Can a newborn travel in a car?

I could not have managed a train journey at 3 days post c section. I'd definitely stick with the car and stop a couple of times and just feed / change cuddle in the back of car while husband goes and gets you snacks!

I forgot to say no one would give up a seat for them so I ended up standing in the bet between cars with them stuck in the corner to protect them because people kept pushing past and bumping into them, including one very self important business manager who knocked the littlest flat in his rush to get to an open seat.

I think losing one baby is bad enough just because it’s been sat in a chair too long but if you’re willing for 348 to die I think that says more about you………

Get yourself the Avionaut pixel pro car seat. You still need to adhere to the timings (you do for any car seat tbh!) but the positioning is spot on, especially for a newborn and it’s such a fantastic seat. Not super pricey really, you don’t have to get the base for it and it’s the lightest infant car seat in the world!

The proper lie flat seats go sideways in the car so aren’t as safe as they’re not rear facing.

Good luck with your baby!

Indeed. I see posts here by new mums saying they can't have a wash or a shower or leave the room for a pee because no-one is around to hold and watch the baby. I used to take mine into the bathroom with me and put them in a reclining bouncer while I had a shower, washed my hair or whatever.

Is that also considered dangerous now?

You’d need to stop every 30-45 minutes or so to get baby out. I’d also advise speaking to a specialist car seat shop that is much more clued up on car seat safety (not mama and papas or Halfords, etc) to get a car seat. The reason they advise 30-45 minutes then to have a break is that the positioning of a newborn in a car seat is generally poor and their heads often aren’t positioned correctly so the airway become partially occluded causing problems with oxygenation or positional asphyxiation. Regular breaks and a car seat which gives good support/positioning helps with this risk.

14 years ago we did a nine hour drive with an 8-week old for a vacation and I don’t remember any advice on not doing that. And I was a fairly anxious first time Mum so would have been worried about things like that.

It really depends on where the op lives. Trains in my area are horrendous and are always crammed full - you're lucky to get a seat, let alone enough space to safety tend a baby.

I remember taking my nephews on when they were small (4 & 2) and it was the worst journey I've ever done. The train was late into a station so we missed the connection and the next one as been removed because of staffing issues so we had the choice to stand on a freezing platform for over three hours or walk to the nearest bus stop and try to get home that way.

We had the Jane one and it was absolutely brilliant. I knew we would be driving to visit relatives 45 min away when both yougest DCs were only a few weeks old, or driving back to the hospital for checks, again 40 I traffic was bad, so I insisted on this car seat.

I was going to ask for a look to this, but I've found it.

Whilst technically your headline number is correct, it's also misleading as the rush is incredibly tiny.

There are car cots. About 200 pounds. You can get one and use it during the first months and as moses basket in the living room. Make the most of it if you are buying one.

My DC was an hour or so in a car seat in the car, then 6hrs in a cabin on the boat partly in car seat, partly being held/fed, and then half an hour in the car seat, on his first ever journey at 5 days old! Lots of babies do this and many also fly back home. Just break the journey up lots. Good luck.

Thinking about it, so did we! Except baby was even younger! And it was 40 years ago

We just stopped for us to get everyone changed into wedding outfits!

But we do know way more about safety now, thank goodness

Yes and recommendations have been made

Our baby was born in a hospital 2 hours away from us, then had open heart surgery in another hospital 2.5 hours away two weeks after. Another two weeks after the surgery they were transferred to our local hospital. A 2 hour drive, we expected ambulance transfer (as they had before the OHS). They put us all in a taxi with a very ropey looking car seat. As with @PemberleynotWemberley not ideal but the benefits outweighed the negatives.

Leaving your baby in a car seat for long periods on a regular basis is definitely a no no. But I suspect a one off journey home will not cause any issues. The train I would not risk with a newborn who has not yet had any vaccinations. Especially if any of the reasons for the 3 day stay in a specialist hospital are due to baby.

All the best for a simple and safe delivery and a happy healthy baby.

You would need a very good lie absolutely flat seat.

They changed the advice to 30 mins because they did research that showed that 348 babies died during the study due to being in sitting devices for too long, thats why they now say 30 mins to new parents, it’s up to the parents judgement what they do about that……..

Common sense seems to have escaped the posters suggesting that going on the train is better with a newborn.

This.
I cannot imagine having a baby these days with all this terror and 'rules' about every aspect of daily life.
Recommendations are only that, not absolutes. And even then, they are about infinitesimally small increments of health improvement.

Yet more ways to pile guilt onto parents.
This whole thread is full of contradictory advice and recommendations. What happened to common sense?

Twins born at KC London, home in North Yorkshire so several hours drive to get them home after three weeks in SCBU but still three weeks before their due date.
We stopped for a couple of hours at Leicester Forest and the lovely people in Days Inn gave us a room where they could feed and kick on the floor.
You wouldn't plan this given lots of better options but no harm was done. They did have good lie-back carriers and slept pretty much the whole way. To my mind the benefits of the obstetric care given at KCL far outweighed the issues of the journey and tye hospital staff didn't quibble.

We had a lie flat car seat, was great as often had to do long journeys. Think the recommended time was fine for 2 hours... so 2.5 would be no issue.

How the hell do you know there was a choice or, if it was the choice was a real one.