to breastfeed on the hard shoulder?

[Jemima1988]

currently in stand still traffic on the motorway and I have been for over an hour.
I have a screaming baby in the back should u use the hard shoulder?

Thebody

I can't even drive, haven't passed my test, but a bugger for H&S.
Maybe its going on so much that made our dc so aware.
Also, having dh driving older cars has probably helped.
I'm always glad to be back home

I admit that I only recently knew how dangerous it is on the hard shoulder and I have been driving for 9 years.

Hope you get going soon!

It's covered in the theory test, I'm sure I remember answering a question on it, so I'm surprised a new driver not knowing it.

I think the idea would be that the police would escort you off the motorway, not that they would sit with you while you fed the baby.

Escort you off ..... No! Not an emergency! As I said, waste of resources. Shocking.

Yes, call 101 and get police escort to nearest services. Engine off for the call if you are the driver.

I don't think it's the actual police who come out. It's a member of the highways and transport agency. Not a waste of resources.

Shamefully, I admit that I don't remember everything from the theory test.

I've just passed my driving test so I've been studying the rules of the road (the Irish version) a LOT, and there's no mention of the hard shoulder being particularly dangerous! They do advise that you get out of the car and get behind the crash barrier if there is one, but they don't make a big deal of it.

I wonder if the OP made it off the motorway? If it was the M25, it still looks like hell.

If it was at a stand still Id move the seat to the front, strap it in and feed. That way you can easily move the baby easily back into the seat when you start moving.

Not the best idea in the world but I wouldn't want to the HS thing.

I hope you are moving and/or home now, anyway. Poor baby and poor you. I used to find that painfully stressful when my babies were young.

Don't you have to disable the air bag to put the seat in the front?

morethan I bloody hate motorways anyway never drive on them and avoid being a passenger if possible.

Your dd sounds a sweetie.

Hope you are ok op.

Thanks, Thebody not sure I'd describe as sweetie

Hope you are home and over your ordeal OP. x

I was stuck on the m6 at a total standstill for hours once with toddler and newborn in the back. Was a total nightmare. I ended up getting dd out of her car seat and bfing her in the front. It wasn't ideal but no cars were going anywhere. Once she fed I put her straight back in her seat.

OP, I hope you are OK now?

A very distressing situation, and a very hungry baby needs feeding eventually.

I'm sure it's oK to call the highway assistance vehicles and get escorted off .

A lot of hysteria on this thread given that she was in gridlocked, standstill traffic!

"Perhaps the most shocking statistic was when we were told that if you break down on the motorway and decide to sit in your car on the hard shoulder your life expectancy is reduced to 12 minutes - 12 minutes!!!"

This is of course ludicrous.

Not that the hard shoulder is a good place to be - we had to stand outside my car on the M11 and it was terrifying. I made us all go right up the grass bank in the rain, dark and freezing cold,.

But every time I do a long motorway drive I see at least 2 people stopped for breakdowns on the hard shoulder, many look as if they have been there longer than 12 mins and I have never seen a casualty on the hard shoulder.

But it isn't a place I would choose to be.

I'm sure it's oK to call the highway assistance vehicles and get escorted off .

Seriously?? It's a hungry baby in no danger at all apart from being hungry!! You would tie up valuable resource on that!! Whilst I appreciate it's very unpleasant for the parent to hear the crying there is NO danger and the child will actually survive this unlike some of the people the Assistance Vehicles are genuinely called out for.

How many hours on a gridlocked motorway is a tiny baby supposed to go without feeding? 4? 5? 6?

No one asked the OP how old the baby was, when last fed, how far from an exit she was, or how long she had been there. Just busy telling her off.

The highway patrol vehicles are always helping vulnerable people in gridlocked motorways - no-one is suggesting the op should be calling the fire brigade - and if they were too busy they wouldn't come - they presumably have the power to prioritise? The OP had no magic lamp!

OP what happened?

A few years ago there was a story of the police setting up a roadblock on the motorway to rescue a child's stuffed toy. So helping a parent with a very hungry bay isn't outside the realms of possibility. They would at least have an idea of the severity of the traffic so know how serious the situation would be - if they were liable to be stuck for hours they may well have be able to help.

They would and do help women alone with babies.

They helped me when I was stuck in a completely blocked motorway in the boiling heat on my own with a bf 5 week old.

The falling temperature could have become an issue tonight as well, depending on how much petrol the OP had.

@Blu that's why I prefaced it with a bit of doubt.

It would obviously depend on conditions on the road. I imagine the figures are very different for a motorway at a standstill than one with heavy traffic but in full flow at full speeds. Time of day will also alter it.

Having said that, it's not uncommon to see some div tried to jump a jam by speeding along the hard shoulder. Emergency services also occasionally use hard shoulders at full pelt in a jam, so they are still very dangerous places even when all else is still.