Are restaurant slings for infant seats safe?

Restaurants always offer us an upside-down high chair for our infant seat. Of course we always turn that down. (Side question... is there any kind of flyer or something that I could give the hostess/waiter/waitress/manager telling them why they shouldn't do that? I always say something about it being dangerous and easy to tip over, but they look at me like I'm crazy and it's not going to stop them from doing it for the next person.)

What about those sling things that restaurants have for infant seats? Are those safe? I've never used one.

They're probably more sturdy than an upside down high chair... but any place that's up off the ground, near traffic where people are walking by, etc, is a potential fall hazard.

Personally, I never lugged my infant carrier into restaurants unless my kid was sleeping, it's awkward and I would rather hold them and allow them to interact with us/our friends, etc. I remember doing it a few times when he was a newborn, but I just brought the travel system stroller in with us and parked the stroller next to the table.

We always declined also. I agree the slings might be more sturdy, but it still just seems like something a wait-person could not see when carrying a tray of plates and could cause problems.

We usually asked for a booth if possible if we took the carrier in (usually if baby was sleeping). Or I just put them in the sling/front carrier and draped a blanket or napkin over them when I was eating so I wouldn't spill on them

I never used the sling either. I always just left the infant seat snapped into the stroller frame and asked to be seated in a spot that it wouldn't be in the way. It was never a problem.

We used one once with DD2 and it was pretty scary. I don't know if it was really as unstable as it looked, we got lucky. Some places had plastic high chairs with a piece that swung out of the way and made a pretty nice spot for an infant seat, they were actually designed for using that way and I felt ok using those. Never ever did that upside down chair dealio...YIKES!

Mainly my issue is that servers tend to serve *hot food* over babies (this makes me livid, almost to a point where I want to SCREAM ) because children are short and it's easier to pass food over them. I find this especially frightening with infants laying face up in infant seats. Add the tipping issue with seats propped on upside-down highchairs, and frankly it's just a recipe for disaster, IMO. I always hold our babies when we go out to eat, its just my style, I suppose. And, I always say at the beginning of our meal that hot food is not to be passed over my children's heads.

canadiangie said:

Mainly my issue is that servers tend to serve *hot food* over babies (this makes me livid, almost to a point where I want to SCREAM ) because children are short and it's easier to pass food over them. I find this especially frightening with infants laying face up in infant seats. Add the tipping issue with seats propped on upside-down highchairs, and frankly it's just a recipe for disaster, IMO. I always hold our babies when we go out to eat, its just my style, I suppose. And, I always say at the beginning of our meal that hot food is not to be passed over my children's heads.

Click to expand...

Great points!

I feel awful now! I used an upside down high chair for my sons seat more than once. I guess it didn't occur to me how bad it was? It really helped on some occasions where his seat (keyfit) couldn't be next to me in a booth to have him level next to me. So sue me for having him in his seat instead of wearing him all the time. I did hold him most of the time but yes I will put him down in his carseat (as a single mom I only have two hands when I need to instead of possibly getting food on him. I felt safe with this arrangement at the time.
I haven't seen a sling at a resto tho

Sorry if this is snarky, I've been judged lately for everything I do with my son and this is just one of those things. (I know you weren't directly judging me)

I've had more close calls with baby as a tripping hazard on the floor in the seat than issues with the upside down high chair.

Common sense prevails. Never taking a baby to a restaurant, or insisting on always waking a baby sleeping comfortably in an infant seat so the baby can be held, seems overkill and paranoid to me. If there's a safe place to set the car seat on the floor at the table, great. If the upside down high chair feels stable with the car seat in it, great. If the sling feels stable with the car seat in it, great.

I'm sorry, but I'm not going to get as worked up over this as I would over, say, a car seat perched atop a grocery cart where it's getting moved around and can go over bumps or uneven ground, etc., unexpectedly changing its stability. If it's stationary, you'll be able to tell if it's unstable or not. Shake it a bit and see whether a wiggling baby might be able to shift the car seat or the whole set-up. If the floor is a safe option, that's fine, but I find that wait staff is more likely to stand with a pot of hot coffee over an infant seat on the floor than one that is up off the floor where they notice it more.