Seat for preemie?

[shrill]

Hi all.

We were planning to go with just a convertible seat and bought a Britax Roundabout. However, then we had our daughter at 28 weeks (12 weeks early). She's in the hospital now, and we don't know when she will come home, but there is a good chance she will be less than 5 pounds when she does.

Thoughts on good seats? We're looking for something safe (obviously), and budget is an issue since this is not something we had planned for. We have a Mazda3 Sport.

Thanks,

Shrill

 

[Jewels]

Congrats on your baby!

I really like the Graco safeseat but I think you might be better going with a Evenflo Embrace as it has a lower bottom harness slot at 5" but make sure you get a model that has the up-front adjuster. I think the Embrace will fit your baby better then the safeseat. The only problem with the Evenflo Embrace is that the handle must be down and cannot touch the front seats which may be a problem space wise in your Mazda3.



The Graco safeseat is also a great seat that may work for your little one. It will last longer as it goes to 30lbs and is fairly easy to install. The handle can be left up in the vehicle as well so this might work better vehicle wise. The lowest bottom harness slots are 7".

 

[QuassEE]

Firstly, congratulations! I can't even imagine what you've been going through having a baby so unexpectedly early... Let's hope we can simplify the carseat issue.

You're right about not using the Britax Roundabout...Britax does not approve of using their convertible seats when infants are more than 1" below the bottom harness slots. This will obviously be the case with a premie--and would be the case with many newborns. You may want to return your Roundabout and get a Marathon to use after your infant seat.

Now--the weight your baby is released at and their breathing ability are two major issues here. Depending on these two factors, you may have to go two different routes.

If your baby is released from the hospital with breathing issues and/or under the minimum weight for all available infant seats (should be 5lbs,) then you will have to talk to someone within the hospital and obtain a medical carbed. Usually the hospital OT or similar will be able to point you in the right direction...

If your baby is released at 5lbs and with no breathing complications when slightly upright (around 45 degrees) then you'll want to find the infant seat with the absolute lowest harness slots possible and a 5lb starting weight limit. I think that the Evenflo Embrace fits the bill (although it's not really the most comfortable carseat).. You may also be able to find a Combi Centre, which also has low harness slots.. Measure from bum area up to the bottom slots (poking your finger through to ensure you're measuring to the plastic slots behind and not the cover, as covers shift) and make a note of that measurement..then continue to do the same for as many seats as you have access to.

As Jewels mentioned--space might be an issue in a Mazda3, but often rear-facing seats mesh quite nicely between the two front seats.

-Nicole.

 

[Jewels]

Here is a list of common carseat measurements that may help you some.

 

[CDNTech]

Personally, I would still go with something like the Graco SafeSeat1. Since the handle can be left up, it will be much easier to fit correctly in the space that the Mazda3 has... we have a MazdaSpeed3, so I know exactly the kind of space we are talking about here.

All carseats start at 5lbs here and the SafeSeat1 will fit a 5lb baby (just barely).

I would hesitate to use the Embrace simply because of the handle. It must be down when in the vehicle *with* an inch of clearance between the handle and the front seats and it won't fit correctly in the backseat with that handle down.

 

[Wineaux]

The Compass car seats are particularly good at handling preemies. They are also super easy to install, both LATCH and seatbelt. While the handle cannot be completely up when installed in the vehicle, it can be placed in the next down position, making it much easier to remove the seat and baby from the car. The Compass seats also are 100% encased in EPP foam, and are one of the lightest weight infant seats on the market. I really like the ones we used with Ian, albeit Mr. Super Torso outgrew them a little faster than I would have liked, but that won't be an issue with a preemie.

Congrats on the new baby!

 

[Jewels]

The Compass car seats are particularly good at handling preemies.

Pretty sure we don't have the Compass seat in Canada.

 

[Starlight]

The Graco SafeSeat will NOT fit a micro-preemie, it's almost guaranteed. I have pics I can pm you, if you'd like.

Not sure what your other choices in Canada are - the Chicco? The Compass is a good preemie fit, but obviously not if it's not an option up there. LOL

 

[azgirl71]

DD was a 30 week preemie. She did not fit in any graco seats. She fit in the Combi Connection well and the Britax Companion well. We wnt with the Combi becasue of all the extra padding. A Keyfit wouls probably work well too.

 

[Jewels]

There aren't a whole lot of infant seat options in Canada. There is Evenflo, Cosco/Safety 1st (bottom slots are way to high), Graco, Peg and Combi Centre.

I'm doubting that such a small baby will fit in a Graco seat but I would try it and if that didn't work then I would try the Combi (lowest slots are approx 7.5") and the Evenflo Embrace which I think is going to work thet best.

 

[Wineaux]

Pretty sure we don't have the Compass seat in Canada.

http://www.learningcurve.com/wps/portal/wheretobuy
According to the Learning Curve (They purchased Compass.) website, Compass seats are sold at Wal-Mart's in Canada. I linked the where to buy page from their site. Pop in your postal code and see what's nearby. Hope that helps and that you really can buy their seats in Canada.

 

[CDNTech]

Can the Combi handle be upright?

The Embrace is not going to have the room required to have the handle down in that vehicle... unless both parent and baby are sitting in the backseat and the front passenger seat can be pushed all the way forward and left unoccupied.

We don't have the Keyfit here, or that is the seat I would head straight for. No Compass infant seat in Canada either, just the B505 Booster.

 

[snowbird25ca]

Congrats on your new arrival and I hope that your little one is doing well.

Like the others have said, our seats for preemies are unfortunately very limited here in Canada. I'm not sure what your hospital is like, but I know the hospital my ds was at didn't like to release babies home if they needed a car bed. One baby did the car seat study two times, then had extra testing before they would even consider doing the study with the car bed. IIRC they decided to do the study with an infant seat one more time before the car bed, and babe passed so they ended up going home in an infant seat after all.

Our hospital did release babies that were over 4lbs and ready to come home despite the lack of a seat approved below 5lbs in Canada, so this may be something you'd like to bring up with them in terms of "distant planning and haven't bought a carseat yet" conversation.

My ds was born at 33wks, and was a good size for a 33weeker coming in at 5lbs and 19". He spent 15 days in the NICU and was 5lbs 4ozs when he was released. He came home in a snugride and it fit fine - but he wasn't a micro-preemie, and he does have a very long torso...

This is a link to how he fit in the snugride when he was released. We didn't get the SS1 for him until he was 5mos old, but based on the snugride pic's I'm sure he would've fit it fine.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/snowbird25ca/Jonas/JonasOct06062.jpg

Most of the babies that I saw go home while ds was in hospital went home in a snugride, probably mainly because of lack of options in Canada...

So I'd start by talking to your little one's medical team and ask them for recommendations as to what they've seen fit small babies well. They'll also be familiar with your little one and might be able to make a suggestion based on that. I'm not sure how your NICU is set up, but ours was an open design, so I was able to see what car seats everyone brought in for their little ones. You might also keep an eye out and talk to the other moms if you have any you talk to regularly.

 

[NVMBR02]

I am not in Canada but my niece and nephew were both premies and they came home in snugrides

 

[Jewels]

http://www.learningcurve.com/wps/portal/wheretobuy
According to the Learning Curve (They purchased Compass.) website, Compass seats are sold at Wal-Mart's in Canada. I linked the where to buy page from their site. Pop in your postal code and see what's nearby. Hope that helps and that you really can buy their seats in Canada.

The only Compass seats I have seen here in Canada are the boosters. I entered my postal code and it says my Walmart carries Compass seats but I have never seen them there As far as the Compass infant seat goes I have never seen one here.

 

[SusanMae]

Using an infant seat with a winter preemie would be preferable to a convertible seat. You can bring the seat in and out of the car so you're not putting baby in a cold seat....and then they don't have to work harder to stay warm. When you take baby in public(as little as possible) you can keep them covered....especially important since it's cold, flu and RSV season.

Do you have to do a "car seat challenge?" Here in the US we have to do them---they put baby in seat at a 45 degree angle to make sure they can still mind their A's & B's. They have to do it for an hour.

I agree with looking at what the other babies are going home in. Ask the nurses what seats they see that seem to fit the babies best.

Susan

 

[ThreeBeans]

A Graco SS1 will not be a good fit for a tiny preemie.

This is Bean the Third at two days old, roughly 20 inches and 7 and a half pounds.

You can see he is still a half inch or so below the harness straps

 

[serabi]

Hi all.

We were planning to go with just a convertible seat and bought a Britax Roundabout. However, then we had our daughter at 28 weeks (12 weeks early). She's in the hospital now, and we don't know when she will come home, but there is a good chance she will be less than 5 pounds when she does.

Thoughts on good seats? We're looking for something safe (obviously), and budget is an issue since this is not something we had planned for. We have a Mazda3 Sport.

Thanks,

Shrill

Congratulations on your new baby! I had a 24 weeker in July of '06. She's now home and doing great.

When it comes to car seats, you definitely aren't going to be able to get that baby out of the NICU in a Britax Roundabout It won't fit her correctly.

We brought DD home in a Britax Companion, but I don't know if that's available in Canada. We ended up not needing the Low Birthweight foam that you can get for it, but it is available. The downside to that seat is that it's not cheap...

Other car seats I saw used around the NICU that seemed to work well that are available in Canada were the Graco Snugride and the Evenflo Embrace. Everyone else has already discussed the Embrace here I'll say though that I am not a fan of that seat. The Snugride, especially the ones with EPS foam, are a better buy IMO.

I definitely recommend asking the nurses what seats they've seen that have worked well.

 

[Jeanum]

Can the Combi handle be upright?

Yes, it can. My understanding is the Combi handle actually must be left upright in the car.

 

[snowbird25ca]

The only Compass seats I have seen here in Canada are the boosters. I entered my postal code and it says my Walmart carries Compass seats but I have never seen them there As far as the Compass infant seat goes I have never seen one here.

The only Compass seats in Canada are boosters and we don't have as wide a selection with them even as the US does. I don't think my wal-mart has them at the moment either, but zeller's carries them all the time.

And so far as I know, the car seat test is standard across all NICU's and ICN's in Canada. There are a few things we might do differently when it comes to health care, but standard of care when it comes to preemies seems to be standard across the board and I think the US and Canada follow pretty much the same protocols.