Question 2-year-old complains of back pain in carseat

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
I just want to say, I know it does look really weird to see her RF, but check out these pictures (click on each kid's face for a full picture), they ALL look like that, lol... http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum.aspx After a few minutes' perusing those pictures, your dd's legs will suddenly look completely normal :thumbsup: (my dd, Sarah, was RF in her Marathon in our Ody till 4.5 when she finally hit the weight limit...never once complained about it :))
 
ADS

Maedze

New member
You're doing a great job :thumbsup:


I hope this solves the problem for you.



As for your older dd, I think you'll find that a dedicated booster is more comfortable and fits better than the Cosco combination seat she has.

I would consider a Sunshine Kids' Monterey, a Graco Turbobooster, or possibly a Compass B530/40 for her.
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
Wow, thank you.

I did make sure the straps are below her shoulders, but I missed switching the latch hooks. I'll check in the morning, but I'm wondering if I missed switching them to ff in the first place. Also, I will put the chair in recline.

Yes, the booster is the pink seat in the picture. I will double-check the height issue. You are right, she may be too big. She would be thrilled as she is not excited about going back to the high-back booster.

Me, I just want everyone to be as safe as possible which includes eliminating the crying and screaming the seats have been causing.

I feel very lucky to have found this site and a group of people who are so responsive. Thank you.


You're such a great mom... really trying everything to keep your kids both safe and comfy!!

it sounds like leg support was the problem, so when Gracie gets to big to rf (33lbs or head less than 1" from top of seat), taking a foam noodle (the thicker the better), and some string, which can be threaded through the ff beltpath without interfereing with the install), you can easily make her a footrest.

She is adorable!!

Definitely put the seat in the recline position, but other than that, it looks great.

For your 6yr old, there are other highbacks out there... and they go taller than that cosco booster.

If you measure her torso, we can figure out options and I bet she'll find she likes the ones that don't look as babyish (she's thinking of it as a baby seat, most likely, because it had harness straps, I bet.)
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Hi,I am a big fan of rear facing my self. My son was born with Spina Bifida and the best seat ever for him was the Cosco Opus 35. Cosco discontiuned that seat a few years ago now but my son is now 4 and is in the Graco Nautilus. I had tried all the seats that were in reasonible price range and found that the Graco Comfort Sport and the Evenflo Titan worked the best for him both rear and foward facing. He is now packing 42 pounds and loves the Nautilus. It has a built in recline that takes the pressure off his back. It is a foward facing only seat. The new First Years True Fit Convertable car seat is a nice rear facing seat and has extra padding for the back that is removable when your child gets too big. Please Please put your daughter back in a harness car seat and keep her in one to at least 80 pounds. I have my tiny 7 year old peanut weighing in at 47 pounds in a Britax Regent with pleanty of growing room. She loves that seat. Hope all this helps.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Re: 2-year-old complains of back pain in car seat

I realize this is a really old thread now, but the same thing happened with my daughter. She would scream and cry the entire time she was in EVERY harness car seat that her back hurt. She was (and still is) very tiny, and needed to be in a harness seat, but after going through 5-6 different car seats, and having her back checked at 2 & 3yrs old - not to mention being told that she needed to be in a rear facing seat by the Dr - now, where would she put her FEET and legs as a 2, 3yr old? really?! sometimes they are so ridiculously stupid - we let her sit in a booster. Anyone can say, "oh you have to do this, this and this, and they MUST be harnessed", but when your child is in horrible pain every time you drive somewhere, it's ridiculous. Car seat laws are out of control in my opinion, i want my children, who mean everything to me, to be as safe as possible, but forcing a child into a seat that may produce severe back problems doesn't seem quite right to me. My children are very small, and for them to reach the new height/weight ratios for being OUT of a car seat seems impossible at this point! And with how the car seat laws change daily, I'LL probably need to be in a 4 point harness soon. Anyway, all that to say we never figured out what was wrong, and it was only our one child this happened too. I used my parental discretion with choosing a booster, and making sure she was strapped with the chest/waist belt properly and she always sat still. She never cried or complained of back pain again. I think when a child as little as 2 says something so serious, you have to listen and try to figure out how to deal with it.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Well, as we recommend here that children rear face as long as possible (to four years) I guess we're all ridiculously stupid. Kids are flexible and they often complain more of leg pain forward facing. They're also at more risk of leg and arm injuries forward facing. Not to mention internal decapitation and other spinal injuries.

Besides, protecting their legs is an added bonus. We're trying to keep their spines connected. Which means rear facing as long as possible. Then harness to a mature booster age.

There's also a study put out by the NHTSA showing increased risk of head injury under the age of five for kids in boosters.

http://carseatblog.com/?p=5168

Now, if you want to use a booster for a child who is at increased risk of death in one, then that is your parental decision. We will encourage you to see a special needs tech in your area instead (if you are where I think you are, there's one in Voorhees) and see if you can get something safe for your child.

Jeanne Stewart Virtua Health
106 Carnie Blvd
Voorhees, NJ 08053
856-325-3659
jstewart@virtua.org English
Undeclared Certified Technician Special Needs: 7 2004

It's one thing to say that it's parental decision to use a certain type of stair gate, or to not use one. It's another to advocate increasing the risk of children in the number one killer of kids.

And I'd clap your pediatrician on the back! I wish there were more peds like him. "Ridiculously stupid" indeed. Sounds like he's actually read the literature the AAP puts out. Sounds much better than the non "ridiculously stupid" peds who still offer the potentially fatal 1 and 20 advice.

Wendy
 

Maedze

New member
A child crying with back pain should be listened to. The parent should attempt to find a solution that doesn't put the child in extreme danger.


What's 'ridiculously stupid' is a child paralyzed for life....or worse....because the parent did something she shouldn't have.

If you are putting your three year old in a booster, you are endangering her life, and there is no other way to say that, unfortunately.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Where do they put their feet and legs? Anywhere they want to! Kids are way more flexible than adults.

My almost-6 year old is long-legged, and says her legs are "much more comfier" rear-facing, because forward-facing there is nowhere to rest them.

See my current signature pic for how "uncomfortable" they are rear-facing-- so uncomfortable they fall asleep!
 

firemomof3

New member
I just wanted to chime in with my personal experiences with extended rear facing. My dd2 is almost 4y/o and prefers to be rear facing because her legs & back are better supported and she is more comfortable. When I brought up extended rear facing with my pediatrician two years ago he admitted not knowing anything about it. I emailed him the AAP recommendations and current literature and he now talks/encourages extended rear facing with his patient's parents at the 1 year check up :thumbsup:
 

mommy-medic

New member
Re: 2-year-old complains of back pain in car seat

Anyone can say, "oh you have to do this, this and this, and they MUST be harnessed", but when your child is in horrible pain every time you drive somewhere, it's ridiculous. Car seat laws are out of control in my opinion, i want my children, who mean everything to me, to be as safe as possible, but forcing a child into a seat that may produce severe back problems doesn't seem quite right to me..

Severe back problems? Hey, the "horrible pain" will end when they fly out of that booster they are too small for...

So instead you are going to force your child- who means everythign to you- into a seat that will NOT keep them safe in even a moderate wreck??? You aren't the least bit concerned for what THAT will do to her back?

My 2 year old did this too- she also asked for candy for dinner and cried for lollipops at the bank, threw a fit for a balloon at the grocery store, and screamed bloody murder because her sister had a toy she didn't. Welcome to the world of a 2 year old. Sometimes you have to be the responsible parent though.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
My daughter is having the same issues. She is 3. The thought of her getting in her seat makes her scream. We have changed her car seat 4 times this year thinking the car seat must be uncomfortable. We finally took her in to see a pediatrician 2 times and both times we were told that she is constipated and was given meds. That means she is constipated every day and has been all year. This reasoning does not make sense to me. When she rides in a car seat there is a bruise that forms at her spine. When we feel the car seat there seems to be nothing protruding that would cause her back to bruise or become red at her spine. She rides in the car with both her hands behind her back. When she gets out of the car her hands are all red from being behind her back and she pushes her body up towards the strap that there is a line at her neck where the strap was. She screams every time in the car and it is really unsafe. We have even put a pull up back there for some relief and it works at first and then she reaches behind her back and pulls it out. I will try and prop her feet up as someone suggested in the thread to see if that helps but other than that I do not know what else to do.
 
M

MichelleLeosMama

Guest
I know this is a very old thread now, but I would love to hear follow up from the moms that had the same issues. We are dealing with the exact same thing to a T with our 3 year old son. My husband is convinced it’s typical “threenager” manipulation because he doesn’t like being strapped down but I can’t believe he would keep this up for months now every single trip in the car and scream with real tears streaming down his face. He can be distracted with a treat or talking but like clock work after a few minutes in he is screaming and thrusting and saying his back hurts. It is beyond unsafe as it makes driving a very tense and nerve wracking experience. He is a very active little guy so part of me thought it was in his head like a phobia of being tied down because his inner motor just wants to go go go plus outside of the seat he never complains about any pain. We are at a complete loss and want to see if taking it to the next step of medical testing makes sense or if more moms had kids either grow out of this stage or car seat adjustments worked. Very interested to know about the outcomes now that time has passed. Losing our minds over here
 

featherhead

Well-known member
I know this is a very old thread now, but I would love to hear follow up from the moms that had the same issues. We are dealing with the exact same thing to a T with our 3 year old son. My husband is convinced it’s typical “threenager” manipulation because he doesn’t like being strapped down but I can’t believe he would keep this up for months now every single trip in the car and scream with real tears streaming down his face. He can be distracted with a treat or talking but like clock work after a few minutes in he is screaming and thrusting and saying his back hurts. It is beyond unsafe as it makes driving a very tense and nerve wracking experience. He is a very active little guy so part of me thought it was in his head like a phobia of being tied down because his inner motor just wants to go go go plus outside of the seat he never complains about any pain. We are at a complete loss and want to see if taking it to the next step of medical testing makes sense or if more moms had kids either grow out of this stage or car seat adjustments worked. Very interested to know about the outcomes now that time has passed. Losing our minds over here

Which seat do you have for him? Have you ever noticed bruises on his lower back? Is there extra padding in the seat that you could put back in or remove? Are the straps adjusted to the correct height (at or above his shoulders for forward facing or at or below his shoulders for rear facing)? A picture of him in his seat may be helpful as well.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Hey Beth. I have a almost four year old son with scoliosis actually he has a few medical conditions one including low muscle tone is the main issue. And he is in a lot of pain in the car seat as well. He’s been complaining about it since he was about two as well. He says it feels a little better when he puts his arm behind his back 😔 it upsets me that I can’t figure out a better solution for him being safe in his car seat! I’ve tried switching car seats even putting a little pad behind his back but it doesn’t help. When he goes to see the specialist for his back in a few weeks I am going to ask for advice but I’m not too sure if they make car seats for kids with scoliosis none that I can’t find
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I searched this in the internet a year ago.
Desperate because my 2 1/2 year old 25 lb. child would cry her back hurt in her car seat. She was in what I thought was the best, a Britax roundabout. We couldn’t even run errands.
It was terrible. I tried everything. Distractions, rewards nothing worked. I searched and decided another car seat and style might help. We purchased the Chico 5 pt harnessed booster seat and it improved. Not overnight but it did get much better. 6 months later she could ride without any complaints at all which was impossible before. She rides with her legs up and this seat allows that with a longer base for the seat. It must take pressure off her back. Hope this helps someone else.
 
N

Nikki

Guest
Good Morning all,

First, thank you so much for all the great support.

When the triumph did not work for us, we bought the Britax Marathon. We used the Marathon forward facing.

Gracie has been evaluated by her pediatrician, but not a specialist. She has had an x-ray and ultrasound. The next medical step would be an MRI.

We have double (triple) checked positioning and padding. Straps are untwisted and set at the right position.

Her complaint: The carseat "ows my back." She points to the small of her back. She cries at the thought of sitting in the seat. When put in any carseat she twists her arm back to put her hand between her back and the seat or she pushes forward against the straps.

My investigations have ranged from reflux, sensory integration to spinal/kidney issues. The bottom line is that I can't ride safely with her in the car - either because I am making changes to carseat configuration or because of her screaming.

Does anyone out there have a similar experience? Or, a suggestion for a seat? I will turn the Britax Marathon rear-facing today.

-Beth
Hello, did you ever find a solution? I found your post because my son is experiencing the same. Thanks!
 

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