harness seat for a big 7 year old.

aetj81 · Sep 16, 2011

Hello again

I work with children that have autism. One of my kids is 7 and is in a lbb. However, he has started unbuckling his belt. He doesn't have the cognitive ability to start a plan to reinforce him not to do that. Another point is, his muscles. He is very weak. His trunk muscles are not what they should be. He lays down a lot, because its easier for him. His mom is now OK with putting him in a 5pt, but he is very tall. His dad is 6'3" and mom is 5'11". She was supposed to email me his stats, but haven't. I know he is too tall for a Nautilus. Any other suggestions?

Jennifer mom to my 7 · Sep 16, 2011

Hello.

If you are planning on long term, depending on his stats, the merritt roosevelt is probably your best bet.

http://www.eztether.com/

This thread, in the special needs and other transportation forum, has info on the roosevelt and other sn seats you can consider.

Hope this helps a little.

DaniannieB · Sep 19, 2011

Is he unbuckling his belt just to unbuckle it or is he doing it because something is uncomfortable? If it's to get comfortable (you say he keeps wanting to lie down), a HBB w/ good support may work for him. A backless just doesn't give much support to a child w/ low tone.

The special needs seats are great, but they're also expensive. If they're looking at going that route, they may want to consult w/ insurance, OT/PT, and the physician to see if they can get the seat covered that way.

If they can't afford a SN seat, the Britax Frontier 85 has a harness that is 2" taller than the Nautilus and then becomes a pretty supportive HBB, so that may work well for him.

If a SN seat is possible, the Roosevelt is a good option. Other options would be the Merritt Churchill (backless booster but has positioning harness and other features) or the SnugSeat pilot (basically a Monterey w/ a positioning harness) may be good options. The Merritt seats have accessories that cover buckles to prevent unbuckling if he's unbuckling just to do it rather than because he's uncomfy in the backless.