Special Needs Seat Issue

Keeks64

New member
There is a local woman who often posts car seat photos on her blog of her daughters, they are twins , age 2 & one is special needs. She has a trach & other medical necessity equipment required.

She cannot walk unassisted yet & obviously with the trach needs a decent recline to accommodate it.

She was RF in an AOE, but recent photos show her FF with a towel rolled under the base at the seat bight. A blog follower commented & mentioned it being unsafe, but the woman commented back that it was needed to keep the seat reclined because of her sloped vehicle seats.

The other issue is all the medical equipment, there is all kinds of items loose because they are all attached to the little girl , there's often a large oxygen tank too. None is secured in any way.

I want to approach her but I need to know what options might work - I don't see her turning her back around RF but I will be discussing it! For both DD's if possible as the other has mild CP & is quite tiny ( they were 29 weekers)

So my thought was maybe the MyRide? Reclined for both RF & FF when the time comes? But the deep sides concerned me as far as all the tubing & tanks etc....

So then I thought maybe a RN, if she would move her back RF, low profile, good recline & lots of leg room for excess tubing etc ..

Complete air was also on my list but with the 36" height limit its not a good choice I don't think

Now, the other issue is all the medical equipment , how would I go about securing it? It can't be stowed or stored behind anything (I don't think anyways) the tubes don't appear to be very long so I think being beside her is the only option

I feel badly that people are commenting on the blog as she seems defensive but I hope if I come in a position to actually help she might be receptive
 
ADS

Pixelated

Moderator - CPST Instructor
OP is in Canada FYI, so we don't have all of the same seats as in the US, or different limits on the same seats.
 

jacqui276

New member
Do you know what other medical equipment she has that she carries with her? I usually see parents travelling with their portable oxygen in a bag. Is it possible for her to buckle the bag that the oxygen is in to the seat beside her? The tubing for the oxygen should definitely be long enough to have it next to her. If she has a hatchback/SUV it likely is long enough that that oxygen tubing could go over the back of the seat with the oxygen tank stored in the cargo space.
I would imagine she might have portable suction that she travels with as well, which could also be stored in a bag (with some sort of handle to loop through) right next to her and secured to the car with the seat belt.

If she is opposed to RFin the little girl, a MyRide is probably the most reclined FFing seat that we have here that I can think of.
 

Keeks64

New member
Do you know what other medical equipment she has that she carries with her? I usually see parents travelling with their portable oxygen in a bag. Is it possible for her to buckle the bag that the oxygen is in to the seat beside her? The tubing for the oxygen should definitely be long enough to have it next to her. If she has a hatchback/SUV it likely is long enough that that oxygen tubing could go over the back of the seat with the oxygen tank stored in the cargo space.
I would imagine she might have portable suction that she travels with as well, which could also be stored in a bag (with some sort of handle to loop through) right next to her and secured to the car with the seat belt.

If she is opposed to RFin the little girl, a MyRide is probably the most reclined FFing seat that we have here that I can think of.

Sorry I should have mentioned she has a van .... Unsure of the make/model but it has captain chairs & the other twin is in the other CC.

I have never seen photos of the tank in a bag, but I could ask her :) thanks for that suggestion. Most of the equipment appears to be for the trach , but I know she also has a J tube & another tube of some sort.

I wonder if it would be acceptable to post her blog/FB page, to show the situation. It's an open, shareable blog?
 

Pixelated

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I wasn't sure where to post it as I knew that that it would be harder being in Canada

Often Canada-specific questions are better off in the Canada forum, but this question is so special-needs oriented that it's better suited here. Don't worry, we can always move stuff if things are put in the wrong spot.

I wonder if it would be acceptable to post her blog/FB page, to show the situation. It's an open, shareable blog?

It is fine to post the link as long as the conversation is around education and helping rather than gawking and nastiness. So carry on :)
 

Keeks64

New member
She posted a video :)

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=...top_uri=/watch?v=pQSoH-BU8Vw&feature=youtu.be

I have contacted her & she is very receptive to help .... I just don't know all the answers to help, or feel I do ;/

So biggest issues are Hannah's FF seat is sitting on a towel due the sloped seats, obviously the trach under the chest clip, the oxygen bag & emergency bag & how to stow everything with that captain chair down.

Hannah's straps looked to low too but hard to tell? Anyone else notice?
 

Pixelated

Moderator - CPST Instructor
Hannah's straps did look too low, and since they swap seats often depending if there's a nurse with them I'd go up a click on the 2nd row seat.

It looks like the seat in the 2nd row is installed with UAS -- in which case I think her van must only have one tether anchor in the 3rd row, so she'd need to move that seat over to where the anchor is. Can you find out what year the van is?

I'd prefer to see them both RF as well, both for age and developmental reasons.

She had a vent, an emergency backpack bag, and portable suction. She keeps the 2nd row driver's side captain's chair stowed for extra space.

I don't know what would be best for stowing the gear, or securing the vent to Hannah while driving. I wonder if it would fit inside the velcro of the thick harness pads on a Radian, rather than under the chest clip? Outside my comfort zone recommending anything here, hopefully someone has a better idea.
 

Keeks64

New member
Hannah's straps did look too low, and since they swap seats often depending if there's a nurse with them I'd go up a click on the 2nd row seat.

It looks like the seat in the 2nd row is installed with UAS -- in which case I think her van must only have one tether anchor in the 3rd row, so she'd need to move that seat over to where the anchor is. Can you find out what year the van is?

I'd prefer to see them both RF as well, both for age and developmental reasons.

She had a vent, an emergency backpack bag, and portable suction. She keeps the 2nd row driver's side captain's chair stowed for extra space.

I don't know what would be best for stowing the gear, or securing the vent to Hannah while driving. I wonder if it would fit inside the velcro of the thick harness pads on a Radian, rather than under the chest clip? Outside my comfort zone recommending anything here, hopefully someone has a better idea.

Thanks!

That's my issue , I just don't know what to suggest as I don't feel qualified to say yes or no that its safe.

She has no budget for a new seat :/ I think both girls are likely close to 36" probably 34"ish - Hailey is taller. So RF in those seats won't be an option

I'm wondering if a closed tote secured somehow would work to transport all the gear & somehow securing the vent bag to the floor in front of Hannah would work ... But not sure it's possible in the 3rd row

The vent tube going under the harness seems more dangerous than over? In a crash wouldn't it just pop off when the chest clip breaks or slides down? That's my thought anyways

Is there a SN tech in Vancouver at all I wonder?
 

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