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Original poster

To wonder about babies in car seats?

60 replies

Starryskiesinthesky · 17/03/2018 19:55

Reading on another thread that a baby shouldn't be in a car seat more than 30 minutes. What are you meant to do then? Am i being thick?!

OP posts:
PineappleScrunchie · 17/03/2018 22:33

I wouldn’t worry too much about sticking exactly to under 30mins. I’ve read the full paper for this study and I think this is a good example of researchers trying to improve the impact factor of their research. The research was not testing for safe duration of car seat travel and the authors have no way of knowing that 20mins in a car seat is any safer, or that 40mins is more dangerous because they only tested at 30mins. But it got their study lots of press coverage though...

PineappleScrunchie · 17/03/2018 22:38

Here is a good summary of the research and it’s limitations.

Steeley113 · 17/03/2018 22:46

I’m completely in agreement that they shouldn’t be used for hours on end but 30 minutes makes them not fit for purpose imo. In a rural area, the School run can take 30 minutes, getting to your nearest town etc. And they’re not journeys you can stop and take a break on like on motorway journeys! They should stop selling them if that is the recommendation.

Notso · 17/03/2018 23:44

There are lie flat seats for people in those situations Steely

Fruitcorner123 · 18/03/2018 00:16

pineapplescrunchie has posted a link which says ROSPA recommend a 15 min break every 2 hrs but noticed there was some impact on babies in their study after 20/30 mins. They only studied babies in the early weeks though so I question where the 4 months has come from. We travelled to a wedding when DD was 6 weeks. It was 3hrs away but I didn't know this advice. Stopping every 30 mins on a 3 hr journey and waking the newborn baby would be dreadful. If you have a regular journey to make then yes get the specialist car seat but I imagine common sense comes into play for a one off journey and sitting next to them while they sleep and stopping regularly.if they are awake or need feeding is what most people would do.

ethelfleda · 18/03/2018 00:27

As PP have said - someone sits in the back and you take regular breaks to take baby out of the car seat.

Whoever made that comment about being lazy... kindly fuck off. Mothers of small babies are rarely lazy and anything to make life a little easier is a huge bonus.

Mrseft · 18/03/2018 00:32

You can tell the mothers who have never dealt with a reflux baby. My daughter was completely unable to lay flat from around 10 days old and had to be propped up at all times to prevent her being in an awful lot of pain and fountaining sick everywhere. It means I used her car seat on my pram frame until she was about 4.5months. It wasn't ideal but it was better than watching my newborn almost choke on her own damn vomit.

SleepFreeZone · 18/03/2018 00:39

I see five year olds with flat heads where I assume they were left in a car seat or pram for long periods of time. For that reason I was really conscious of not doing it with DS1. DS2 would just scream constantly (still does which is why I’m up 🙄) so there was no chance of him staying asleep in a car seat, pram or cot!

Notso · 18/03/2018 00:46

I don't think car seats should be marketed as a pram alternative unless they lie flat when on the chassis or in the car or both.

Notso · 18/03/2018 00:57

I did have a reflux baby but I didn't have a travel system.

BradleyPooper · 18/03/2018 00:59

We lived in NE Scotland when dd1 was born. Parents were 3.5 hours drive in one direction and 12 hours drive in the other direction. We bought a lie flat car seat so that we could drive longer distances without stopping and that was ages ago so they've been around for a while - dd1 is 13 now...

MooseBeTimeForSnow · 18/03/2018 01:11

Arse end of Northern Canada here. The closest city is a 4.5 hour drive. Only a few tiny hamlets in between. Once you leave city limits the next gas station is 250km. Rest areas aren’t spaced in 30 minute intervals.

Sundayspilot · 18/03/2018 01:52

Western Canada here. Transport Canada does not permit lie flat car seats. The idea that an entire county is filled with "lazy" mothers is laughable.
Half an hour won't even get you over the horizon. I think for healthy babies people just need to be sensible. Stopping every 1-2 hours is fine in my book

scrivette · 18/03/2018 02:24

I hadn't realised the advice had changed either.

Although as an aside DS2 has a very flat head but he wasn't left in a car seat or pram for hours.

Olikingcharles · 18/03/2018 03:02

Well there's a lot of very sad and sorry parents in rural Australia then. Many are several hours drive from anywhere. Pretty sure none of which would stop every thirty minutes to get baby out. You'd never get anywhere. I know i never did stop on any long journey's when mine were small. Long travel in the car was a regular thing. Worked on the premise if they were asleep kept on driving. No harm done with mine or anyone elses that i'm aware of.

paradyning · 18/03/2018 03:49

boston Thanks me too. But the peg is awesome once you get it!

Prusik · 18/03/2018 03:57

Ds1 was transported via ambulance at three weeks old from one hospital to the next about thirty minutes away. He was hooked up to a monitor. Within ten minutes his oxygen saturation had gone from v99% to 84%. The paramedic got very twitchy

DoublyTroubly · 18/03/2018 04:22

SleepFreeZone
I’m pretty sure having a flat head isn’t anything to do with spending too long in a car seat (although it is impacted by staying in the same position too long)

My son had a pretty bad flat head and very rarely went in the car, never for more than about 15min (purely due to circumstances at the time). He did, however, have a larger than average head and always sleep in the same position. How ever many times I turned his head he would immediately move it back!

Bettyfood · 18/03/2018 04:29

Surely with all the hoo ha about rear facing seats, lie flat "seats" cannot be safe? We had a carry cot as part of the travel system (as well as an infant car seat) that strapped into the car seat belt for longer journeys when DD1 was very small, but this was 12 years ago and car seat advice has changed a couple of times since then.

Tartsamazeballs · 18/03/2018 06:40

We got a lie flat car seat that worked with our travel system. Expensive but the best money we spent in hindsight, barely used the carrycot.

According to crash tests the car seat is safer in lie flat mode too.

noenergy · 18/03/2018 07:01

I used to put mine in the car seat at night for a few hours because they had reflux and used to scream when laid flat. Didn't know this advice back then. Also used to click the car seat onto the pram to go shopping. If it wasn't safe then they wouldn't be selling them. Or they should be advising u of the guidelines when u r buying them. So that people are aware of the dangers.

But I am assuming that this advice is for very young babies. I would think up to 2 hours would be fine for a baby over 3/4 months on a car journey. But then I never did long car journeys before mine were at least a year old but I know lots of people can't avoid this.

insancerre · 18/03/2018 07:05

I know of some babies that are spending their whole life in their car seats
They get carried around in them and then put to sleep on them during the day
This is so bad for the baby and potentially dangerous too, as it can compromise their airway

Lndnmummy · 18/03/2018 07:10

I had a reflux baby and the consultant advised me that he should sleep in his car seat at night. So he was in it for hours, from birth.

swivelchair · 18/03/2018 07:21

30 minutes is a very short amount of time - I couldn't even get into town and parked in 30 minutes....

Of course do what works for you, but I remember turning up at the clinic with newborn DS2, grabbing him out of the car seat, us both going in and getting our 6 week check up, and coming back out to the car - meanwhile a couple who'd arrived at the same time as me were still wrestling their system out of the boot so they could snap the car seat into it. I wanted to go over and tell them that it's OK to just carry the baby - they don't need to be in the seat - I think that in the new-baby fog, people just see the car seat as a protective place, and forget that the baby can come out of it!

Aworldofmyown · 18/03/2018 08:35

I absolutely did not say I judge or think any parent is lazy. My point is that guidelines change and what was safe is no longer safe for long periods of time.

A degree of common sense needs to be used and weighing up the different risks - as we do in all areas of our childrens lives.

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