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Pregnancy

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Original poster

New baby, carseat and long journeys

20 replies

heartonsleeve · 07/05/2013 11:41

Morning all. Just looking for some advice/opinions on this topic, please. I'm currently 14 weeks, and I have been reading/researching about travel systems, as my in laws have offered to buy one for us.

I've seen many people say 'small babies should only be in carseats for 2 hours a day max' as they're not good for them.

My question is this; all of our relatives live at least a 3 hour drive away. I'm blithely assuming that when we go to see them (maybe at Christmas, when little one will be 8 weeks max) we could go in the car and stop twice (or however many times we need to) on the way. But if kiddo is not supposed to be in the seat for more than 2 hours, how do we work that one? Not go? Ignore recommendations? Stop more frequently and resign ourselves that the journey will take all day?

If anybody is in/has been in this situation, I'd be really grateful for your advice; I'm feeling a bit clue-less!

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Pascha · 07/05/2013 11:44

You drive for approx 2 hours, stop somewhere for half an hour and eat or whatever, get baby out of carseat in that time. Carry on your journey. If the journey is longer then stop about every 2 hours for a few minutes and get baby out. Once in a while its fine.

Rockchick1984 · 07/05/2013 11:45

If its not a regular trip I'd just go and plan a stop every hour or so, making sure to let the baby have a good stretch out in the pram each time. It won't do any harm as a one off :)

craftycottontail · 07/05/2013 11:58

I imagine at 8 weeks the baby will need a feed at some point during a 3 hour journey anyway, so you'd have to stop for that.

Wincher · 07/05/2013 12:01

Yes, I think people misunderstand the guidelines. It's not a maximum of 2 hours in a car seat in a day, it's 2 hours at once. Obviously it's not ideal for them to be in a seat for hours and hours, even with breaks, but once in a while it's OK. What isn't advisable is to use a car seat on top of a pushchair as your permanent pram and keep them in it for hours every day.

Just plan plenty of breaks to your journey - he or she will need lots of feeds anyway! At least at that age they sleep a lot of the time in the car anyway.

Original poster

heartonsleeve · 07/05/2013 12:04

Phew! This is what I was thinking - thanks so much! Yes, figured feeding stops would be necessary (for me too!!).

Agree about using it on the pram. One of the only reasons we're choosing a travel system is because we get the car-seat with it

OP posts:

ineedduckie · 07/05/2013 12:04

My relatives are abroad (8 hours' driving). We took DS when he was 15 weeks old and just stopped every 2 hours, whether we needed to or not. He's now 3 and absolutely fine, we'll be doing the same with his little brother due in Sept!

cheesenpickle · 07/05/2013 12:19

We used to do long journeys but tended to do them in the evening to miss the traffic.(particularly after a nightmare journey in day after getting delayed by a motorway accident and a very fractious baby!) our son generally slept and as we didnt need to stop ( and also because i was a bit concerned about the 2hr recommedation) we bought a britax car seat shaped a bit like a carry cot you can use up to 6 mths which they can lay flat in.they are expensive but we got our from ebay and virtually recouped the cost when we sold it. would definitely recommend.

pinkr · 07/05/2013 20:56

Glad you asked this as pil live six hours away and I know we'll be going down at xmas!

matilda101 · 07/05/2013 21:07

We've got a Jane transporter car seat (I think that's what it's called!) on a Jane slalom reverse pram. The car seat is amazing - it's a lie flat one so the baby can be in there for as long as needs be. My dd was in it until 7/8 months and as it can also be converted into a rear facing car seat she was still in until she hated going backwards (around 13 months). I cannot rave about it enough - easy to clip into the car and then onto the pram and vice versa so the baby doesn't get woken up i it's asleep.

Gonnabmummy · 07/05/2013 21:44

My mothers bought us a chicco travel system iMove, in the catalogue there's extras and u can get special straps for they carry cot part which allows it to be used like a car seat, so baby is lying for journey, not sure if others do this but I think it's great for long journeys :)

Wincher · 07/05/2013 22:48

It is great to have a car seat you can clip onto your pushchair chassis for shopping trips etc, don't get me wrong, I'm just not so keen on the ones which are designed for use the whole time! We had (and have again for ds2 due later this year) the graco symbio which can have either car seat, pram or pushchair clipped onto the chassis.

MistyB · 07/05/2013 23:02

My sister lent us her carry cot which was a god send for long journeys. I used it with two out of three children and DD hated her car seat but could be settled in her carry cot. Mine slept better in the carry cot than in a car seat in the early weeks and it was useful to bring along as somewhere to sleep when staying at relatives / friends houses.

BikeRunSki · 07/05/2013 23:10

I used to do what Pacha said,on my Health Visitor's advice. it used to take aaaages to get to.my.mum's, but not as long as now with two dc with different tummies, bladders and boredom thresholds. Journey os Yorkshire to Somerset, our speed record is 6 hours.

okavango · 08/05/2013 07:43

bebe car and britax also make carry cots that can be used in cars so have no time limits. I have got a bebe car pushchair for the same reason. you can use it over night too. my mil just has to behave well enough to be visited when the baby arrives

nannyl · 08/05/2013 08:08

bear in mind that other than the current britax carry cot car seat, all carrycot style car seats ever tested have scored extreamly badly (and dangerous) when tested by which.

my family are 5 hours away and we drove down when dd was 6 weeks..
i took a mat and let have a good kick at the services. tbh by the time she had been changed, BFed, and had a kick it took more than an hour anyway!

matilda101 · 08/05/2013 09:03

Nannyl - the Jane lie flat car seat has been properly tested-it isn't marketed as a carrycot. It comes with an extra matress so it can be used as a carrycot/overnight. We used it instead of a Moses basket that dd hated in the early days.

Wincher · 08/05/2013 09:15

Trouble is it depends on the baby - I know many who would not have been happy lying flat in a carry cot for very long. Certainly by four months I had to stop using our pram as DS hated not bejng able tk look around. I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of money on a lie flat car seat.

Pendipidy · 08/05/2013 09:18

Misty, i hope you don't mean a regular carry cot in which a child isn't strapped in, for the car journey. That would be very dangerous.

MistyB · 08/05/2013 17:06

It was a carrycot for the car! Though looking at the post regarding the Which reviews of in car carrycots, I would have to research again if I were considering a purchase now.

nannyl · 09/05/2013 08:42

the jane matrix scored awfuly when tested by which....

all car seats sold in this country have been "properly tested", some are still crap though, while others are simply so much safer for a baby when in a crash, which afterall, is why they are in them in the first place.

(the jane matrix scored "ok" when used like a normal car seat, though you need very long belts (that some cars dont have) to strap it in)

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