Newborns and car seats

[buddhababy2019]

Hi
Does anyone know how long it is safe for a newborn to spend in a car seat at a time? I'm due in 4 weeks and getting pressure from my family to attend a wedding a week later which would involve a 9 hour drive (under normal circumstances). There's a chance the baby could arrive early but Im not sure if even at a few weeks old I want to subject a baby to that length of a journey 😕

I believe 30 mins is the current guidance for newborns. Raising to an hour when a bit older. A 9 hour drive would take a lot longer with those guidelines. Could you get the train? But if you don't want to go with such a young baby then that is completely understandable and you can say no. I wouldn't have done it.

Please do not go to a wedding with a newborn unless it is very close by. If you feel pressured at the last minute make up some excuse on why you cannot attend. Easiest is no sleep the night before so neither of you are safe to drive.

(And it's 2 hours. However that's ignoring stopping to feed the baby which could be every 30 minutes or continuously for a few hours if the baby is in cluster feeding mode.)

30 minutes for new newborns was the guidance we were given.

I could barely walk round the local park a week after giving birth, it'd be a hard no from me regardless of the distance.

I can’t believe you even consider it. Your family sound like arseholes.

It's 30 mins op.

Also I'm sorry to say there's no way you'll realistically be going to the wedding. 9 hours with a newborn is not possible or fair on baby.

We couldn't attend a wedding 2 hours away when ds was a month old. It would have been too much for ds and too much for me postnatally and i had a very straightforward labour and delivery and healthy baby.

Say no now. It's not worth all the stress.

30 minutes is the current guideline for newborns. So you’d be forever and a day driving like that, you’ll also still probably be bleeding.. a week pp I passed a clot the size of my fist while walking around the house, painless n no warning but none the less not really something you want at a wedding hours from your midwifes/home/toilet/shower. I was also still pouring milk out at random (combi feeding but the taps knew no bounds) and had to pour water over my stitches when I peed..

Definitely not fun wedding stuff. If they can’t accept that 1week pp is time for you to heal n rest that’s their problem you don’t need to make excuses. Baby could also be days old or you could still be waiting to drop if they come late, again definitely not something I’d want to be 9hours away from my regular hospital/home for.

Thanks everyone - that's pretty much my thought already as thinking back to dc1, I was really uncomfortable myself for a few weeks after and the last thing I'd have wanted to do is travel a long distance never mind get dressed up for a wedding.
I guess I feel guilty (and know the guilt card will be played against me for years to come) as it's my sisters wedding but I need to do what's right for the baby first and foremost!

You might go overdue as well so might not have had the baby. If you have a c section or stitches sitting is going to be a nightmare.

Hope the birth goes well & your family understand.