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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Babies in travel systems

430 replies

Excusemeforpostinghere · 11/05/2016 08:03

Am I bu that I just get the rage when I see babies in carseats clunked to the pram?

Am I being a judgypants?

Fair enough on the nip in & out jobs like school run.

But supermarket? Theme park? National trust gardens? Running? Town? Zoo? Places were the child is likely going to have been in that carseat for a few hours!

They've already been in it for the car journey. I bet likely, some will only be out of them all day for feeding time.

I watched holiday supersavers last night and the baby did the walk to supermarket, around supermarket and walk nack home again in the flippin carseat!

I just want to go up to them and tell them to stop being lazy and think of their child's spine development.

OP posts:
Only1scoop · 11/05/2016 09:26

Yes I had adaptors that snapped my carrier into chassis.

It was a dream.

Would I wake dd to take her out of carrier to put her into buggy or carrycot attachment. Like hell I would, for the sake of a whizz round the shops.

Artandco · 11/05/2016 09:26

2 hrs isnt the guideline now. Its 30 mins.

Oxygen desaturation tests show also all small babies oxygen levels began dropping below the safe amount after just 20 mins in a car seat. This is due to neck/ spine position so they don't receive the correct amount of oxygen as time goes on. Spine development issues are secondary. Many newborns tested were at such low levels after 30 mins they would have been put on supplementary oxygen had they been in hospital.

So it's now 30 mins max at a time. Obviously you could do that in morning and again in afternoon if needed. On long car journeys you should have an adult sitting in the back with them, or baby in front with airbags off if travelling alone so you can monitor them easier if they are having to stay longer than 30 mins due to no where to stop safely

ExtraHotLatteToGo · 11/05/2016 09:26

Yes, the poor, poor little mites must be so, so, uncomfortable in them :( :(

They simply have to sleep through it to combat their discomfort.

😂😂😂

OP MYOB.

Artandco · 11/05/2016 09:29

It's not the uncomfort levels. It's the lack of oxygen. Rapidly increase sids due to that. I do wonder why people are very good usually at reducing sids at bedtime by having no bumpers/ duvets on baby and following advice for safe sleeping. Yet completely disregard it during the day

GreenTomatoJam · 11/05/2016 09:30

Yes, I do understand - I've seen people with them - I fail to see how they're easier than buggies personally.

for DS2's first weigh-in, I'd grabbed him out of the car seat, wandered in, had him weighed and wandered back out again in the same time it'd taken the couple in the next car over to unload their frame, get it up, get the baby seat unclipped from the car and clipped back in. Now they were new to the whole thing I'm presuming, but still - why not just grab the baby for the trip from the carpark into the community centre?

Original poster
Excusemeforpostinghere · 11/05/2016 09:30

www.jpeds.com/pb/assets/raw/Health%20Advance/journals/ympd/JPEDSBatra.pdf

In this article there are significantly more deaths in carseats due to airway restriction than any other sitting device. it mentions that babies should not be sleeping in their carseats.

OP posts:
TheEagle · 11/05/2016 09:31

Can you link to that 30 minutes advice and oxygen levels research artandco ?

gwenneh · 11/05/2016 09:31

So is there a corresponding increase in SIDS deaths? Quite curious to see if the figures bear that out.

DeadGood · 11/05/2016 09:31

Sorry - earlier post unclear. Let's try again.

"car seats aren't supposed to be used for naps!"

They may not be designed for them Esmerelda, but since 99% of babies small enough to fit in the kind we are discussing, fall asleep within 5 minutes of the car starting, I'd say that's a moot point, wouldn't you? Or are you seriously suggesting that babies should be woken immediately upon ending the car journey and wrestled into a lie-flat carry cot, even for the shortest trip to the supermarket? Really?

Some people value sleep over a vague, unspecified risk to the spine.

Original poster
Excusemeforpostinghere · 11/05/2016 09:32

Yes eagle it was a shite graco one were he sat way too upright

OP posts:
TheEagle · 11/05/2016 09:32

Wow green, smug much?

I had newborn twins and an 18.5 month old so "wandering in" to weighins and checkups wasn't possible.

RedToothBrush · 11/05/2016 09:33

People need educating on the risks. I'm not going to go up to anyone and tell them so to their face, but this threas may prompt people to do some research of their own, and in the future be mindful of how long their child is put in the carseat.

You don't need to be an arse or judgy to educate people!

There are also exceptions as to way people might not follow guidelines FOR HEALTH REASONS that you also seem to need educating about.

Educating someone is not saying 'you must do something otherwise you are a bad parent'. That is not helpful. Its damaging. Educating someone is providing the facts in an unbiased way and then letting them make an informed choice.

Educating someone involves providing reasonable and practical solutions if they do have a problem. This is not suggesting ridiculous things like buying £1000 travel systems like you have done, or saying 'oh well you should have got the right system in the first place'.

Educating someone involves BEING SUPPORTIVE AND SYMPATHIC to problems that might arise, because it involves having enough knowledge yourself about these problems.

Consider your ignorance and bad attitude being educated on this thread rather than putting your fingers in your ears like a petulant child going 'Lalala I don't care what you think'.

HTH.

Gypsytears · 11/05/2016 09:33

YADBU - none of your business

Only1scoop · 11/05/2016 09:35

Dd was never in her car seat with pillows or blankets or bottles....

That seems like common sense to me....

GreenTomatoJam · 11/05/2016 09:35

Smug? Not really, TBH I felt sorry that they felt they had to use it rather than hold their baby - like the people who carry their babies out of hospital in the car seat - way more hassle than leaving it there and carrying the baby.

You'll notice it was DS2 - so I did also have DS1.. not twins, admittedly, but I had had an EMCS so was a bit slow on my feet - not the floaty experience you're implying either.

RedToothBrush · 11/05/2016 09:35

Incidently do you care to provide a source for a study which has looked at the risk so that everyone on this thread can see whether this is a 0.0000001% risk or a 0.1% risk or a 1% risk or a 10% risk or a 100% risk as this is pretty relevant.

There is risk in everything in life. The relative risk bit is the important bit though.

sepa · 11/05/2016 09:36

I didn't get one for this reason. Babies have been known to die when in car seats too long.
However, transporting DD to the car in her car seat can be heavy and she has reflux so is sick if it's more than just carrying her opposite our house

Other people however are entitled to do it if they wish. Just not with my baby.

I do get surprised by how many people I see doing this though

Gypsytears · 11/05/2016 09:38

The study doesnt mean that babies shouldn't sleep in car seats. the study says of deaths in car seats, the mean time the infant was last seen by an adult was

sepa · 11/05/2016 09:38

greentomatojam most hospitals won't let you take the baby until they see that you have correctly put the baby in the car seat

gwenneh · 11/05/2016 09:38

So far, the only linked study concludes that babies shouldn't be left unattended or improperly secured in a seat. Nothing to do with any of the other points raised.

"Infants and children 2 years of age and younger should be properly restrained and not be left unsupervised in sitting and carrying devices. Car seats should not be used as sleeping areas outside of the vehicle, and children should never be in a car seat with unbuckled or partially buckled straps. Infants in slings should have their faces visible and above the edge of the sling, should not have their faces covered by fabric, and their chins should not be compressed into their chests."

Well, duh.

DeadGood · 11/05/2016 09:38

Sorry Esmerelda I was so busy frothing at the mouth I didn't stop to read your updates. Grin

Green errr you realise that your example of "grabbing the baby" is not applicable to any situation other than the one you have given, right? Should I just grab my baby and carry her as I struggle round the supermarket, one-handed? How would I do even the simplest thing with a newborn, who needs to be carried with two hands?

TheEagle · 11/05/2016 09:39

like the people who carry their babies out of hospital in the car seat

Don't know where you live but where I am you aren't allowed to leave the hospital unless the baby (or babies) is/are strapped in.

TheEagle · 11/05/2016 09:39

Should say "strapped in to a car seat"

Oysterbabe · 11/05/2016 09:39

the people who carry their babies out of hospital in the car seat - way more hassle than leaving it there and carrying the baby
You have to do this at our hospital. They ask you to get the carseat so they can ensure the baby is put in correctly with the straps tight enough before they will discharge you.

Gypsytears · 11/05/2016 09:39

The study actually suugests not leaving babies in car seats unattended. The mean time last seen by an adult for the infants who died in a car seat is 140 minutes