car seat for special needs and older vehicle

Hi,
I'm asking for a friend who's special needs son has out grown his infant seat. He's 16m old, 23# and 30 inches. He can't sit or hold his head yet. I've read that Graco my ride is a great choice BUT they have an older car, 1988 toyota hatchback, not sure of model. Would a Britax be a better choice w the built in lock offs and being able to tether rf?
Any recommendations? Do any special needs moms know if there are programs that help with car seats?
Thanks
kim

Just about any convertible carseat will work since he'll still be rear facing. If she's not going to be moving the seat alot I see no reason why she would need a seat with built in lock offs, they're nice to have but all seats come with a locking clip, which does exactly the same thing. Some good seats to look at would be the my ride, evenflo triumph advanced, first years true fit, safety 1st guide 65, chart 65 and complete air. If she is near a babies r us or buy buy baby they let you take seats out to your car to try out to seat what fits well, I can't speak to that specific vehicle.

Alot of fire depts r wic offices give out free or low cost seats but they're going to be very basic and probably won't last as long as the seats above. But they would be fine to use if they need to save up to buy a seat. If he is currently in a 22lb infant seat they need to get a seat asap.
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A 1988 Toyota has at least one lap only belt in the back- possibly 3 (I know my dad's '88 Corolla has 3 lap belts in the back.) So she won't even need a locking clip- just put it in with the lap belts instead. (In my dad's, the center belt has a locking latchplate with a tail you pull while outboard there are locking retractors.)

A MyRide is a great choice for a small kiddo like that who needs lots of support. If they still have the vehicle when he outgrows rear-facing, they'll want to get tether anchors installed for forward-facing, but that's a LONG way off with those stats.

Thank you

I agree with everyone else, and just wanted to share this page which details all the different types of seat belts and their locking mechanisms. Just in case you/your friends have any difficulties identifying the seat belts in their car. :thumbsup:

I would suggest taking him to babies r us or somewhere similar that will allow them to try the seats. I found that many convertibles just do not support my DD well at all. Lock offs are nice for older cars, but when it comes down to it, if he's slumping and dropping his head forward and who knows what else, it won't matter if the seat is easy to install, know what I mean? For my DD (who also has very low tone) the my ride worked the best. When I first got it I had an older car that I had to use a locking clip. In some ways this is easier. If I had to move the car seat to a different car, I'd just leave the locking clip in place and when I put it back in my car, it went right back in, smooth as butter. All of the other cars we rode in were newer though, so had some kind of locking mechanism. If he were being moved between cars that were older, multiple locking clips would be an easy solution, one for each car.

The my ride was the best car seat for my DD, support wise, far beyond anything else.

We tried my full size britax and it will be very hard to load him in something like that, even something smaller but stationary. It's a 2 door and will be behind passenger, the middle seatbelt doesn't work.
His official weight is just under 20# and height is 28-29" (I think she estimated before but he's since been weighed/measured). The seat is an older one w a 20# max anyway, so it's still time to move up.
What about a bigger infant seat for now?
She said she used to have a Graco and found it easy to use and supportive (it expired and he's now in a safety first).
Which model works well in a lap belt only in an older car plus has good support?
Can any be reclined more than others?
Thanks!
kim

mamabbbg said:

We tried my full size britax and it will be very hard to load him in something like that, even something smaller but stationary. It's a 2 door and will be behind passenger, the middle seatbelt doesn't work.
His official weight is just under 20# and height is 28-29" (I think she estimated before but he's since been weighed/measured). The seat is an older one w a 20# max anyway, so it's still time to move up.
What about a bigger infant seat for now?
She said she used to have a Graco and found it easy to use and supportive (it expired and he's now in a safety first).
Which model works well in a lap belt only in an older car plus has good support?
Can any be reclined more than others?
Thanks!
kim

Click to expand...

Lap belt installation is about as easy as it gets for any seat. Hmmm, a safety 1st seat that only goes to 20lbs? I'm going to guess that it's close to expiration if not already also because cosco been making infant seats to 22lbs about as long as graco has.

At that size she could probably get away with an infant seat for a while. A infant seat with a base and a lap belt installation should take literally, 5 minutes. Graco now makes the snugride 30 and 32 and 35. I think the 30 would probably have the best head support, it has a little bolster that goes around their head and it has built in lock offs on the base so if she would ever have to move it around. The safety 1st onboard air 35 has sip wings that could possibly help with head slump.

I would also look at the evenflo triumph advanced and the safety 1st chart 65. The triumph advanced sits up on a base like the britax but instead of just reclining the seat rotates on the base which means it sits a bit lower and takes up less front to back space. The chart 65, which is a new seat, does not have a base at all so it will sit very low to the seat, making putting the baby in easier. It also has alot of infant inserts and what looks like a very nice newborn recline to it. I was just checking it out recently at Target and it looks like it would be a decent seat for the price.

Whatever she does she needs to do it asap. I would assume that the weight she's going off is a dr's office weight which is usually naked and you want to calculate for a fully dressed baby with shoes and a jacket on so she'll probably over the weight limit of her current seat.