Shopping With Baby

Thanks to Treading Raging Waters for this fantastic post on the reasons you shouldn't put your baby's car seat on top of a shopping cart (she's also full of a ton of wonderful car seat safety knowledge--check it out!) I'm always so nervous when I see a babe precariously teetering on top of a cart--it just looks like an accident waiting to happen. I wonder how many people actually know that their car seat manuals say not to do this?



Meet Bob.

Bob is a shopping cart that LOVES to help out with your trip to the grocery store.  See how happy it makes him??

The only things Bob loves more than shopping...are BABIES!!

Bob is super excited to help this family get groceries...but wait, what is this...??  Bob is not happy...

You see, Bob took a class on car seat safety.  He knows that putting an infant carrier on the top of shopping cart can be very VERY dangerous.

Bob has heard every excuse in the book as to why people put their infant carriers in the top of the shopping cart, even when they have been told time and time again that it was unsafe.

Bob also knows that anecdotal evidence doesn't get you very far in life.  Just because somewhere down the line, somebody survived this

it doesn't make their choices any less idiotic and it DOES NOT mean that it's a good idea for you to do it as well.

So...without further ado, let's go over some reasons why putting a carrier in the top of a cart is not a safe choice.

Reason #1

Strollers and infant car seat bases are made so that when they are holding a car seat, the recline angle is between 30 and 45 degrees so that the baby gets an adequate flow of oxygen.

(Humor me/use your imagination, do whatever it takes to pretend this looks like a car seat)

However, if I had a dime for how many times I was walking through the grocery store and saw this...

well, I'd have a lot of dimes.  When the carrier is not at a correct recline angle, the baby's oxygen can be cut off if they are in the carrier for a prolonged period.

**DISCLAIMER** If you don't see anything wrong with the above picture, stop what you are doing, go sit on the couch, prop your legs up on the back cushions and lean back to watch tv for the next hour...then come back and let me know how you feel and how easy it was for you to breathe.

Reason #2 

 Having an infant seat on the top of the cart makes it top heavy. Something as simple as rounding a corner too quickly can flip the entire shopping cart over.

Reason #3

While it's already hard to see what is in front of you when you are pushing a shopping cart, adding an infant car seat that sticks up an extra 12+ inches makes it impossible.  You never know what you'll run into or run over when your view is obstructed.

You did it now...you killed Kenny. (while I have never seen South park myself, it was re-enacted one too many times in middle school so it is now permanently etched in my head)

 Reason #4

Even if your car seat appears to click (because I hear that all the time... "well mine fits, it even latches on"), it was not made to be up there, it was only made to "click" onto a stroller or car seat base. A small jolt is sometimes enough to un-latch it from the cart and have the entire carrier flip over onto the floor in a matter of seconds.  See a real example here.

Reason #5

Since it was NOT made to fit on a cart, trying to get it to latch on anyway could damage the mechanism that makes it attach to your car seat base. You won't notice that it is defective it until you are flying down the highway and get into a wreck and your child's seat is ejected through the front windshield. However, by then it will be too late.

(pretty self explanatory, I'll spare you yet another of my beautiful drawings)

Reason #6

.Every car seat manufacturer specifically says NOT to do it, so why not listen?

So...let's recap.

Regardless of who has done it and who's kids "were fine," when they did it, doesn't mean it's safe.  That's skewed logic.

You could potentially be setting up your child to have a difficult time breathing during your trip to the grocery store.

Your cart becomes top heavy, it could flip! 

A car seat never actually latches on to a cart.

You could damage the latching mechanism and not find out until the seat doesn't perform in crash.

All car seat manufacturers warn against it.

So...what are your other options?

Put your baby's car seat IN THE CART, not ON IT. This is a sure fire way to make Bob super happy!

OR (my personal favorite)

You can always wear your baby!