Question Car seats and shopping carts.

I have never put an infant seat in or on a cart, and it drives me nuts when I see it. However, the question posed to me was what about the bolted on provided ones? Don't they throw off the center of gravity also? I couldn't find an answer on google so here I am.

I've never used either, but I would think the bolted on ones would make the cart just as tippy. Also, if your particular store is like the ones around here, the store seats are something out of a horror movie. Twisted, nasty dirty straps with broken buckles and cracked vinyl padding . With my littlest, I learned to like (and eventually loved) babywearing for the grocery trips.

Welcome! Great question .

Uh...I dunno. Googled around a bit, and it looks like maybe that kind of info isn't collected routinely by emergency rooms, so it's hard to tell, since a formal study doesn't seem to have been conducted. Here's one older article that says they 'may' be a problem... http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Doctors-say-carts-can-be-a-danger-to-children-2491679.php
Anecdotally, I have worked at Babies R Us for 5 years now and seen all manner of awful seat balancing situations, but the only falls I've seen are young toddlers diving out of the baskets (their heads are proportionally much larger than ours, so leaning over to look out the side means it's much easier for that melon to splat, and boy is it a horrible noise when they hit the floor ). Also, my own rough housing grade schoolers have tipped a Target cart... don't know if a flying baby seat or an attached infant seat would have been worse for a baby, but it seems being buckled in to either would have prevented tragedy. That's what bugs me the most, the loosely or un-buckled babies. I bet the buckled ones are at substantially less risk of injury if the cart goes over (kids survive in infant seats thrown from cars on freeways when buckled in right, and once my own kid went flying upside down off a stroller, but firmly buckled in, she was fine...gosh, that sounds bad ...)

I read in an article that buckled in when put on the cart is worse because they can't use their natural self protection when falling instincts to help, they are strapped in one position and that might mean their head hitting. I baby wear too, and think the bolted ones are pretty gross. I wish everyone knew about babywearing

Yeah, those bolted-on seats scare me in so many ways. Babywearing for the win!

So, a wee bit off topic, but during our grocery run today, I made sure to check out the "cart seats" at the store. Seems they finally updated to hard plastic ones (no more peeling vinyl--I guess more sanitary). But now they aren't fully bolted down. The new ones are on a hinge that allow the carts to be pushed together with the regular carts, I guess.

So now how scary is the new design? The new ones seem even more dangerous if a heavier toddler (yeah, I've seen 3yo shoved in those things) leans forward--thud!! The kid's hanging (if he's lucky to be buckled in) upside down. Who dreams up these cart designs? I'm sorry, but I'd rather bungee cord my baby to a sled I drag behind me at the store than stick them in one of these. They're accidents waiting to happen!

I have been known to put baby in the actually body of the shopping cart still buckled into her infant seat--is that ok safety-wise? I almost always wear her but sometimes I don't want to take off my coat and stand in the rain/cold to put her in the Boba. I've NEVER balanced an infant seat on top of the cart, not even when I was a nanny.

I've used the ones that are bolted to the cart when DS was little and couldn't sit up on his own. I'm curious about why they are potentially unsafe? They seemed very securely bolted on and didn't make the cart tippy at all. Sure they probably aren't the cleanest things in the world, but I couldn't see them falling off the carts. I didn't like babywearing (couldn't find any way to wear him that was comfortable for me and he is such a heavy kid that my back would get sore quickly) so I specifically grocery shopped at stores that had the seats on them. He now sits in the seated portion of the cart while I grocery shop...

I haven't seen the new ones that are hinged yet but my personal opinion is that the ones that are steady and bolted on are fine for a younger baby who can't sit upright on his own yet - assuming that they are properly secured and there is no other child added to the mix (who wants to push the cart or hang onto the sides of the cart). If it's just you and a properly secured infant who can't sit up on his own yet - the risk of baby falling out should be very minimal.

I've only ever seen the hard plastic bolted on ones, but never used one as they just grossed me out.

With the car seats, they are just balanced up there and can fall off, so I'd say they are worse. That said, I've never done either.

tesslouise said:

I have been known to put baby in the actually body of the shopping cart still buckled into her infant seat--is that ok safety-wise?

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I think that's safe. It's lower like a stroller and the seat can't fall off.