Car seats - max travel time for newborn.

[WaitingTillJuly17]

Hi, I remember reading somewhere that it is not advisable to have baby in a car seat for more than 30 minutes at a time when newborn and I was wondering if anyone knew when it was safe to take the baby on longer journeys? We have family 2 hours away so would probably be the furthest we would go with a break after an hour or so to be safe. DD currently 3 weeks old but wouldn’t be travelling to family for another 4/5 weeks.

Thanks.

When my LO was about 11-12 weeks old my HV said it would be fine to have her in the car seat for 1.5 hours in one go, but then to make sure to have at least half an hour’s break from the seat after.

This really freaked me out when I had DS 10 weeks ago as we had to drive to hospital at least once a week and it's a 2 hour round trip.
The research that this advice is based on is from a very small group of babies. The extrapolated advice is perhaps slightly ott/fear inducing. For the first few weeks I rode in the back with DS to monitor him, but having looked up more detailed info, most HVs etc. go with the no more than two hours at a time rule. Even that is erring on the side of caution. Obviously don't leave baby in there all day, but don't beat yourself up if you go over a bit. The risk factors mostly are around restricting breathing so pop them out for a break every now and then and I imagine all will be well.

You can get "lie flat" car seats, which babies can be in for longer.

Oh, and I did 90 min trips at 6 weeks.