Choking in Car Seat

[Anonymous]

6 month old daughter Elizabeth, chokes when in the car seat. Consequently I can go nowhere without someone driving us while I sit in the back seat. She has silent and non-silent reflux, laryngomalacia, sleep apnea due to reflux and chokes frequently. Two previous hospitalizations. I just can’t drive a car with her in the back seat by herself. Anyone else having these issues/concerns? When I tell people I can’t drive without someone in the back seat with her, I get strange looks like I am over reacting, or I’ve lost my mind. I am so tired of responses from people that “just don’t get it”. I have no idea what it is like to put a child down in a room to take a nap and go take a shower, that is just not possible in my life. Am I over reacting about being so concerned ? She has already stopped breathing and had an obstructed airway due to choking and laryngomalacia. Being so confined is a great strain on all of us but I don’t see any other alternatives. Has anyone come up with any special device that would remedy the situation. I have taken one drive in my father’s truck. I was able to put the baby in the front seat (rear facing) because his vehicle allows the airbags to be turned off. Any suggestions ?

[Anonymous]

I still sit in the backseat with my lo when my hubby goes places with us and I don’t take long car rides with him by myself just b/c I can’t see him 100% in our mirror and if he falls asleep I get worried he will block his airway with this head bent forward so I understand to some degree what you are talking about. I don’t think you are being over concerned, you love your lo and don’t want to harm her in any way. I don’t have any suggestions, maybe some other moms will chime in.

[hellbennt]

I’m not sure what to say about the car seat situation- there are forums at http://www.car-seat.org/ where you could post…

as for taking a shower- when I couldn’t put jonah down; I tooks a shower WITH him in a sling- a solerveil sling- it dries really fast & is great for the shower…here’s a post I wrote in march :

hellbennt wrote: omg I feel for you! that’s how I got so ‘into’ babywearing- I couldn’t do ANYTHING & jonah was screaming (actually it was more like shrieking/howling) nonstop- I then resorted to taking a shower WITH him, in the (solerveil) sling, bcse there were times I just couldn’t put him down…there’s a post somewhere about it- at first I thought he was scared silent bcse he put his little face in my chest and was breathing heavy- well wouldn’t you know, he fell asleep!!! so yeah, I had a little turkey ball on my chest, but he wasn’t howling and I was able to at least shower in quiet, if not alone…

babywearing SAVED me! well my dh, too, and even my mom wore him when visiting & I got the babysitter ‘into’ it, too…

Babywearing: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1044&PN=1

hellbennt2007-10-21 10:31:56

[Anonymous]

Is she still in an infant carseat. They make upright ones that recline slighty for little ones. That’s what we had to get. But, truth be told, I still prefer someone with us expecially for long drives.

[Anonymous]

She is currently in an infant car seat but is a long, small, skinny baby and is soon to outgrow her second infant seat due to height only. I will be putting her in an infant to toddler convertible rear facing car seat in the next few weeks. However, the car seat she rides in does not solve the problem of her choking. She chokes continuously up right in my arms at home, she has severe reflux but it is further complicated and worsened by her laryngomalacia. I use micro fiber dish cloths for spit up cloths (because of absorbency) and I go through 20+ of them per day. I think I am going to check to see if I can have my van’s front passenger airbag disengaged by a mechanic. It is still a dangerous way to go and I know I shouldn’t be tending to anyone while driving in I-5 traffic in NW Washington. The whole situation is so trying to deal with.

[Anonymous]

When Kaelyn was having choking episodes they gave us a pulse-oximeter which could run on a battery. So, I would hook her up to it anytime I had to drive anywhere. That way it would go off as soon as she had a problem. I was still too nervous to do much driving with her, but at least I felt safe running out to the grocery store.

[Anonymous]

I have a pulse oximeter as well, have had it since we came home from the first hospitalizatin with the apnea monitor. The only problem is that it goes off continuously if DD is moving her legs/feet at all. I use it mostly at night while she is sleeping otherwise it would be sounding continuously. I’ve ordered special tape to put it on with (attaches to one foot) and helps a little but the darned thing still goes off with any movement. Have you found a trick for attaching it ? Does yours go off continuously with movement of the baby’s feet or legs ?

[Anonymous]

That’s interesting. No… Kaelyn’s hardly ever went off, and she was an extremely active baby. We did have problems with keeping it on her foot. She reacted horribly to any adhesive that we used. We ended up using the kind of tape that doesn’t have any adhesive (it just sticks to itself). We would wrap that around her foot with the lead attached to her foot and then just wrap it several times. Then we’d put a sock on top of it. It worked really well for her. Good luck!

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