Car seat rule?

[Misskitty10]

So I've heard it's not great for babies to be in a car seat for too long (more than 2-3hrs) after doing a bit of research i can find that it seems the reason is of you use the car seat on pushchair long term and regularly put baby in it for hours on end, it can stop babys spine strengthening/developing as they need to lie on their back when they sleep?!
I'm due to travel this weekend and untill I get to where I'm going I only have the car seat attachment for the pushchair that is suitable for my 5week old! I wanted to go to an appointment just before getting on the motorway so this would mean my baby would be in her car seat for an hr and then with a little break out in a coffee shop & to feed & change her then back in the car seat for a further 2 and a half hours on the motorway!
Do you think this would do her any harm at all? I'm thinking not but my husband is worried!
It won't be a regular occurrence as I'm going to pick up the carrycot at the weekend so will have that in future!
Thanks in advance for any replies

 

[Palladium]

The 2 hour rule applies to baby capsules, not regular car seats. It's because they have the baby in a position where their spine is rounded, which can compress their lungs. If a small baby is left like that for too long their breathing can be one compromised, and babies have actually died from being left too long. So you should make sure you take the baby out of their capsule every 2 hours for at least a little while, and keep an eye on them when they are in it so you can get them out if you see that they have any trouble breathing.

 

[Rainbow82]

It's fine to put baby back into the seat after you've had her out for a break to feed etc. Is your OH going with you? If he is I would just have one of you in the back to keep an eye on her and drive straight there. if you will be in your own with the baby I would say stop for a break at a services so you can get baby out for a few minutes. That said I live 2.5 hours from my mum and if baby was sleeping and I could see him in the mirror I did on occasion drive straight there if traffic was good and I knew I wouldn't be in the car longer than 2.5 hours.

 

[Misskitty10]

It's fine to put baby back into the seat after you've had her out for a break to feed etc. Is your OH going with you? If he is I would just have one of you in the back to keep an eye on her and drive straight there. if you will be in your own with the baby I would say stop for a break at a services so you can get baby out for a few minutes. That said I live 2.5 hours from my mum and if baby was sleeping and I could see him in the mirror I did on occasion drive straight there if traffic was good and I knew I wouldn't be in the car longer than 2.5 hours.

Yeah he is, can't fit in the back really with my other DD car seat aswell but we have one of those mirrors so can keep checking! Will probably stop at the services anyway!

 

[sethsmummy]

should be fine hun x

 

[MindUtopia]

I think that would be absolutely fine. It's really about daily use rather than one time use for an extended period. There are some babies that literally live in their car seats and never come out except to be changed and maybe fed and then go back in. That's really what the warning is about. If you need to go on a long car journey for one day, that's not going to do any harm. Just make sure baby has lots of time out of the car seat the rest of the day and if you can, take breaks on your drive (you'll probably have to for feeds anyway). There are also lie flat car seats for really long drives which you can hire, but I wouldn't worry about that for a one-off occurrence. But I did have a friend who had a 12 hour car trip when her baby was about 8 weeks old and they hired one.

 

[Eleonora]

No worries! I really think that warning is for people who are inclined to carry a sleeping baby into the house and leave the baby in it for hours for no reason. Or just use it as a convenient place to secure the kid when busy doing other things. (I think I have even heard of nightmare childcare situations where this was the practice). Using it in a car on a trip is totally different and by necessity, you will have breaks for food, changing, and comfort.