Key Fit 30 in grocery carts?

U

Unregistered

Guest
I heard a rumor that Key Fit 30's don't fit in grocery carts. Is this true?
 
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BW1426

Well-known member
I don't believe that any of the upper weight carriers fit on grocery carts. But, it is also very dangerous to place your carrier on a cart. FWIW.
 

leighi123

Active member
I think its not a good idea to put any infant seat on top of a cart, even though I see people doing it all the time!
Some infant seats even say 'do not use on a shopping cart' - I saw a cart tip over with a snugride on top - it was scary, but the baby was strapped in (tightly thank goodness) and wasnt hurt. It makes shopping carts top heavy.
Thats why I always have put Levi in a sling, he's only ridden in a cart twice (not in a carseat) at Home Depot with daddy.
 

cpsaddict

New member
Many infant car seat instruction manuals state not to put it on top of a shopping cart. It makes the cart very top heavy and can tip. When I worked at BRU, a mom had one on her cart and she couldn't see over it. She hit a pole in front of the store and the car seat went tumbling off. Baby was fine, but mom was hysterical. Some seats might "click" on, but they still make the cart top heavy. A sling/carrier or using the bottom of the cart for the car seat are better options.
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I always just put the carrier inside the basket on the cart. That doesn't leave a lot of room for groceries, but I make it work. :)
 

Holly

New member
I always put the infant seat sideways across the basket, it set right in and the sides of the cart held it in place.
 

Mommypooh

New member
I have 3 kids and always get the cart with the car or what ever on front and put the two oldest there and then put the baby carrier in the basket and then pull another cart behind me for the groceries. Gives me two places to put Milk and Bread so neither one is overly heavy since I buy 6 gallons at a time. With all my other groceries.

That is why I can't wait for my kids to be able to sit up so I can put them in the top of the cart and not lug the dang gone thing around all the time.
 

VLsMom

New member
I have 3 kids and always get the cart with the car or what ever on front and put the two oldest there and then put the baby carrier in the basket and then pull another cart behind me for the groceries. Gives me two places to put Milk and Bread so neither one is overly heavy since I buy 6 gallons at a time. With all my other groceries.

That is why I can't wait for my kids to be able to sit up so I can put them in the top of the cart and not lug the dang gone thing around all the time.

Wow, you must be coordinated and strong!! I can hardly push that big cart around that has the car in front...its so heavy and gargantuan! I couldn't imagine pulling one behind me in addition to that. There should be some type of rope-pully system for that setup. :)
 

oxeye

New member
I'm happy that the bigger infant seats don't fit on top of the shopping carts. I will admit that I did it with DD1 a couple times before I knew better - because everyone did it. It made me nervous, though so I researched it and found out that it was dangerous.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against it - http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/aug06shoppingcart.htm. The relevant section to infant seats in that article is the recommendation that "parents and caregivers should never place an infant carrier on top of the shopping cart."

The little clip on the back isn't made for the seat to snap onto a shopping cart the way the seat snaps into its base in the car. An infant falling in an infant car seat is actually more likely to suffer from severe injuries than if they fall from the same height unrestrained. The seat could fall from the shopping cart or the shopping cart could tip over because it is more top-heavy.

One of my professors pubished a case study where she treated an infant who had fallen in his car seat from on top of a washing machine. He suffered an epidural hematoma (brain bleed). She specifically talks about falls of infants in car seats from various high locations (shopping carts included) and the outcomes of those falls.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7936873?dopt=Abstract

I'm not sure how much I can quote from the study without copyright issues so I am going to paraphrase the important parts. Someone has extensively studied the effects of children falling from elevated surfaces and found that, in general, children falling from these surfaces do not suffer from severe injuries. This is because we have an instintive righting reflex while falling that is protective. If an infant is strapped into a carseat, there is an inability to execute this righting reflex unhindered and so severe injury is actually more likely than if the child fell unrestrained from the same height. Additionally, the carseat adds 50% to the impact energy of an average 1 year old and even more for a lighter child.

The study goes on to look at other cases of injuries due to car seat misuse (falls from a table, car, shopping cart, or while being carried). There were 27 cases, 14 with injuries due to falls of the car seat - 9 were simple head injuries, 4 were skull fractures, and 1 was a cervical vertebrae fracture. So in this sample with 27 babies falling in car seats, just over 50% were injured.

Let me know if any of you want to read the whole case study and I will send it to you. I think it's pretty interesting!
 

solmama

Active member
I always put my kiddos in the big basket part of the cart. I just squeezed my groceries in around them.
 

Starlight

Senior Community Member
I have 3 kids and always get the cart with the car or what ever on front and put the two oldest there and then put the baby carrier in the basket and then pull another cart behind me for the groceries. Gives me two places to put Milk and Bread so neither one is overly heavy since I buy 6 gallons at a time. With all my other groceries.

That is why I can't wait for my kids to be able to sit up so I can put them in the top of the cart and not lug the dang gone thing around all the time.
Girl, you need to get the big cart, put your big kids in it, your baby in a sling of some type, and then deal w/ only 1 cart. My God, my arms hurt thinking about what you do.
 

SusanMae

Senior Community Member
Neither the Keyfit22 or 30 will fit on top of a cart. When I spoke with Chicco after I got my seat and stroller last year, I was told that the seat was designed NOT to be put on top of the cart because it's not a safe place to put children...much less babies.

Susan
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
Unfortunately, people will put the infant seats on top of grocery carts regardless of whether they fit or attach.

I saw a couple at the grocery store last week with an infant seat on top of the cart. I think it was a Chicco but I'm not sure - I DO remember that the bottom of the seat had NO sort of hooks or any thing, it was completely smooth. I was standing behind them in line for the deli counter, and they were fidgeting with the seat several times, clearly uncomfortable with how it was fitting on the car. After the second time I saw them fidgeting, I butted in (which I almost never do) and explained that infant seats really aren't designed to be set on grocery carts, they make the cart top-heavy, etc. They moved the baby/seat to the back of the car and still had it that way when I saw them leave 20 minutes later! :thumbsup: to them.

Edited to add: Oh yeah, this baby was only 6 days old!
 
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Morganthe

New member
I always just put the carrier inside the basket on the cart. That doesn't leave a lot of room for groceries, but I make it work. :)

:yeahthat: what I used to do.

There seemed to be a very brief time where dd actually sat in the cart's seat, but most have a limit of 35-40lbs depending and became uncomfortable when she was a leggy 34lber. So now she sits IN the main part of the cart when she gets tired and arranges the items around her. It's nice having someone to hand up groceries at the check out :p
 

jen_nah

CPST Instructor
This is were babywearing is a GREAT thing. I tried to put K1 Snugride on top of the cart once (before I knew better) and it wouldn't lock on and felt very unstable. I ended up putting her in the big basket. Once K2 was born I had to put her in the basket b/c K1 was only 2yrs old and sat in the seat. If I knew I was going to need the basket for big items I put K2 in the sling and we did our shopping.

We have had many babies come through our ER from their carriers falling off the shopping carts due to it tipping over.
 

CandCfam

New member
Ditto the 'it's not safe, don't do it'.

What freaks me out, is seeing people doing this with their newly newborn babies, and they have their head WAY lower than their body, which just cannot be good for proper airflow, or spit ups.:(
 

lovinwaves

New member
Babywear or

Get a really easy to push stroller. Pull the grocery cart behind you. I have done this a few times with a side by side double stroller with no issues :)
 

Mommypooh

New member
Girl, you need to get the big cart, put your big kids in it, your baby in a sling of some type, and then deal w/ only 1 cart. My God, my arms hurt thinking about what you do.

Well my youngest is likely to scream the whole trip if I try to use the carrier with him as he is all about his own space. He wants to be free to move not held down or strapped down. He hated it.

Plus when I shop I SHOP. I buy 2 weeks of food at a time when I go. So I Have lots and lots of groceries.
 

littleangelfire

Well-known member
Not that you needed more :eek: but here's some more links an info on car seats on carts:
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/aug06shoppingcart.htm
http://www.medem.com/search/article...=/ZZZT24LYQMC.html&soc=AAP&srch_typ=NAV_SERCH

And actually, I think someone might have posted the first one already, which also stresses that no kids of any age ought to be riding in or on the cart, b/c it just makes it too unstable. I'll add to the group recommending a sling/pouch/wrap. Keep baby close, away from strangers hands, dirty carts, and possible injury, while also keeping your hands free. Perfect solution.
Check out http://www.thebabywearer.com
 

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