To not strap my baby into her buggy properly?

[onespot]

My baby is 11 months and hates straps over her shoulders strapping her in; she goes absolutely mad. I’ve been avoiding this by just doing the straps round her waist so that she has some security but it means she leans far forwards (usually to eat the safety bar) and it feels precarious.

Wondering how bad it is not to have her ‘properly’ strapped in.

I wouldn’t risk it. There were a lot of things my DS’s have hated (their teeth being brushed, the car seat, holding my hand when they’re near a road just to name a few!), but they have to learn that some things need doing anyway. She’ll get used to it.

She doesn’t, is the problem. I completely take that on board and she does have her teeth brushed (all 2 of them!) but it can make days out tricky if she’s fighting and squirming and crying all of the time. I’m looking at other options pushchair wise, wonder if anyone has recommendations for this age range?

I wouldn’t risk it either, especially as she gets bigger and heavier. Can you put her in the sling instead in walks and days out?

I’ve seen a baby tip out of a buggy when going down a curb - there’s no way is risk it.

She’ll have to lump it. Or use a carrier?

I used a reins harness and had D rings clipped into the pram (and high chair) It allowed more range of movement for the upper body, but they were still securely seated too.

The reins harness didn't bother them as it didn't restrict their movement in itself.

This. My children dislike the buggy as well but you can’t just put them in a dangerous situation. I always see children not strapped in or badly strapped in and think the parents are mental - it’s just such a huge risk isn’t it? But then I see toddlers walking behind adults on the pavement without being in line of sight and I toddlers zooming halfway down the pavement on balance bikes who could fall into the road/get hit by a car pulling out of a driveway with parents ages behind.

so I think everyone is very daft with children’s safety!

Absolutely ridiculous. Anything to do with safety and health is a non negotiable. Wake up.

What would you do if it was a car seat? Do that.

What if se decides she doesn't like the car seat straps?

I've seen two babies fall out of prams because they weren't probably strapped in - one onto their head on concrete.

Luckily no long term damage but I can assure you absolutely do not want to experience it yourself.

If she doesn’t like the shoulder straps in her car seat would you consider not using them? It’s exactly the same

Mine used to get themselves out of the YoYo shoulder straps as preschoolers, but firstly I wasn’t doing them up like that, they were escaping and at 2+ they understood to sit still or they could fall out and hurt themselves so I felt ok with it. At only 11MO I’d always secure them properly, it’s just non negotiable. If you ignore the protests she’ll give up once she realises you’re not going to undo her. And maybe distract with a snack when you strap her in.

You can't give her a choice - what if she tips out and falls on her head?

Please just take the fight and strap her in. I was walking with my little one when she was 1, the pram and I both slipped on the ice and I fell whilst the pram tipped over. She was thankfully fine and was all covered in the pram cover anyway but if she wasn’t strapped in then she would have been really hurt.

They can do easily fall out at that age - kerbs, steps etc, they can topple out if leaning too far forward. It won't be long before she can stand and then it is so much easier to fall out or actually escape.

I agree she will soon get used to it. This is a non- negotiable matter.

My parents in law had this attitude with DS as he kicked up an absolute stink and they found it hard to deal with. Sure enough FIL bumped the buggy down a high old London curb and DS fell out and smashed his head. So I’m saying YABU.

Thanks @BogRollBOGOF - can you just get them from Amazon?

Car seat - if it was really distressing her (as the shoulder straps seem to be) I would probably look into alternative car seats to see if there was anything that didn’t cause upset. I don’t want to compromise safety but if there’s a way to do so that doesn’t cause distress that’s my preferred option.

I think it's unanimous. Seriously risky. You just have to suffer the fighting, crying and squirming on days out. She'll get used to it being non negotiable eventually.

So... it's obviously not the same as a car seat, which is designed to protect your child from a car crash. Your pram will not protect your child from a car crash. The straps are to stop them climbing or falling out.

I think you need to assess the risk of climbing/falling against ending up ditching the buggy because DC won't tolerate the restraints, and the risks of them walking/scooting on your route.

I used the straps only of the kids were trying to escape. We did have the buggy on the 45 degree position which means they are more stable and very unlike to fall out forwards. "Incredibly dangerous" and yet 3dc, 7 years of pram use, no incident.

Dd2 is 11 now but I still haven't forgotten the sheer horror when I let go of the pram for a few seconds to help DD1 who had fallen over....and the pram rolled off down the hill and tipped off the path. Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye

(Dd2 slept through the whole thing, unharmed)

So, because you were a bit negligent and your children were fine, OP should be too?

the straps are designed to stop
children falling out and smashing their faces on the pavement. Honestly wtf

Too young at that age I'm afraid. They can tip very quick. I've seen it happy

If she is strapped into a car seat with no issues then she will have to get used to the pushchair. If she hated the car seat and looked into alternatives, you'd find there aren't any that don't have full harnesses because it's essential. Honestly, what if crossing a road and going down a curb she falls into the road? Smashes her head on concrete? Breaks something? Just strap her in and then don't react to her kicking off, ignore it totally. She'll get used to it eventually!

So you were just lucky.

I imagine you would feel very different if one of your children had fallen out and smashed their heads off the concrete.

Going to go against the grain here, I've got three kids and this is exactly what we do from about 11-12 months onwards. They just slip their arms out anyway, it's not like the shoulder straps in a pram are anything like as tight as in a car seat. Whereas (at least on our pram) the waist straps keep them totally secure from getting or falling out. I do keep them parent facing as long as possible, that might make a difference. All I can say is I've used that pram pretty much daily for 6 years across three kids and never felt it was unsafe once they're hitting the toddler stage.