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AIBU?

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Original poster

Why do people use car seats as baby carriers?

277 replies

Polestar50 · 02/08/2018 00:41

Genuine question.
I have fairly recently has a baby and have only just noticed that most parents use their car seats to carry their babies if walking a short distance (in and out of baby classes etc.)

It hadn’t occurred to me to do that. I just get my baby out and carry him in my arms, which seems much easier to me. He normally stays asleep snuggled up to me.
I find it much more comfortable to have him in my arms than to carry a bulky heavy car seat around and it’s not as though you can leave them in the car seat for any length of time once inside so what is the benefit?

AIBU to think that faffing around with a car seat is much more difficult and uncomfortable, for both parents and baby, or is there some advantage that I’m not seeing here ?

OP posts:
Mummyoflittledragon · 02/08/2018 01:52

I didn’t do this often. It was great for baby swimming classes. Pop dd in the seat while getting dressed myself.

unicornfarts · 02/08/2018 02:13

I'm with you OP- I find it far easier to just carry the baby rather than the cumbersome car seat. I've not found it to be a problem as others have mentioned finding somewhere yo put the baby down- The babies just stayed in my lap/ in my arms.

SeaToSki · 02/08/2018 02:24

For me it was all about being able to manage the older dc. If the baby is in the car seat, they can be put down quickly and safely so you can manage a toddler, older dc with two hands (when you sometimes need even 4 or 5 hands).

Also, bad weather, a car seat is warmer and can have snow and rain covers. Fiddling with straps is a pain as you have to get them just right every time. A car seat stops the oh, can i have a cuddle. Etc etc

thebewilderness · 02/08/2018 02:26

It is less disturbing for the baby.

Pumpkin314 · 02/08/2018 02:39

Everything others have said plus on a hot sunny day I don't want to put my baby into a baking hot car seat (or in winter a freezing cold one). Small babies are far more enclosed in their car seats than adults and older kids, and less able to regulate their temperature. I keep the car seat in my hall.

bumblingbovine49 · 02/08/2018 02:45

For me it was because if by some miracle, DS had actually fallen asleep in the car seat (almost always in the 5 mins before I stopped), I knew he would wake and start crying if I took him out of the seat.

MarthasGinYard · 02/08/2018 02:50

Yabu

My pebble was bloody amazing.

Italiangreyhound · 02/08/2018 03:09

Most places you take babies have dirty floors, like mother and toddler groups, baby singing, cafe's, public loos. So putting baby down in a safe clean 'shell' seems easier then trying to use the loo with baby on your lap.

Plus the sleep thing.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 02/08/2018 03:14

Mine always used to wake up when removed from the carseat, so if they were asleep then they stayed in it and I lifted it out.

Happyandshiney · 02/08/2018 03:39

I have fairly recently has a baby

I suspect that this ^^ is why you had to ask the question. Grin

New babies stay still in your arms or on your lap. In a short while you are going to discover that older babies wriggle and roll and crawl away. They arch their backs and leap from your arms too.

Having somewhere safe to contain them can be a godsend.

I have twins so rarely did the carrying car seats thing because they were just too damn heavy but I would always transfer them into a pram or buggy before going anywhere. Containment was key (two escape artists usually going in different directions)

Aside from this if your baby falls asleep and you need a moments respite to go to the loo/have a cuppa etc at a baby group it’s easier to pop them in car seat/pram and ask someone else to keep and eye on them than to hand another baby to someone probably only used to holding one baby.

headinhands · 02/08/2018 04:21

I suppose their car seat is better than shoving baby in a bag for life?

QuarrellingElephants · 02/08/2018 04:31

I found it awkward to strap my baby back in to the seat when it was in the car, much easier when it was facing me (so for baby groups I'd carry him in in the car seat, take him out once in, strap him back in before leaving the hall). Plus DS was a winter baby, so it meant less exposure to the cold when transferring between buildings and the car.

I suspect as these seats are known as 'infant carriers' the clue may be in the name and you may be in the minority!

mindutopia · 02/08/2018 07:22

In the winter, it’s much warmer and protected from the elements. I’ve had two winter babies and you can’t over dress them, but to run into the doctor or shop, it’s an easy way to keep them snug and warm and out of the rain, and then I had at least one hand or two if I set them down for doing things. For extended periods of time, I’d have used the sling or pram, but for quick trips when there was no point waking them and then having to stop and find a (warm, dry) place to feed them again, it made the most sense. I don’t think I ever carried either around in their car seats past 3-4 months though as they were too heavy and it was much warmer then.

megletthesecond · 02/08/2018 07:30

So the parents can be hands free to have drink or go to the toilet. Less disturbing for the baby too. And the floor in some places can be grotty.

BadMoodBetty · 02/08/2018 07:35

For the same reason I use a buggy, pram, sling, reins, Ella's kitchen smoothies, a microwave, online shopping, pizza delivery, the internet... because in that moment, it makes my life easier and less stressful.

SuburbanRhonda · 02/08/2018 07:35

I fell while carrying my 6 week old. Luckily he was in a sturdy baby carrier and only noticed his hat had fallen off

How did a 6-week-old baby let you know he’d noticed his hat had fallen off? Confused

SoyDora · 02/08/2018 07:37

Mine woke as soon as they were lifted. HTH.

SoyDora · 02/08/2018 07:39

I've not found it to be a problem as others have mentioned finding somewhere yo put the baby down- The babies just stayed in my lap/ in my arms

That’s fine if you haven’t got a toddler to deal with too. With a 19 month gap I needed all my hands.

Peakypush · 02/08/2018 07:41

I hate when they grow out of the infant car seat! It's so handy, why would you create work for yourself by carrying them? What do you do if you need to put them down for a minute? Plus they wake up when you take them out and then there's all the faffing with getting them out and strapping them back in - bizarre why you'd do this unnecessarily? I'm guessing you have a very new baby OP? You'll see the benefit in a few months I imagine

Oysterbabe · 02/08/2018 07:41

It's probably not as bad while they're tiny, although still easier in a car seat imo, but my 7 month old is like holding a pissed chimp. He's constantly kicking and arching and squirming and trying to grab everything and throw himself on the floor. He needs to be contained in some way in transit.

Sparklingbrook · 02/08/2018 07:42

I did this a lot. Especially when DC2 came along, way easier than carrying the baby when you have a toddler that needs to hold your hand.

Plus as PPs said, if the baby was asleep he stayed asleep.

LotsToThinkOf · 02/08/2018 07:47

So they have both hands free to actually do things, like pay for things in shops, carry bags and generally get on with life.

You sound really judgemental, your baby might just snuggle into your arms but not all babies are the same you know. Maybe the parents who you see with the carriers would like to carry their babies but they know if isn't feasable on that trip?

You've recently had a baby, just wait.

MigGril · 02/08/2018 07:47

I found this odd to, after about 4-6 weeks they where way to heavy for me to carry any distance in the car seat (any further then from house to car). I always took mine out and carried them in a sling. Nicer for baby and they would always sleep like this to even my very fussy baby, who always woke up as soon as I tried to get her out of the car. I had my hands free for dealing with anything including older child and better for my bad back.

SoyDora · 02/08/2018 07:51

Nicer for baby and they would always sleep like this to even my very fussy baby, who always woke up as soon as I tried to get her out of the car

But you know they’re all different right? Once mine were awake there’s no way they’d go back to sleep in the sling (believe me I tried). They were awake.
So it’s not ‘odd’, just that different things suit different children.

ArmySal · 02/08/2018 07:51

It was easier to lift the chair from the base than to lift baby from chair

They were fast asleep

I was worried about tripping with them.

Those 3 reasons mainly.

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