Nursing in a moving car

kfiegel

New member
I belong to another forum and there is a discussion about taking baby out of the car to nurse instead of stopping and a couple members who either are married to a police officer or apparently talked to one (in Idaho and Maine) are stating that it is not illegal to take the baby out to nurse. Now I read the Idaho law that allows an exception for taking baby out to nurse so it isn't illegal there however in other states where there is no exemption where the law reads that the child must be buckled it would be illegal or does because there is no mention of make it legal?

I'm left almost speechless that someone would consider taking the baby out to nurse trusting the driver is a safe driver (not to mention that there are other drivers on the road, your tire could blow, a deer/dog/pelican could come into your path, the driver could have a heart attack ect...)
 
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Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I agree with you that it is a bad idea. Even if it is "legal," it is not "safe."

Safety trumps legality in this case.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Legislators rarely (if ever) uphold safest practice, however the laws of PHYSICS don't care what jurisdiction you're riding in. Carseats aren't magic. They have to be used correctly for the entire length of every ride. Just one second's worth of misuse can & too often does have permanent disastrous effects.
:twocents:
 

bobbysgirl7103

New member
That just blows my mind. :eek: I can't believe someone would risk their infants life by taking it out of the carseat in a moving car. My daughter hated her infant seat. But I never would have even considered taking her out to nurse her unless we had pulled over into a parking lot. I just didn't go out much the first few months.
 

Gypsy

Senior Community Member
I'm a tech in Idaho, Safe Kids out here and ALL the techs are actively trying to get that clause removed from the statute. I've made some calls & written letters.
 

aisraeltax

New member
my son has needed to nurse while in the car before but i took my ass to the back seat and leaned over to nurse him if we couldnt stop (no, not safest for me but there were a few times when we really couldnt pull over safely and he was tired..he rarely fell asleep without a boobie). I can not imagine, even if it were legal, taking him out of his seat in a moving car...,its just plain stupid. ill risk my own safety for a few minutes but certainly not his.
 

KJAJ&RJ'sMommy

New member
I admit that with my 4 year old I did it once! :thumbsdown: I know I was an idiot to do and I never did it again. I did however do like the pp and leaned over his carseat and let him nurse. I would never take my child out of his seat to eat now that I know everything I do. Shoot I am scared to drive now let alone let them out of their seats!
 

tweetykl

New member
I would never imagine nursing in a moving car. I was going to write vehicle but I have nursed on a plane and a train.
 

Adventuredad

New member
ALthough nursing in a moving car is clearly stupid, I'm not surprised. Many people find it completely unnecessary to even use a car seat. I often run across parents with the attitude "I take my kids out of the car seat for a few minutes while he's crying since nothing will happen."

I've stopped for nursing more times than I can remember.

A different law is unlikely to stop anyone. This is a personal parental decision. What are the chances one will be stopped while actually nursing?
 
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Kabes

New member
DH and I had one of our worst arguements EVER over this. We were in near stand still traffic, the baby was screaming and at risk of waking the other 3 children. I refused. the baby was in a captains chair so there was no boobie dangling for him. I admit I have once done that too. I finally got DH to pull over but he was pissed he lost 100 (or so) car lengths.
 

April

Well-known member
Its a no brainer for me that taking a baby out to nurse isn't safe. When Riley was nursing I would hop in the back set and do the boobie dangle too though!
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
my son has needed to nurse while in the car before but i took my ass to the back seat and leaned over to nurse him if we couldnt stop (no, not safest for me but there were a few times when we really couldnt pull over safely and he was tired..he rarely fell asleep without a boobie). I can not imagine, even if it were legal, taking him out of his seat in a moving car...,its just plain stupid. ill risk my own safety for a few minutes but certainly not his.

Then again, you were not properly restrained, right? And your weight hovering over him would in fact risk his life greatly :eek:
 

my2kidsSafe

New member
I've done the boobie dangle too. I would never take my kids out of their carseat. My son hated his carseat more than i ever seen before. But thats too bad, he had to stay in.
 

aisraeltax

New member
Then again, you were not properly restrained, right? And your weight hovering over him would in fact risk his life greatly :eek:


i never said it was the safest..just that i did it a few times. so yes, my son's life was at risk b/c i was nursing him for a few minutes. oh, and yeh, i guess it was greatly (however, now that i think about it i wasnt hovering over him....i was leaning between teh 2 seats of our car and nursing him to the side...if we had been in an accident i would have flown through the front window...leaving him in his seat). I would never take him out of his seat but we never used pacifiers or bottles and pulling over would have been dangerous IMHO.
 

Momof4Girls

New member
I do the boobie-dangle...sorta...

At this size (we've talked about my size before), I can just lean slightly int he seat next to the baby, hold my boob up in my hand, and it reaches baby's mouth.
Raechel
 

BrendansMommy

New member
Correct me if I'm wrong on the boobie dangle thing. I never did it b/c I assumed my weight would change the load on the carseat. When I've been in accidents before, there was no warning whatesoever. There would be no way to unlatch and get myself away from the seat in time. So, in addition to the baby being in the seat, so is a significant portion of me.

Yes, the nursing mom being not properly restrained would be dangerous, but wouldn't her weight (even the just the portion the seat would have to bear in the event of an accident have to be factored into the weight on the seat, in addition to the childs.

Plus, I didn't want my nipple bit off. lol
 

SusanMae

Senior Community Member
It boggles my mind that the boobie dangle is actually suggested in Dr. Sear's BF'ing book. I keep meaning to write them a letter about that.

I would give my child a bottle of formula before I would risk their life with the boobie dangle in the car.

Susan
 

aisraeltax

New member
It boggles my mind that the boobie dangle is actually suggested in Dr. Sear's BF'ing book. I keep meaning to write them a letter about that.

I would give my child a bottle of formula before I would risk their life with the boobie dangle in the car.

Susan

thats funny! i would NEVER give my baby a bottle of formula unless there was a medical reason...but then again, my son would never take a bottle of bm let alone formula.
 

gbpmama

New member
Shying away from the BF vs. FF debate (ugh, let's not go there!!).

I wouldn't want to feed my child while he/she were stapped into a seat, moving car or not. Why? What if he/she begins choking/vomitting? Those few seconds it takes to pull the car over and unstrap them could mean life or death maybe.

The few times my kids got hungry before we made it to our destination? We pulled over and I got them out of their seat and nursed them. I honestly could never pull off that booby dangle manuever anyway, and I'm uh, not small in that department either. ;)
 

christineka

New member
I have bfed 5 babies and taken several very long car trips with all but the last one. I have never fed my baby in a moving automobile and will never. I let baby scream until we can pull over. I would not compromise either of our safety. I am also a pretty thin woman with a rather small chest. I could not even sit on a seat in order to do the dangle thing. I don't do weird nursing positions.

Christine
 

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