Help with SS1 and small newborn

Hello,

My wife and I just had a litle girl (she is not big 5 pounds 9oz and 19 inches) and when we put her in the SS1 on our way back from the hospital, it seemed like her head was tilting forward as if the angle of the seat was too upright and I am concerned with the fact that it might create a problem with her airway/breathing. In addition the harness clip seemed too close to her throat. My wife sat in the back and hold her head during the short travel form the hospital to the house but I cannot see this being the way to deal with the problem.

The car seat shows me that the angle is corect (i.e. Blue no orange).

Is it normal? What can I do to fix the problem? Is SS1 not adequate for smalll babies?

Thx,

Yves.

Congratulations!!

You could try to adjust the recline on your seat to make it more reclined. Sometimes those indicators will show no orange but are still quite upright. You can all put rolled up receiving blankets on either side of your little one to help support her. As far as the chest clip goes you want it to be at armpit level.

Hi and congrats on your new arrival.

The recline indicators on the SS1 and snugride both indicate an acceptable range for the seats. Because it's a range, you can have it in the blue, but have it be too upright for a newborn, or more reclined than needed for an older baby. From your description, the seat is definitely installed too upright at the moment, so fixing that should fix the head slump problem. In addition to reclining the seat more, you can also use rolled receiving blankets on each side of your little one's head to provide extra support instead of using the support that came with the SS1 - some of the supports are better than others,the one that came with your seat might be adequate, but I wouldn't be able to tell you without seeing your little one in the seat & seeing the type of support the seat came with.

I always have parents with newborns install the base with the foot out as much as they can while still having the indicator be all in blue. Newborns usually need the full recline that the manufacturer allows, then as your baby gets older and develops better head control, you can gradually decrease the recline. Just make sure that you don't extend the foot so far that you start seeing orange in the indicator when you place the seat on the base. :thumbsup:

As for the harness, as long as you're able to get it properly snug, ie can't pinch a horizontal fold in the straps at the collar bone or the straps are snug if you slide one finger flat between the collar bone & the straps, then it's quite typical for the chest clip to end up right near the buckle and baby's chin to be right near it. The chest clip on the SS1 is really quite big on a newborn, but newborns grow really quick the first few weeks, and you'll find quite quickly that the chest clip quits dwarfing babe. :thumbsup:

Just as an added reminder make sure you are placing her bottom square in the bottom of the seat and her back is flat against the back of the seat. Work the slack of the harness from her hip up as you pull the harness adjuster.

The clip needs to be at armpit level.

Make sure your vehicle is on a flat surface when checking the level. Use a tight rolled towel in the bight of the seat or a foam pool noodle. They sell the foam blocks at BRU if you really want one.

If that still doesn't seem to help, snap a few pics for us and maybe we can get a better look.

HTH

PixieEMT said:

Make sure your vehicle is on a flat surface when checking the level. Use a tight rolled towel in the bight of the seat or a foam pool noodle. They sell the foam blocks at BRU if you really want one.

Click to expand...

Good reminder about checking on a flat surface.

A rolled towel or pool noodle most likely isn't necessary with the SS1 base - at least I've never seen a vehicle that needs it including my truck which has very sloped seats, and the foot wasn't even extended all the way... If a vehicle has really sloped seats, it's almost always going to be easier to get a proper recline angle using the foot on the base than it would be to use a rolled towel or a pool noodle. :thumbsup:

I just checked the SS1 manual and if a rolled towel or pool noodle is going to be used, the foot must be raised completely - it must be totally inside the base as opposed to extended to increase the recline.

What kind of vehicle is the seat being installed in?

(To give an idea of how sloped my vehicle seats are, I can barely get the radian reclined enough for it to be suitable for a rf'ing toddler or preschooler, so that's why I say the foot on the base will almost always be sufficient. )

ygillard said:

Hello,

My wife and I just had a litle girl (she is not big 5 pounds 9oz and 19 inches) and when we put her in the SS1 on our way back from the hospital, it seemed like her head was tilting forward as if the angle of the seat was too upright and I am concerned with the fact that it might create a problem with her airway/breathing. In addition the harness clip seemed too close to her throat. My wife sat in the back and hold her head during the short travel form the hospital to the house but I cannot see this being the way to deal with the problem.

The car seat shows me that the angle is corect (i.e. Blue no orange).

Is it normal? What can I do to fix the problem? Is SS1 not adequate for smalll babies?

Thx,

Yves.

Click to expand...

I had the same issue with my 5lbs14oz dd when she was born. Then I realized I could recline the seat more and still have the indicator say blue. Blue is a very big range. I tried turning the nob to extend the red foot on the base with the base installed and coudn't because it was in very tight. So I had to uninstall, raise the foot more and reinstall. Then make sure it's still blue with NO orange at all. I agree with the PP you really shouldn't need a towel or noodle with the SS1 because the base has the foot to adjust incline. Oh, and the chest clip moves on the harness so you can just pull it down so it's on armpit level.
Congrats on the new baby!

snowbird25ca said:

In addition to reclining the seat more, you can also use rolled receiving blankets on each side of your little one's head to provide extra support instead of using the support that came with the SS1 - some of the supports are better than others,the one that came with your seat might be adequate, but I wouldn't be able to tell you without seeing your little one in the seat & seeing the type of support the seat came with.

Click to expand...

I was actually coming on here to research something & found this thread.....I'm expecting my first baby any day now & a few weeks ago my Dad & I attempted to install our Graco Safeseat in my truck. DH had arranged an appt. with our local Police station to have someone check it for us. We were VERY lucky that the officer who helped us install it correctly had full training & experience. One thing that she mentioned is not using the head support that the seat came with & using the two rolled receiving blankets instead. She said it was up to us but it's a best-practice she recommends. I was a little overwhelmed with all the advice she gave us that I forgot to ask why but after reading the above posts I now understand why. The officer did go on to explain (actually forewarn us) that if the baby is 5lbs or less, many hospitals will check the baby's oxygen / CO2 while they are in the car seat to see if they will be okay in the seat or if a smaller seat was needed, & that they would not allow baby to go home until a suitable seat was used. That happened to a friend of the officer's so she was kind enough to pass the experience on.

Anyways, would we be okay using the head support eventually once the baby gets older? If so, how will we know when we hit that stage?

If it came in the box with the seat---it's been crash tested with the seat and is safe to use.

If you bought a headrest/support pillow seperately---then those have not been crash tested with your seat and are not safe to use.

Susan

The SS1 is a nice seat in that it lasts so long, but isn't a great fit for tiny newborns. The good thing is that they grow fast and she'll be comfy in no time.

In addition to the other suggestions, you can place a rolled washcloth or receiving blanket between the baby's legs and the crotch buckle. This can prevent her slumping down and help the chest clip fit lower.

crunchierthanthou said:

In addition to the other suggestions, you can place a rolled washcloth or receiving blanket between the baby's legs and the crotch buckle. This can prevent her slumping down and help the chest clip fit lower.

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For some reason I'm having problems picturing that

Does the rolled cloth go over the babies' legs (horizontally) at the crotch buckle? Or does it go under?

(sorry if it sounds stupid, I really can't for some reason picture it).

As for the head support, it most definitely is the one that came with the seat which was bought brand new here in Ont. The officer didn't think I was going to have a small baby but wanted to mention it just in case so we wouldn't be shocked. Yeah I was pretty surprised when she told us about using the two receiving blankets.

wrap it around the buckle, between the baby's legs so it's in front of the child (you don't want anything under).

I wouldn't worry about removing the manufacturer's headrest. You can add receiving blankets to the side if more support is neede, but it's alright to leave the headpiece in.

T*H*J said:

As for the head support, it most definitely is the one that came with the seat which was bought brand new here in Ont. The officer didn't think I was going to have a small baby but wanted to mention it just in case so we wouldn't be shocked. Yeah I was pretty surprised when she told us about using the two receiving blankets.

Click to expand...

There is actually a picture in the SafeSeat manual that shows how to use rolled blankets.

I think the advice of making sure the baby's bottom is all the way back is important. I found that any time my baby wasn't fitting well in the SafeSeat, it was because his bottom wasn't all the way back in the seat. If I strapped him in with his bottom scooted even a little forward I would get fit issues.

Thanks guys! I'll go check out the manual for that.