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Original poster

Draping sheets etc over child’s pushchair

81 replies

notedbiscuits · 09/05/2024 22:27

A bit of warm weather and seen my pet hate - parents who drape a towel, sheet, muslim cloth over their child’s pushchair.

Don’t they realise that this makes the area under the covering warmer? Plus babies can’t regulate temperature well.

They are better off with a clip on parasol. Then the air circulates.

Why do parents still do this habit of draping material over the pushchair?

OP posts:
ILikePistachios · 10/05/2024 11:57

It was 20°c here yesterday and I saw a probably 4/5 year old asleep (I hope) in a pushchair (another pet hate of mine) with a fleece blanket folded and draped over her 🙄 the poor kid was as red as a tomato

Excited101 · 10/05/2024 10:46

Snoozeshades are the best. Not that expensive, especially if second hand. And specifically designed.

MinervaMcGonagallsCat · 10/05/2024 10:37

Slow cooked babies 😳

The hyperbole-ometer is going full throttle on this thread.

As476 · 10/05/2024 10:32

I’ve done it with a damp muslin. Pegged to the pushchair hood. That way any air underneath was cool, and it had huge gaps at the side. My son always had/has really really fair skin like me and is capable of getting sunburn in the shade like me. When I was little I got sunburnt so badly I blistered. I wasn’t going to risk that happening to my baby

Shelllyfish · 10/05/2024 10:30

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Littlemisscapable · 10/05/2024 10:30

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Stop

Getonwitit · 10/05/2024 10:28

Why not just buy a parasol for the pram ?

Shelllyfish · 10/05/2024 10:26

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JaninaDuszejko · 10/05/2024 10:25

Can you not get a sun cover for most prams? It's just that most people in the UK don't bother to buy one because they aren't needed very often?

Conversely I saw comments from someone in California saying 'why would anyone need a rain cover for a buggy' in a review when I was buying a very necessary rain cover online 😂. We had a mesh cover for our Phil&Ted and it was really useful on a hot day, allowed the air to flow but provided shade from all angles.

Littlemisscapable · 10/05/2024 10:13

Starsandflowers · 10/05/2024 00:35

I think you can tell and there is a difference between someone draping a muslin over a pram on a slightly sunny day in the UK
And someone completely covering the pram with no gaps with a blanket in very high temperatures...
I'd probably say something about it myself if I saw that second one!
but i havent ever seen that tbh...
whenever ive seen people cover prams its been a lightweight muslin partially draped so theres a gap. In which case i think thats up to them.
but yeah if i could see through the gap that the baby looked ill and I was worried I would say something...
But just if I saw someone with a muslin draped loosely over a pram, no. I'd mind my own business.
I do think people have got a bit hysterical and judgemental about it tbh... I had a comment about it once with my second.
And honestly her temperature was absolutely fine.. the pram wasn't remotely fully covered either. I am aware that it could have the potential to heat up the pram but in my opinion the direct sunlight was a bigger risk.

Show quote history

This x 1000... Why do people get so overinvested in this topic. Especially in the UK when it is often not particularly warm.

AnxiousRabbit · 10/05/2024 09:43

It doesn't make it warmer
The "evidence" for this claim is a completely flawed and unscientific experiment by a Swedish (iirc) newspaper or magazine.
It's safer than a child being in full sunlight.
Ideally they would be in the shade but nit always possible.

Original poster
notedbiscuits · 10/05/2024 09:40

About 5 years ago during a hot day - it was 28-30c. Heard a baby screaming its head off. Turned round and the stupid mother dressed him in something similar to a snowsuit!😡Yet the mother wore the skimpiest strappy top and shorts you can imagine.

OP posts:
Puppuccino · 10/05/2024 09:17

Babies are not being cooked alive because mum draped a white Muslin over the buggy hood.

umberelladay · 10/05/2024 09:12

My Maclaren XT had a hood that zipped down to be a full cover parasol. Breathable sides and open front.
God that was a fab pushchair, so well designed.

HcbSS · 10/05/2024 08:59

It gives me the absolute rage
I will judge and would say something. I’d rather have an offended mother (literally couldn’t give two hoots about that) than a dead baby.

soupfiend · 10/05/2024 07:08

Biffbaff · 09/05/2024 22:46

If you go back to the original research on this, the results were engineered and ensuing advice overblown. I find this subject an excuse to be judgemental of mothers, who are capable of making their own risk assessments. You may not agree with what they're doing but that doesn't make it completely inadvisable.

Parents are not always capable of making a good risk assessment, so whats your point?

And its parents, not mothers solely.

sweetnessandlighter · 10/05/2024 07:03

Hermittrismegistus · 10/05/2024 00:25

I think it's not for you to judge unless the baby is clearly in distress

How do you tell a baby is in distress when it is hidden under a blanket and slowly cooking to death? Are you presuming a baby would cry in that situation?

Edited

The hyperbole! "Slowly cooking to death" - really?

Ankylo · 10/05/2024 07:01

Because people don't realise. They think they are shading the child. I remember us figuring this out with a family member when we went on a family holiday. Toddler had got rather hot and sweaty underneath! Always remembered it so have made sure I don't with my DC!

Skodacool · 10/05/2024 06:58

Bigearringsbigsmile · 09/05/2024 22:31

A Muslim cloth? 🤣

Hmm 😮

VestibuleVirgin · 10/05/2024 06:22

Still no proof of claim @notedbiscuits ?

VestibuleVirgin · 10/05/2024 06:21

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fluffypuffyrug · 10/05/2024 02:54

A strategically placed, light weight, breathable piece of material draped over the buggy with space for air flow is not going to do any harm.

A baby lay flat on their back looking up at direct sunlight is incredibly uncomfortable and also leaves their skin exposed to the rays. Some hoods don't go down far enough to block the sun and I've never found a parasol that isn't a piece of useless shit.

Aswellisnotoneword · 10/05/2024 02:14

This reminds me of the time I was out and about, using a mesh sunshade (which came with the pram) to keep the sun off DS.

Some busybody yanked the shade up as she passed by, and shouted at me to let him get fresh air.

Within a few moments, while I stood laughing with XH about the audaciousness (and stupidity) of that woman, another approached, yanked the shade back down and told me off for letting him burn.

FuckTheClubUp · 10/05/2024 02:01

Who knows. I also don’t understand why parents have the rain cover over their child when it’s not raining and it’s 13 degrees. Very strange

Mamai100 · 10/05/2024 01:55

Presumably they don't know the dangers, I did it when my DD was 9 months old and it was a scorching day and I was afraid of sunburn. My sister quickly told me it wasn't safe.

My friend also told me they draped a cellular blanket over her DDs when they were on holiday, she wasn't aware of the dangers either. Especially when it's a breathable blanket, a lot of people unfortunately aren't aware that you're making it hotter rather than cooler for the baby.