Sleeping in boosters?

Jan06twinmom

New member
My 6.5yo twins did there first long-time stint in booster seats when we were in FL for 3wks in July. Overall, they did very well in the booster seats. However, I'm concerned about what is happening with their position when they are sleeping.

I've included a picture of Marcus sleeping in the booster. The seatbelt was locked. (We had the Graco Turboboosters with us and we were in a Jeep Liberty.) How bad is his position in the booster?

I don't have a picture of when Isabelle fell asleep in her booster one night on the way back from Disney to the condo, but I'm pretty sure it was worse.

What do you do about children sleeping in boosters? I locked the belts when we were driving longer distances or at night and I thought the kids might fall asleep. One of my reasons for keeping my twins harnessed in the main vehicle is because they do still sleep in the car (and so do I;)). DS is around 52in and is getting close to outgrowing the Regent so harnessing is not going to be an option for too much longer.

Melanie


Marcusbooster1.jpg


Marcusbooster2.jpg
 
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babyherder

Well-known member
I wouldn't panic if I looked back and saw a kid like that. He's still in the seatbelt, just having major slumping. However, I agree with you that I'd want to fix it for the future! Can you teach him to lean against the headrest (on the slide with the shoulder belt so he leans into the belt)? Maybe a booster with more side support?
 

canadiangie

New member
The first thing I would do is pull that extra little pillow thingy out from the headwings. Doing so might allow him to lay his head back more and sort of turn it to the side.

Also, if you wanted to try a different seat, he might be a really good candidate for the safety 1st Air booster. Those big elephant ear style headwings look pretty comfy.
 

mommycat

Well-known member
I agree that the positioning looks ok other than being uncomfortable, maybe. I also agree about taking out the extra padding. I would start telling them to rest their heads to the sides when they get drowsy, DS turns his head a bit towards the headwing he leans on and that helps keep the head from rolling towards the front of the car. I imagine they try to hold on and sit straight as if they were awake then slump down? Have you ever pulled over to push their heads up and to the side, and did that help at all or did they just slump again?
 

Jan06twinmom

New member
I wouldn't panic if I looked back and saw a kid like that. He's still in the seatbelt, just having major slumping. However, I agree with you that I'd want to fix it for the future! Can you teach him to lean against the headrest (on the slide with the shoulder belt so he leans into the belt)? Maybe a booster with more side support?

We have the SK Monterey for his other booster. Is this one that has more side support? DS is about 70lbs and 52in tall (at 6.5yo). He's definitely built like a future linebacker so the width of the Monterey is helpful.

Sometimes he does sleep with his head to the side on headrest - and the same is true with his twin sister. It seems like the slumping happens when the kids are really tired and they go into a deeper level of sleep.
 

Jan06twinmom

New member
Have you ever pulled over to push their heads up and to the side, and did that help at all or did they just slump again?

I haven't tried that. He fell asleep when we were on the freeway. Usually when we get off the freeway and have stop and go traffic, my kids wake up on their own.

When I look at the picture, I just want to lift his head up and put it in a better position.

Melanie
 

mommycat

Well-known member
I know, me too. I travelled on a van pool for work and we were in 15 passenger vans with low seat backs. Some people would slide down to rest their heads back but a whole lot of people did that exact slump (with or without seatbelts). No one ever seemed to complain about sore necks and only a couple of people ever used a travel pillow. This was a 1.5 hour commute each way, 5x a week. So it's not THAT bad to the average person. I couldn't ever do the forward slump though, it seems so wrong and bad bumps make your head pull on your neck, but I am hyperaware of this sort of thing. I used a tall obusforme backrest and a blowup neck pillow inflated so it was soft enough that it didn't push my neck forward but just enough that the air on the sides would support my head a bit. I wonder if some sort of travel pillow could help? I find that smaller/softer works better than a big pouffy one. You would need to make sure it didn't interfere with the shoulder belt fit.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
His positioning doesn't look awful- but when my daughter does that, if the belt is locked, she shortly will get uncomfortable, shift, and slouch. And if the belt isn't locked (or doesn't lock at the retractor) she's straight out of the booster. That's why I don't let her have a booster when she's apt to sleep, yet.

Getting her to tilt her head back when she starts to get sleepy sometimes but doesn't always help.
 

Evolily

New member
I say very loudly "SIT BACK"

C startles, gives me a "WTH" type look, and then sits back. It use to be every time he fell asleep he would start to slump, now it is pretty rare, so he's learning.

The belts do not manually lock, so he would quite literally fall out of his booster if he slumped. I've also demonstrated to him what would happen if he's leaning forward (his head hitting the seat in front of him) which helped him understand why I act like a crazy person when he is leaning forward.

I am dreading the day A outgrows his harness :eek: because of this very issue.
 

Jan06twinmom

New member
I've never seen a Monterey in person but it sure looks like it has more side support. Has he ever slept in it?

I don't think he's slept in the Monterey. We had it in the nanny car and she usually used it to drive the kids home from kindergarten (25 min).

Melanie
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
When my kids sleep like that, they very shortly fall totally out of the belt.

I would see how he sleeps in the Monterey. Part of the reason that I'm such a shill about that seat is that it is my magical sleeping booster. My boys just tilt their heads to the side and... sleep. It's effortless and comfortable for them. The other boosters I've used have caused a bit more difficulty in sleeping, and I usually need the kids to readjust at some point.
 

DahliaRW

New member
I taught my boys how to lean their heads back to sleep (started this in convertibles). We rarely, if ever, have that issue. Also, if they're in the captain's chairs and I think they night sleep I'll recline the seat just a tiny bit.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
Definitely see if your vehicle allows you to recline that seat! By reclining my captains chair a few clicks, I have eliminated all slump in dd's HBTB.

Canadiangie? Um..is that allowed? Is it even physically possible? My dd has one of the low-end HBTB's, which does not have the cushy pillows in it, so I don't know how it works, but I would think hat any padding/pillows, etc that come with the seat should be used with the seat? Do those pillows even remove? I thought they were a sewn on part of the headrest cover?
 

babygund

New member
My 6.5 ds sleeps in the parkway sg and the monterey with no slumping - he just leans his head to the side on the headrest. I prefer the monterey as it is roomier for a bigger child and he too prefers it over the parkway:)
 

babyherder

Well-known member
I'd teach your ds to lean his head back and/or lean to the side in the monterey and see what happens. Hopefully it fixes the issue.

I do not think the extra padding is sewn onto the tb. The ones I've felt in store feel like you could pull the padding right out. I'm not sure if its required but since some seats come without it, maybe not. I got permission from Graco to remove the gracopedic foam from my comfortsport if I had wanted to (gives like another inch of harness room)
 

CrazyBoysMamma

New member
It would bug me, mostly because with my kids I could be sure one of two things would happen within 5 minutes: A) Child wakes up screaming at the top of his lungs "My neck hurts!!!!!" thus waking up the little one, or B) Child would slide way down in the seat to get comfy, completely out of position. That's why if I have to use a booster when we are likely to have them fall asleep I prefer to have one with monster headwings.
 

canadiangie

New member
Definitely see if your vehicle allows you to recline that seat! By reclining my captains chair a few clicks, I have eliminated all slump in dd's HBTB.

Canadiangie? Um..is that allowed? Is it even physically possible? My dd has one of the low-end HBTB's, which does not have the cushy pillows in it, so I don't know how it works, but I would think hat any padding/pillows, etc that come with the seat should be used with the seat? Do those pillows even remove? I thought they were a sewn on part of the headrest cover?

Yes it's allowed. You just slip it out. Its just comfort padding, usually with an accent pattern on it (ups the cute factor type thing). Here you find it on the more expensive models.
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
I had these issues with the turbobooster with Damian (Jeffrey, on the other hand, can sleep bolt upright and has been able to since age 1... he was more comfortable in a highback until he outgrew it, though)

I found the old style parkway was a lot better... no slumping... and so I have always desired headrests similar to that on a booster.

So my top picks for kids in boosters when sleeping are the Recaros - Probooster and Vivo, the SK Monterey (I've used all 3 and they are great for sleeping kids), the combi kobuk, the Maxi Cosi Rodi, the Cybex X-fix, the Dorel Safety 1st Air Booster

all of them have pretty massive headwings closely spaced to keep the head in place.

My daughter, for instance, slumped her head forward like that (with her torso kept in position by the harness, just as the locked seatbelt is doing for your son) in her nautilus... when she moved to her vivo, she never slumped... it was all about the headwings.
 

Jan06twinmom

New member
I had these issues with the turbobooster with Damian (Jeffrey, on the other hand, can sleep bolt upright and has been able to since age 1... he was more comfortable in a highback until he outgrew it, though)

I found the old style parkway was a lot better... no slumping... and so I have always desired headrests similar to that on a booster.

So my top picks for kids in boosters when sleeping are the Recaros - Probooster and Vivo, the SK Monterey (I've used all 3 and they are great for sleeping kids), the combi kobuk, the Maxi Cosi Rodi, the Cybex X-fix, the Dorel Safety 1st Air Booster

all of them have pretty massive headwings closely spaced to keep the head in place.

My daughter, for instance, slumped her head forward like that (with her torso kept in position by the harness, just as the locked seatbelt is doing for your son) in her nautilus... when she moved to her vivo, she never slumped... it was all about the headwings.

Thank you for this information. I was planning on putting the Monterey in our main vehicle when DS outgrows the Regent. I also need to figure out what seat to buy for DD in our car and the Vivo was on the short list. She's petite - 44in and about 43lbs at 6.5yo. I've heard the Vivo works well for smaller kids. I'm glad to hear that it works well for sleeping too.

Melanie
 

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