Baby Class / Hospital and infant head support

So I'm actually going to have my OWN baby Not just borrow some kids to drive around. So we are taking a baby class.

I'm using my g/fs onboard air 35 as I got it for her - she used it for 5 months (no crash.. no strap wash, etc) and its still got lots of years on it. We expect to move to the CCO early anyway - but one one for early early months and then to have around to use at resturants and such (FYI we drive older model subarus which is why we'll use the CCO earlier .. rather then using it for a long time - cco fits much better) ANYWAY...

I picked it up from her yesterday.. no infant head insert.

We have baby class tonight and they want us to bring the seat in - I was like crap - I need that thing. Well I talked to a g/f who took the same class and they were forced to take all the strap pads and head supports out (no idea what others in her class had - she had a snugride) - I looked at my manual and it certainly doesn't need the headrest. I'm scared to take the CCO into class and have my husband hear them tell us to take all the padding out (because I know we need it with the CCO) so I'm taking the bare infant seat in.. but have you all heard this before??

Just bring your manual and show them where it says you need the insert in. They should be telling people to follow the manual, and some manuals require inserts at certain weights. or that the manual says the insert is acceptable. They can't force you to do anything. It's just a class.

They probably have parents remove stuff because it's usually after market. My guess is the teacher isnt familiar with seats that come with stuff vs after market. Will DH listen to them or to you? If he'll take their word as gospel then take the infant seat.

That's interesting our baby class just stressed that dont buy anything extra to put in the seats. The teacher actually said if it doesnt come in the box you may not use it, only rolled up blankets on the sides.

The infant seat is in my car already - so we'll take that - he'll listen to me about the CCO I think because its all assembled - etc.

But if we took the CCO and I had to fight with the instructor - he would be mortified and mad that I was fighting

I just had not heard anything about it - and I asked her - the after market one? She said they told her to take the headrest (came with the seat) and the strap covers (came with the seat) off - she didn't mind and the baby when he came was big enough he never had head slump or anything.

Her friend had a smaller baby and the hospital did give her like 3 blankets.. my friend was hopeful she'd get the free blankets out of the deal

NannyMom said:

They probably have parents remove stuff because it's usually after market. My guess is the teacher isnt familiar with seats that come with stuff vs after market.

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:yeahthat:

I can't really fault them; they are just slightly misinformed. Like NannyMom said, most head supports and strap covers are usually aftermarket. The instructors know that aftermarket is usually bad, but have taken the "Oh, no! No head supports or strap covers!" message a little too far.

I wouldn't fight with them, but would quietly and privately inform them that products that come with the seat are tested with it and thus are fine to use as the manufacturer outlined. Show them the manual. If you have any spare manuals around, perhaps share those as well.

Congrats on the baby!

Well for me.. as I'm taking a stripped down infant seat anyway (and its safety first onboard air which doesn't say I need the insert at all) then I'll just plan on using it without (Easier then tracking it down anyway!)
But if I saw a keyfit or something that I suspect needed the insert (such as a convertible) with someone else in the class I might casually walk over and ask if they have the manual - otherwise I'll just zip it

opaque1997 said:

Well for me.. as I'm taking a stripped down infant seat anyway (and its safety first onboard air which doesn't say I need the insert at all) then I'll just plan on using it without (Easier then tracking it down anyway!)
But if I saw a keyfit or something that I suspect needed the insert (such as a convertible) with someone else in the class I might casually walk over and ask if they have the manual - otherwise I'll just zip it

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:thumbsup:

Sounds like they're going for a one size fits all answer. In order to make sure no one uses after market stuff they tell everyone not to use anything. Kind of like the nurse that walked us out to the car when DS was born, she insisted that the handle had to be down on our snugride and that the techs told them that. Rather than fight it I rolled my eyes, slid the front seat forward and put the handle down. I didn't feel like pulling out the manual to proveI was right. But it made me mad that they were giving out carseat advice without really knowing what they were talking about.

aeormsby said:

Kind of like the nurse that ...... insisted that the handle had to be down on our snugride and that the techs told them that.

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This can be a real problem. When my kids were young the vast majority of seats did require the handle to be down. Now there are seats that require it to be down, require it to be up, allow it to be up (but only in certain positions), and allow it to be in any position. Any nurse telling parents that every seat should have the handle down can cause as much trouble as telling them they should all be up. :thumbsdown: