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carseats with preemies

jlh123jlh123 member
in Preemies

We went to the fire station today and the guy there said out car seat starts at 5 pounds (which we new but assumed all did) and said we need to get other seats.  That's fine but these kids will probably be under 5 pounds just for a week or two (probably not even the boy,he'll likely be at 5 when he comes home next week).  We have Graco sungrides because we wanted them both to fit in the Graco Duoglider.  They were saying Chicco ( I think it's called) has one that starts under 5 pounds.  Then we'll change around trhe stroller too I guess. 

Anyone else have this issue?

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Re: carseats with preemies

  • clyoungseyclyoungsey

    The hospital sent us home with flying colors in our snugride, with extra blankets around him, he still uses them and he is almost 12 lbs.  Our NICU neighbor and IRL friends took their DD home in a chicco and she still has the extra blankets padding her head support too.  He passed the car seat test at 5 lb even in the snug ride

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  • jlh123jlh123 member
    Thank you.  I've seen quite a few babies discharge and many were under 5 pds.  I have no idea what car seat they have but I've seen quite a few Graco's around.
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  • TriciaJoyTriciaJoy member

    Robbie came home at 4 lb 7oz in his snugride.

    By the time he saw the doctor a week later, he was 5lb. He literally was under the weight limit in it three times, total.

    The NICU fitted him into it with rolled up blankets.

     

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  • ardillaardilla member
    They sent our DS and DD home in our Graco Snugrides, even though at discharge they weighed about 4 lbs 6 oz and 3 lbs 14 oz.  Both passed their carseat tests in them, although they made DD repeat hers because they weren't sure if they had heard an alarm sound for a second or not.
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  • mek10976mek10976
    We had the Snugride too, but DS came home at 5lb. 7oz.  But I do know other preemies that have been well under 5lbs. and used a Snugride.  I don't think you need to change to the Chicco unless the hospital won't discharge them in the Snugride.
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  • *KatieH**KatieH*
    We have the Chicco Keyfit30 ...jjcole or some other company makes an insert thing for their head you can get at Babies R us. I would talk to the nurses over the people at the firestation you know they won't let you do anything unsafe after all you have gone through :)  I am so happy to see you are getting ready to bring them home!
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  • ChickadDeedeeChickadDeedee member
    I'm a NICU nurse that was lurking and at one time was also a car seat technician. Your current car seats are fine. As long as they are fitted and pass their trials at the hospital, I wouldn't worry too much about it. We often send babies home that are below the weight limit of their car seat knowing that they will reach the 5lb mark within a couple weeks of discharge. It is ridiculous to make you spend more money on a car seat or car bed that will only need to get you through that short amount of time. If you like what you have, stick with it, and congrats on bringing you babies home


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  • vixyashvixyash

    We had bought the SnugRide also, but our NICU wouldn't discharge my DD in it (although as you see, some of the PP have had no issue with it).

    We ended up exchanging for a Chicco KeyFit 30, which comes with a very nice infant insert. Our DD didn't even have to have any blanket rolls on the sides of her head or body - just a crotch roll - because it padded her so nicely.

    At first it was a pain to have to take the carseat back (and our stroller too), but now we really like the new ones we have.

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  • Waiting4baby08Waiting4baby08
    We have the chicco keyfit 30 and it starts at 4 lbs for its safety limit.  It is so nice to have because she is super snug in the newborn insert.  The NICU nurses told us that the hospital would have us rent a special carseat if she didn't pass the car seat test, but it wasn't an issue.
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  • SoonToBeTaborSoonToBeTabor
    We also have the Chicco Keyfit30 and DD fit it in nicely with only a rolled blanket under her legs that went up her sides as well. We also bought a head support from BRU and it works great. She was 5lbs when we brought her home.
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  • mommamorrismommamorris

    our hospital recommended chicco. they have good safety ratings and are approved for 4-22lbs.

    our hospital also does not allow anything extra in the seat that didn't come with it. apparently there's a risk during an accident that they insert could try to come loose, lodging baby's head/neck in a bad way. (causing a break or closing off the airway.) i'm not sure if this is accross the board recommended- but they were adamant. 

    maybe the chicco could fit in the duoglider? i know several twin mommies that use the universal frame stroller that holds two infant carriers. they run around $100 here... which means they're probably cheaper on the mainland.

    btw. i didn't end up getting a chicco. (our little bird weighs in at 5lb 7oz now, so size wasn't an issue.)

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  • dtwmcodtwmco

    We had snugrides (opened and installed) that were too big even for my DD who was over 5 lbs.  (And no way was my 3.5 lb DD fitting into it!)  Even with rolled blankets/burpcloths, they were no good because the slits for the shoulder straps were far above their shoulders. 

    We actually ended up frantically searching for other carseats so that the girls could come home upon my discharge.  The nurses said it would probably be fine using the snugrides, but they wouldn't necessarily recommend it...Whatever we were comfortable with...  We ended up finding the evenflo discovery seats that still said 5 lbs, but there is an extra slot for the shoulder straps that goes even lower.  No problems with the car seat test at all.  We used these seats for maybe a month (with rolled blankets/burpclothes), then switched back to our snugrides so that we could use the duoglider...

    Comparatively, the evenflo seats were "cheap," but unfortunately now they both sit in our basement, unused...

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  • jkipp82jkipp82

    We have the snugride 32.  DS came home at 4lbs 11oz.  He did not look very comfy, but it worked and he passed the carseat test just fine.  He is now 6.5lbs and still looks too tiny for it, but we haven't had any problems at all. 

    However:  "our hospital also does not allow anything extra in the seat that didn't come with it. apparently there's a risk during an accident that they insert could try to come loose, lodging baby's head/neck in a bad way. (causing a break or closing off the airway.) i'm not sure if this is accross the board recommended- but they were adamant.  "   this was true for us as well.

    PS  I love our Graco Diaz travel system - it's so easy to use!!

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  • jlc071903jlc071903 member
    You may want to see if your NICU will allow you to rent a carseat to just get them home in, if they are going to be VERY clsoe to the 5 pound limit. I know at our NICU if our girls had been less than 5 pounds they would have just GIVEN us another carseat...but we came home over 5 p ounds so we just used our regular carseat (Baby Trend).
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  • buckeyethorbuckeyethor
    we had a car seat trial with a nicu donated one but she ended up going home in a car bed. both were for under 5 lbs. now she is in a regular snugride.
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  • duchess0727duchess0727
    Our hospital wouldn't discharge Izzy in the Snugride so we bought the Chicco Keyfit.  Our friends did the same thing and returned it the day after they got home to Babies R Us and they took it right back.  We ended up keeping it even though we mostly use the Snugride because it fits better in the snap n go and the Bob stroller (although the Chicco seat does actually fit in the Snap N go).
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