Safe head/neck support

My daughter turns 4 in January. We've had her rear facing till 3 1/2 in a Graco SmartSeat and would flip her forward on long road trips, 6hrs to in-laws, since she will only tolerate so many hours in the car then needs a change. I got T-boned and car totaled. So we ended up getting a Foonf and have her forward facing but our problem is now the seat is so upright that her head slumps forward if she falls asleep. She already has mild scoliosis and will wake up super crabby and foul which we ended up finding out her neck and upper back hurt. The Dr said we need to recline her seat a little bit or get her neck support. She is on the Autism Spectrum so any little issues really send her into a tailspin so her neck hurting a little bit can actually affect her learning in preschool, actually using the potty, her eating, behavior... just everything. So I know it won't hurt her or other neurotypical kids but it's the side effect on her life that is what makes me concerned. She won't hardly even eat anything at all if she's upset and something has off set her routine and it lasts for days on end.

I know most things actually aren't safe but is there any neck support that is safe? Or is there a way to recline her seat a bit or do I need to actually buy her a new seat? A car ride is the only way to get her to nap on Saturday & Sunday or days off of preschool. I don't want to have her unsafe but I also would prefer to not buy her an all new carseat. We actually are going to drive to San Francisco today for Thanksgiving and we'll actually be swapping her rear facing just so she can sleep and not be in a complete fit all weekend when she'll already be having a hard time out of her routine.

Is she below 50 lbs and does she have more than an inch above her head when the headrest is at it's highest? If yes to both of those, flipping her back rearfacing will help with the head slump.

I believe you can also install the foonf forward facing in recline 2- but double check your manual. If allowed, it should give you a less upright install, which would help. At 4, I'd be ok giving a child a camping pillow or a small squishy pillow to stuff next to their head when they want to sleep. I wouldn't put anything behind the neck though.

My first thought was one of those c-shaped neck pillows, but put on so it's in front of her, not backwards. That might allow her to put her head to the side, or would at least keep her head from falling so far forward. Or giving her a small pillow that she can prop where she needs it, as the previous poster suggested, would serve the same purpose.

Question for the techs out there; would something like this be safe?

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Summer-Infant-77390-Cradler-Ivory/dp/B0054G1JSM/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1417027666&sr=8-7&keywords=car+seat+neck+support"]http://www.amazon.com/Summer-Infant-77390-Cradler-Ivory/dp/B0054G1JSM/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1417027666&sr=8-7&keywords=car+seat+neck+support[/ame]

I also came across this:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/SlumberSling-Safest-Toddler-Sleep-Snail/dp/B00NJ2ESTU/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1417027697&sr=8-18&keywords=car+seat+neck+support"]http://www.amazon.com/SlumberSling-Safest-Toddler-Sleep-Snail/dp/B00NJ2ESTU/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1417027697&sr=8-18&keywords=car+seat+neck+support[/ame]

Looks kind of crazy but it just might work if the techs agree it's safe!

AllieK said:

Question for the techs out there; would something like this be safe? Video Link: http://www.amazon.com/Summer-Infant-77390-Cradler-Ivory/dp/B0054G1JSM/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1417027666&sr=8-7&keywords=car+seat+neck+support

Click to expand...

That's probably fine as long as the back part is thin (especially for an older kid where pushing the head forward wouldn't be a concern) but I'm not sure how much support that would provide for a bigger child.

AllieK said:

I also came across this: Video Link: http://www.amazon.com/SlumberSling-Safest-Toddler-Sleep-Snail/dp/B00NJ2ESTU/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1417027697&sr=8-18&keywords=car+seat+neck+support Looks kind of crazy but it just might work if the techs agree it's safe!

Click to expand...

That thing looks so bizarre I can't even formulate an opinion on it I'd need to see how it attaches to the seat. I also can't imagine a kid being okay with it when NOT asleep.

LISmama810 said:

That thing looks so bizarre I can't even formulate an opinion on it I'd need to see how it attaches to the seat. I also can't imagine a kid being okay with it when NOT asleep.

Click to expand...

It says it attaches to the back of the car seat with an elastic band. The reviews on it are mixed. But yeah, I can't imagine this would be tolerated by either of my kids (1yr & 3yrs old) even while asleep!

The first one is safe, but unlikely to be useful for a large child. The second one is not safe. Studies on different ways to restrain the heads of children without head control have shown that tying the head back in that manner is problematic.

Do you have her seat installed in recline position 1 or 2?

She's 36" and 28lbs. Flipping her rear facing is so hard to go back and forth between. She generally wants to be forward facing and has a conniption rear facing now. Which normally I'd tell a child just deal with it but since anything that is out of her norm effects her level of functioning I'm so against just making her deal with it. I liked the SmartSeat in how easy it was to flip. Her Foonf I didn't even realize there were 2 recline options so I'll have to look at it tonight. The installation manual was super confusing and I think hubby threw it away now. I'll see if the first link will work but the second there's no way she'd tolerate that. She's already a complete whack job about sensory stuff so even if I put it on her asleep she's freak out, and it doesn't look like it's safe.

Trying to attach a pic of the issue but it isn't working for me. If it does doesn't mind the death grip on hello kitty glasses she was upset I asked for them before she passed out

Well we are getting anew car seat since our truck got hit last night by a drunk driver who cut across traffic and launched his SUV into the air and rolled. Thankfully only our front corner panel was damaged and I was the only one in the car. Hubby isn't happy about it but think I'm going to get another SmartSeat they're just so easy to swap forward and rear facing and she won't ever need another seat