Portable DVD player for RF child.

Another thread reminded me I wanted to post this question in hope that car guru's out there would be able to help.

We are planning on doing several long road trips again this summer. Last summer was almost a total disaster but what can I say we are a glutton for punishment.

Last year we bought a portable DVD player for DS who was FF.We mounted it in between the two front seats. After about 6 months it died so we returned it and have yet to get a new one.

Now that I am looking around, I want to get the kind that mounts to the headrest.
This is great for DS who is FF but DD is RF and we have no headrests in the back seat. Which super bugs me for some reason. How am I supposed to secure a DVD player for RF DD?
I really can not fathom taking this long of a road trip without a DVD player for DS and even though DD is only 16 months old she can be distracted by a short video. So one for her as well would really cut down on the crying/screaming.

I did some searches but have yet to come up with something that would work.
Someone out there must have encountered this issue.Anyone?

Do your second row of seats have headrests? We have a Coby tablet style dvd player and its case installs nicely on the backseat headrest.

Nope that is the problem

I don't know what kind of car you drive but I have a 04 Galant and in the back seat there is a fold down arm rest that stores in the seat. DD seat sets in front of the arm rest so i have found that I can use it like the back of a headrest and attach things to it.

2005 Ford Focus. I wonder if the dealership can add a headrest after the fact?

BudgieStew said:

2005 Ford Focus. I wonder if the dealership can add a headrest after the fact?

Click to expand...

nope.

I had the same problem. I ended up just buying Kaylie a VideoNow Jr. and that worked really well. I can't find them anymore, so I'm not sure if they still sell them or not. I've seen the ones for older kids, but the Jr one was great. Kaylie actually dropped it down an entire flight of stairs and it still worked. It was super easy for to use, even at 2. She figured it out pretty quickly and could change the DVDs on her own. The only downside is that you can't play regular DVDs on it, you have to buy the ones specifically fir the VideoNow. It eventually died on us, I think from just plain overuse. You might be able to find one on ebay, though.

Amy

Bummer that yu can not add headrest after the fact.
Hmmm.Never heard of it. Sounds durable but she is only 16 months and will not be much older when we travel. Will look on e-bay anyway.

does your back row not have ANY headrests? or is it just that she is in the middle and there isnt one for the middle? If you have outboard ones you could use them and just tilt it so she can see it, that is what my sis did.

There are no headrests at all in the back seat.

I think I might be able to put it between the two car seats and angle it to face her. Will only know after I buy it and play around.

Maybe you could just buys cheap DvD player, and not worry about it, and let her hold it? We bought a real cheapo for Jenna when we went to Vegas. It was $70 at Best Buy. I know it's still kind of expensive just to let it break, but in comparison with outher DVD players, it was super cheap.

the bad thing about holding them is that they will become a projectile in an accident... especially if it is a rearfacing child holding one during a front collision it is going to smack him/her right in the face.
You want it to be securely attached and secured in the case. There was a thread about this a few months ago, Ill see if I can find it.

ETA: here is one http://car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=9001

yes, this is true. in fact, going back and re-reading that thread, i am struck by how many CPST's in that thread seem to approve of their use, especially when headrest mirrors (which are probably 1/4 the weight of a DVD monitor, and softer!) almost universally get shunned. i don't get that contradiction.

I refuse to use a DVD player in the car. My player weighs atleast 5 lbs. times that by the average 30 MPH crash, yikes! Also against the mirrors.

southpawboston said:

i am struck by how many CPST's in that thread seem to approve of their use, especially when headrest mirrors (which are probably 1/4 the weight of a DVD monitor, and softer!) almost universally get shunned. i don't get that contradiction.

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I'm as confused by that as you, southpaw.

I DO let my rfing kids have tethered mirrors. I don't do that so I can check on them while driving-- I do that because it entertains them on drives. When I turn them ffing, I may just leave the mirrors where they can continue to see them. (They're like little birds that way LOL.)

And we do have a portable DVD player for long drives. Without it a long drive is unbearable. We discovered this when 1st dc was just over a year old and we had a 3 hour drive from Newport, OR to the PDX airport. DD was not tired so napping was not an option, I was the only person that could drive the rental car so nursing was not an option, she was allergic to most foods so snacking was not an option, we had to catch a plane so stopping was not an option. Nothing we brought would entertain her, so she was just miserable and furious (and wrecking my concentration) until Grandma pulling out her camcorder and playing back all the footage she had recently recorded of our vacation while dd watched it from her car seat. I don't like possible projectiles in the car. But I am also a very unfocused driver when my kids are screaming in the back seat for long periods of time and I have to get where I'm going! So I weigh the danger level this way:

projectile risk in the back seat while mom drives safely < mom driving crazy because the projectile-less kids are making her so

I'm not saying what I do is okay. I don't think it is okay. Sometimes we have to take on the personal responsibility of making the most of a bad situation. Because of the decision I made, I'm on a quest for a "safer" DVD player. Haven't found anything I'm in love with yet... But here's a link to something I found in the skymall catalog recently, if anyone's interested.

http://skymall.com/shopping/detail.htm?pid=102250604&c=

To the OP, please really weigh the risk before you use a portable DVD player, because it truly is risky. Plan an extra day or two for your drives, so you can stop and stretch and play when the kids are antsy. Spend any money you would spend on a DVD player to stock up on other, safer toys for the car. Leave the driver alone in the front seat while the other adult sits in the back with the kids. It took awhile to wean ourselves off the dependency of the DVD player, and we still do resort to it occasionally-- but only when we feel it's the "safer alternative."

there are some aftermarket DVD players that you can mount into the ceiling of a minivan or SUV, they screw into the roof crossbeams, but i don't really trust those any more than i do the portable ones. i saw one installed in a car in a dealership showroom, and from closely inspecting it, i got the impression that in a crash, the whole unit could go flying. but perhaps there are some aftermarket units that can be installed properly/safely to the ceiling?

I am comfortable using a portable DVD player in the car when needed...not saying this is for a 15 minute trip to the drug store. Its not.

I am just looking for the best way to go about it to have it mounted as safely as possible to the car to limit the chances of it being a projectile.
My parents drilled this into me long before other parents were even putting their toddlers in seat belts.
Frankly I am surprised that something for this case has not already been invented.

To answer some PP's questions. The drive is 15-18 hours driving the max limit. Not a short trip even if we were to stay overnight somewhere and stopping often is not an option.

We have a small car(its a Focus) and nobody has the option of getting in the back seat to try and occupy the children with two children in their car seats.

The trip last summer involved two children, one of which is a very very very spirited child screaming the ENTIRE 15 hours. Just thinking about it gets me queasy and stressed.
At 3 years old he now even more trying sigh. No toy, no book, no music, no singing, nothing keeps him from having a freak out which reaches sonic levels from go and then pulls his little sister into the storm.
He is just not a kid you can work with well except for T.V.

My husband and I were at our wits end and it certainly did not make for safe driving as we were too busy dealing with them that we almost hit a moose head on. Which would have deadly. It was taller then our car.
My DH is a professional driver but one squeal from the kid's and he can not handle it.
The return trip was slightly better due to the DVD player.

Neither child no matter what their age will be allowed to just hold a DVD player..at 3 years and 15 months, not even factoring in the danger factor, its just too young. We do not even allow them to hold even our TV remotes.

We do not own a SUV/or Minivan and even if we did installing a after market product that screws into the frame..Ekk. Not happening.

I will continue to search for an option for RF DD that will mount it safety to the car. It has to be out there. It does.

Wow, you're brave! Any drive over 2 hours and I move the car seats from our Toyota Echo to our Camry, size definitely matters. And even on our regular 3-hour trip I usually stop at least one or twice. I hope you don't think I was criticizing you... I was just thinking of certain families I know that make sure to have a DVD installed for every kid so they won't "bug" their parents. I'm with you, sometimes it's just a better idea for us to use a DVD player and I'm also on a quest to find a safe one. No luck yet...

i actually wouldn't have a problem using a DVD player in our car for long trips, and totally agree it would make a long trip much more bearable; i'm not *that* compulsive about safety that i wouldn't have one in my car . my problem is that our DDs don't watch any TV or videos, period... if we started with DVDs on long trips, we worry it would snowball into a habit that we really don't want to start.

Southpaw, I don't think occasional videos or TV will snowball out of control unless you let it.

I do/have done tons of babysitting/child care. With few exceptions, the TV goes off (1 - A boy with autism/very low functioning. He would draw my blood/drool all over me or fall asleep - not a good option either since his sleep habits are less than desireable - w/o his sole indoor hobby: Barney videos. 2 - Kids that have been "trained" to fall asleep with tv or it's part of their bedtime routine to watch a 'show.' 3 - Kids who are sick. 4 - A show or movie that is a "special," "reward," or "treat" - popcorn and a movie).

I have't taken a close look at the players. . . However, since the players attach to head rests, could one somehow be attached to the unoccupied, but buckled seat belt? Then use with pillows, blankets, or towels - using them to make a "headrest" or fill a duffle bag to prop it up on so it could be seen. Buckle it into the seatbelt as well to limit movement.

. . .I used buckle in my portable stereo into my 'ol Impala for road trips because it only had AM radio.