6Mo Old and Car Seat - Neck Pillow Advice Needed

The same thing was happening with my son when we switched out the car seats for the bigger seat. I bought padded strap covers and pulled them up so they were resting on his shoulders and it did the trick. Everytime he fell asleep the pads would keep his head propped up and back. As far as the neck pillow goes, I felt that itpushed Bens head too far forward and was not comfortable for him.

We used to have the same problem with our kids (who fall asleep in the car all the time and we travel a lot)So after trying many pillows we finally invested in the car seat with side impact wings(Britax Wizard but there are other great brands as well).Our kids are 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 now and it has been the best thing, no need for proping or anything.They love their car seats and we never hear any complaining from our oldest.

B.-
Like Lisa, we were also told that it was unsafe to use any type of head rest that didn't come with the carseat. We were told that using a rolled up burp cloth was safer than anything you could buy at the store. We also found that after taking the car/carseat to the local police station that we didn't have the carseat at the right angle. Once the angle was corrected his head stopped tipping over so bad.
Good luck,
J.

You can get the ones that look like a "U" and go around their entire neck but they will still flop off of it unless youspin it around backwarsds. Unfortunately it then looks like you are hanging/suffocating your baby. I found some that actually velcro to the car seat shoulder straps. There are 2 per package and they have them at babys R Us. They would great and are versatile. You can prop your little one up several different ways.
M.

Same with 7 mo old daughter. I took the advice from a sister-in-law, which was to use the ever-so-handy receiving blanket (so many uses). I fold it up so that it's like a little cushion/pillow and put it next to her head so she leans against it. You can move it around to wherever she needs it, including under her chin if she's leaning forward. Why spend the extra money? I figured this is easy, cost-effective, and you can hand-shape the cushion to fit her/his needs. Good luck!

While stores carry them and people use them all the time, we were told in our very first childbirth class 8 years ago never to use any neck or head support that does not come with the actual seat. We were told it can be dangerous because different seats are made differently, different sizes, etc.

If the car seat was installed properly, her head shouldn't fall too much. Have you had the seat looked at by a police station? The seat should be at a 45 degree angle and 9 times out of 10, needs a towel or foam tube under the base where the seat and back of the seat meet.

My 10 month old's head used to fall to the right but it was usually when his seat was in the stroller. When that happened I would just use a burp cloth, fold it up and lay it under his head/cheek on that side.

If you have any question, don't hesitate to go to your local police department. You may have to schedule an appointment or see if there is an event going on locally like the police sometimes do.

I was just thinking, does she have a headrest in there now that came with her seat? We just moved my youngest to a convertible seat a couple of months ago and his head kept flopping in the car. I knew the seat was in right but come to find out, I had to REMOVE the head rest that goes behind their head.

Best of luck,
L.

Try "Neck Wings", (I think that is what they're called)...we got ours at babies R Us and they help our daughter a lot.

They are like big pads that velcro to the car seat strap by the baby's shoulders.

GL2U!
J.

i tried the ones that velcro over the harness and i like them except when the kids gets older they can take them off.

Did your child's carseat come with any infant insert/headreast/extra padding or anything? Maybe you could check your recline on the seat and see if it helps, or put a rolled-up receiving blanket next to her (not underneath her or the straps, but more like next to her head) to see if it helps. I know head slumping looks really uncomfortable, but often kids don't seem to mind it! I would be leery of a lot of the "headrest/neckrest" pillows because a lot of them go under the child's body and straps and it's not recommended to use products like that unless they originally came with your carseat and have been crash-tested with your child's carseat. What kind of seat do you have?

Hi, B.! I'm a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician. I can't recommend anything that will interfere with the harness. I'd never use them. They aren't crash tested with that seat and you don't want your baby to be the crash test dummy. So, no strap covers, behind the neck do-dads, etc. It's just not safe.
The carseat is probably installed a bit too upright. Try for a 45 degree angle at that age. To get more recline, push the carseat into the seatback and put pressure on the bum area of the carseat. To get it upright, you'd pull it out from the crack in the seat an inch or two.
If it still doesn't work, find a Tech in your area and use a rolled receiving blanket until it's resolved.
To find a tech...
http://www.usa.safekids.org/index.cfm Click your state on right hand side.
http://seatcheck.org/

Hope this helps! ~ K.

B.,

I have one from Gold Bug - it is borrowed, I'm not sure where it came from. When I can, I support his neck with this - usually he doesn't tolerate it, though, and it wakes him a bit, so I put it on the side, between his head and the chair. Here in Rochester there aren't many curves in the road to worry about, but in MA and LI where we visited a couple of weeks ago - he'd have been bobbing all over the place!

Good Luck,
M.

I got "neck wings" for my son. They sell tham at BAbies r us for under $10. The brand is Especially for Baby. I like them because they're easy to clean and they don't seem like you can suffocate in them. You can just attach them to the car seat straps.

I don't remember the brand, but I got what looks like small pillows that have a small strap that goes around the belt. Got them at Babies R Us for less than $10. It would keep my kids heads from flopping to the side and forward. Definitely check the angle of the car seat not only to keep your child's head from falling forward but the angle also keeps your child in the correct position in case of an accident.

I feel like I have tried every neck pillow out there and none of them work properly. They help somewhat but do not give the baby the support they need!