infant seat recline?

[nfowife]

So I'm going to use DD's infant seat for a trip this week to FL since she still fits. Do I still need to recline it the full 45 degrees or can I put it more upright? I think she would prefer it to be a little more upright, but is that safe? We have a combi tyro that will be installed center with a belt.

[KrisM]

The 45 degrees is for a newborn, since the head is so floopy. After she has head control, a more upright angle is fine.

[nfowife]

So if it's out of level with the little leveler on the seat that's okay? One of the annoying things about the tyro is that the seat level meter has such a tiny "good" zone. It's about the width of a piece of paper! DD is over 1 and has great body control, so I want her to be comfy riding around in the infant seat since we've been using the MA at home for about 6 months already! But I can't pass up the chance to use the infant seat on this trip because it is sooo much easier to travel with alone.

[murphydog77]

Right. With infant seats and those levelers, manufacturers are really concerned about parents getting the angle correct for newborns since they don't want newborns' airways cut off. Since your dd is old enough, just put it at an angle that's comfortable for her. You don't want it straight up and down with no recline, but she'd probably be really unhappy with 45 degrees too.

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.CarSeatSite.com

[KrisM]

I think the leveler is also there to help prevent greater than 45 deg. angles from happening too. You don't want the newborn nearly flat, of course.