5 month old falling forward in car seat

[SuddenArborealStop]

DD refuses to sit back in any seat and tries to sit up straight and falls forward. We've a joie 360 canted all the way back and she keeps falling forward in it, she has very slight shoulders and I can't force her to stay backwards with the straps.
Is the answer a different seat or is there a solution I'm missing?

Are the straps tight enough? I don't see how she'd be able to move that much if they were.

Can you take a picture (id obscured obviously). I can't picture it either.

The straps are as tight as I can get them I wouldn't leave them loose they just don't stay firmly on her shoulders. Have tried with and without all the inserts.
Next step would be to move to forward facing where there is an extra bit of lean back but that is obviously very risky, however the current situation is also very risky.
She does this in her bouncer too and we can't use it anymore.

No, she's too little for forward facing.

So - forgive me asking - what happens when you tighten the straps?

We didn't have that model when DD was that tiny - we got it later - but DD has always been excellent at pushing her body outwards so you think the straps are tight, then she deflates back and has loads of wiggle room. Maybe that?

Can you put her in chunkier clothes in the car seat? I am struggling to understand why the straps will not hold her but this might help. My car seat had a newborn insert which provides added support.

Are the straps high enough? I had this issue with DS at about that age and it turned out he had grown without me noticing and the straps were too low.

I had this with my son - can the straps at the top be adjusted higher? Sorted it by moving them up a slot, if they are too low, the belt goes up over the shoulder which they can wriggle out of.

Picture? Is her bottom at completely back of the chair? Sounds like there is a setting issue.

For example the head or neck insert might be pushing her head forward?

Could one of these sort of things help? (Designed to stop kids climbing out of seat belts, but possibly useful for these circs too?)

www.clippasafe.co.uk/products/car-seat-security-clip?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_OuPh9Cu6gIVEWHmCh3adAruEAQYBSABEgJ7gPD_BwE

Just reading the title I knew it was going to be about the Joie 360! This was the same with DS until he was about 5 months - I actually had to remove one of the inserts and raise the head rest slightly and it fixed the problem.

It's worth playing around with different settings to see if it helps - there are a few YouTube videos on it and other info online. It is a great seat, once you get the settings right.

Those seatbelt clips are very dangerous.

Yep completely agree with previous poster - with the best will in the world, if a 5 month old can get enough purchase in her seat to be able to lean fully forward then the straps are either in the wrong position or far too loose. You wouldn’t be the first person to have this problem OP, see it all the time in photos of babies in seats, but it does need sorting. Haven’t used the 360 but do have a Stages for travel and the straps are a complete bastard to get tight enough. Can fully recommend the Car Seat Advice UK group on Facebook for help, but in the meantime I’d email Joie directly for fitting advice, and make sure straps are level with her shoulder and firm enough that you can’t pinch any fabric between two fingers. And whatever you do please don’t put her in thick clothing in the car seat - this completely defies the point of what you’re trying to do and will put her at additional risk in an accident - the straps need to be close to the body itself, with a blanket over the top if need be. Likewise forward facing a 5 month old is catastrophically dangerous and also most likely illegal unless she’s very heavy - even in which case legal does not equate safe when it comes to car seat law.

Chest strap, we used one for DS because no matter how tight the straps were he was able to move his shoulders enough to get his arms free and pull himself up from around 4 months.

Do not forward face, she won't be old enough for at least another year, ideally 2-3 years. It's either the chair isn't set right for her size, or your not pulling the straps tight enough.

The shoulder strap should come out in line or slight above her shoulder. Keep the insert in as long as you can, as she will be more laid back with it, only remove once the shoulder straps are below her shoulder on the highest setting.

You should be able to get 2 fingers between her and the strap across her chest, no more. If she has more give then this, pull tighter.

Hmm, some dangerous ideas here. Do not use chunkier clothes and do not forward face.

Something is wrong with the straps or the seat. I'd start by taking the whole thing out and tightening everything up from the beginning. Check your user manual.check the Internet for videos.

But there's no way I'd drive anywhere like that until its sorted. Do you have a friends seat you could try?

Send some pictures to Joie over Facebook - they should be able to work out where you’re going wrong.

Have you removed the insert? It should make the seat deeper. Also what is she wearing in her car seat? It should only be a single layer of clothing and then you should pull the straps tight enough that you can only fit 2 fingers underneath them. The straps should come from sightly below or level with her shoulders. if they are above her shoulders they are too high and will give her more wiggle room allowing her to curl forward.

I second the idea of contacting Joie via Facebook - they are offering virtual fit checks at the moment :)

Do you still have all the inserts in? You should have them all in at this stage. It's NOT correct to remove inserts with this seat - the wedge in particular should stay in until at least 9-10 months (most often a year or so), but all of them are designed to help avoid head flop. The head cushion may be removed now if it's uncomfortable or pushing her head forward, but you need to keep the body insert in until at least 6 months and the wedge much longer. The car seat must be rear facing at her age, (It will be more reclined rear facing anyway) and I'd put it on the lowest recline as well.

Another cause of this can be headrest/straps too low behind her shoulders. Make sure you're pulling her down in the seat so her bum is right to the buckle. It can make the buckle a bit tricky to do up in this seat, unfortunately. The straps need to be at the highest slot possible so that they are either level with or just below, not higher, but if they are too low the baby will often fall forwards.

It may also be that the seats in your car are very tilted back meaning that the seat angle is too steep for your little one. In that case the only fix would be getting another seat until she is older. Joie Juva is £40 if you needed a cheap one.

The chest strap won't help, chunky clothes may make this worse.

If your car seat is more reclined in forward facing than rear facing, it sounds as though your car rear seat is extremely tilted and you may need a specialist to advise on which car seat would be suitable. The seat being on the fitting list doesn't necessarily mean you avoid issues like this - they will just mean that it's possible to get a secure fit in the car suitable for an older child.