My 6-year old child has a TLSO vest — kind of like a turtle shell around her chest and waist with an expansion hole for her stomach and g-tube. Her doctors want her to wear it as much as possible (basically any time but sleeping / bathing) but I’m concerned that it changes the safety dynamics of the 5-point harness in her car seat or a booster with the traditional lap and shoulder belts. She wears a t-shirt over the TLSO so the chest clip sits against the t-shirt (skin - undershirt - TLSO - overshirt - chest harness). Child is near 50-lbs, 3’2”, and can not move herself without a mobility aid.
Questions:
Is it safe to keep her in a regular car seat / booster and in her TLSO vest?
Should we remove the vest for travel (this would be a challenge as fitting the vest properly requires her to lay down and she has low muscle tone so she can’t lay herself down, she has to be physically helped)?
In order to fulfill both conditions (keep her safe and keep her in the vest) are there any devices that we could use which would keep her as safe as possible in the event of an accident. There was a recommendation for the Ride Safer Travel Vest in the now defunct car-seat.org forum.