Child with Feeding tube and Car Seat

U

Unregistered

Guest
I am trying to help out a mom with a 3 year old boy weighing 28lbs who has to have a feeding tube attached for about a year.

She currently has a Britax Boulevard which fits him well. The only thing we are concerned with is that one of the shoulder straps sits right over the tube site. It is not uncomfortable for the child but the concern is if there is an accident the shoulder belt might do some damage while restraining the child because of the position which is above the buckle and below the chest clip.

Has anyone ever dealt with this situation? Any suggestions? Maybe a different seat?

Thank you
JD
 
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aeormsby

New member
Is he RF or FF? He would still fit (weight wise at least, and I'd assume height wise) RF which would put the force of an accident on his back rather than his front/shoulder.

Ann
 

mama a llama

New member
My 3 yo has a feeding tube, and I don't think a different seat would make much difference. The strap goes right over the tube in all the seats we've had him in (Blvd, Scenera, Evenflo Triumph). To be honest I've never considered whether it would really be an issue.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
He is forward facing, for sure weight wise it would be no problem to rear face him but I have to check on height.

Thank you.
 

henrietta

Well-known member
One thing that might help w/the Britax seat is that you don't have to use the HUGS on the straps when the seat is used rearfacing. Also, obviously, keeping him rearfacing is safer and less likely to disturb the tube in case of an accident b/c of how the crash forces will be distributed.

I know this issue has come up here before (before we had this separate list for special needs). You might do a search for "feeding tube".

henrietta
 

Andbabymakessix

New member
My son is 4yrs 29lbs and still RFing in his Britax. Has had a Gtube since he was 1yr. I never gave it much thought. My issues has been where to put the backpack that has his feeding and pump. He is on a continous feeding. If she can I would have him RFing for reasons others have stated.

I would also say that as long as he is not complaining I wouldn't worry to much about it. Sometimes it takes a lot to have the tube pop out.

Amy mom to Tyler
 

Maedze

New member
OP, just to help you out "RF" means 'rear facing' and "FF" means "forward facing".

I too would recommend rear facing the child. It's so much safer, health considerations aside, and rear facing would put the force of the impact on the shell of the seat, not on the harness over the tube.
 

aunt83me02

Senior Community Member
My nephew is almost 11yrs and has had a g-tube with Mic-key button since he was 6wks old. He's never really had a problem with carseat straps irritating the tube site. He was a preemie and didn't ride in a carseat until 3 months after the tube was put in and had a button by that time. It is a bit more complicated if the child doesn't have a button yet. It sticks out more and would definitely be a bit more tricky than a button. RF would be best if possible because there would be less pressure on the sight since gravity helps keep the child positioned and the HUGS wouldn't be an issue. Noah rides in a Regent but he's so big now that the HUGS don't come close to his tube.
 

fyrfightermomma

New member
We had to take off the chest clip since the clip sat right on her G tube. However it almost seemed perfectly centered so only a few seats harnesses lay directly on it. I'm not comfortable with that so we had to find a seat where the harness didn't rest on the tube. I'll be more comfy with other seats once she gets a button, but with the long tube, it can damage the hole with pressure keeping it on an angle. It's just trial and error for seats. We did RFing with no chest clip while healing and now FFing with no chest clip. Once she gets a button, we'll put the chest clip back on.
 

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