings are necessary to keep them sitting proper while asleep. If the kid can sit nicely in a booster while awake, then I would get them a supportive booster to keep them in place while asleep.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
Doesthe nauti fit her well as a hbb? It rides up so bad in dd.....
but anyway, back to your question....I'd probably harness for a longer trip.
My dd is like yours...she is totally capable of sitting in a booster, but if she falls asleep, she falls out of place..not her fault, but still a bad situation. (Once, I looked back, and she had literally fallen forward and her head was resting on her lap/legs!!yikes!!!)

Because I'm lazy, I might just let her use the TB as her primary seat and keep the GN in harness mode and switch it out for longer trtips, or trips during "sleepy" times of day, etc, as opposed to converting the GN each time. (Actually...I'm a bad parent who made the decision to just let my booster rider use the GN while the harness was still in it, rather than convert it. (it was LATCHed in, obviously, so the seat belt was available for the booster rider to use) :whistle:)
 

DahliaRW

New member
Talk to her about when she feels sleeping to lean her head back into the headwings. If she can do that she'll probably avoid slumping. Locking the seatbelt if your manual allows may help too. But if she's still having issues, I would harness her a bit longer.
 

sirrahn

Active member
If the kid can sit nicely in a booster while awake, then I would get them a supportive booster to keep them in place while asleep.

ITA! My just turned 7 yr old DD is still a major car sleeper. Based on my experience with my older boys trying to sleep in the boosters they had, I thought she'd have to stay harnessed when she was outgrowing her MA a couple of years ago. I got her an old style Parkway though, and she's never had any trouble at all sleeping in it. The deep side and head wings hold her up perfectly. I realize that seat isn't an option now, but the Vivo looks similar to me.
 

Mom2FiveGirls

Active member
Thanks everyone! She's never had any issues with her head slumping when she was harnessed...which is why I didn't expect there to be a problem with it as a HBB. DD#4 has a nautilus to and her head does slump when she sleeps, but it doesn't bother her and its not too bad. DD#3's head never slumped though...

Anyway, I talked to her last night and was showing her how to pull the seatbelt all the way out to lock, etc. I also asked her if she'd like to try the other TB we have and she said "Can't you just put my straps back in? I really love my cup holders and cubby holes!". So, since she's ok with it, I put the harness back in and installed it today. We'll try the HBB again towards the end of the summer when we won't be traveling as much.
 

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