Hip spica ... Which carseat?

My 2&1/2 yr old has just been put in a hip spica this morning, after breaking his femur last sat while attempting to do a backflip on the couch like his older brothers do !!! Monkey see monkey do indeed.
Were to be discharged from hospital tomorrow morning, but they have positioned him (I think) to straight up and down and not bent enough to sit in a car-seat. They said that everytime he needs to travel in a car he will have to lay down across the backseat with just an adult belt for safety.
I have a marathon and 2x regents that I imported here to Australia in 2006,which my boys use daily in the cat but my concern is that my ds3 will be too upright to be harnessed. I've googled spica car seat that are available here in au and they look very similar to a marathon and the regent( but the price is around $2300.00) it looks like they've just have added foam wedges to recline the child
My question is ... If I were to get some heavy duty foam wedges that are similar would it make it safer for ds3 to travel in there regent or marathon or should I do as suggested by hospital staff here and just lay him across the seat with an adult seatbelt to secure him in??? I'm thinking the foam but will me doing this pose more of a threat to his safety if I were to get into any accident??

Try him in the Regent, it has low sides, is wide, and I bet that it would work well to support his leg. You don't need specific wedges- use rolled hand towels or receiving blankets if there's a gap behind him and he's uncomfortable, to fill the gap and support his back as needed, but I don't think too much will be necessary.

If needed, put something lightweight in front of his leg to take the weight off and relieve discomfort. Hang on, I'll find a link to a post showing what I did with my daughter when she had a broken leg that needed support and elevation.

I would absolutely disregard what they're telling you, you're right that it's not safe.

Here's a post showing how I used lightweight stuff to make my daughter comfortable, I've heard suggestions of bean bag chairs, an underinflated exercise ball, or anything else lightweight but supportive to make a child who needs a leg supported comfortable. http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=1729712&postcount=4

Thankyou so much, I thought I was on the right track saying that just laying him on the backseat is safer than putting him in a harnessed seat. Now to just find the right angle for him to be comfortable. Thanks again I'll upload a photo once he's home

If he does end up casted so straight that he can't bend at all, ask them if they have a modified harness for him to use. Here in the States we call it a modified vest; it uses two seatbelts and secures the child lying down.

Usually they do the cast somewhat bent, you just sometimes have to experiment to find the right support for the child to use a harness. But if they really did do it with him lying completely flat, I'd insist on them finding a safe way to transport him (even if it means that they pay for ambulance transport to and from the hospital. But hopefully they do have modified vests/harnesses available, if they've done that.)

Here is the thread Judi had done on special needs transport, which includes a modified vest

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=75161&highlight=vest

If that were us and he were casted totally straight, I would not leave and insist they recast him. :duck:

Oh, I hadn't even thought of recasting. That's a good idea, if they've done it in a way that makes him unable to ride safely in the car. (And still probably cheaper than ambulance transport.)

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Above is my ds3 in his seat with his hip spica cast on...seat is now installed.
Thanks for all your quick replys

Great job, Mama! I'm so glad you took the time to find a reasonably safe way for him to travel, instead of just laying him across the back seat. You did awesome :thumbsup:

Yeah, that looks way better than what they suggested, and you did a great job sporting him in the seat!