In an ever-evolving world, change is the only constant. Whatever you see, whatever you know, can get changed by tomorrow. And this includes every phenomenon available in this world.
As a working mom, it was not always possible to keep my kid somewhere outside and then complete shopping. Often, I had to bring Lily along and start shopping while putting her in a shopping cart with a child’s car seat. At first, I had no idea about how to put a baby car seat in shopping cart.
In this guide, I’ll share the easiest way to put a baby car seat in a shopping cart along with all the necessary details you may need to know.
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Can I Put A Car Seat In A Shopping Cart?
Children are curious about everything by nature. When you take them with you for shopping, they’ll try to grab something, move/ make sounds impatiently, and some even fall asleep on the floor, and so on.
So, to prevent this kind of experience, I used to put my children in a shopping cart while purchasing the groceries. This may not be the best technique, but if you apply it well, it’s a win. But it’s always best to follow the best option available.
So, if you don’t have any chance to place your child outside the shopping cart, the answer is a yes until you can maintain certain rules with zero excuses.
How To Put Baby Car Seat In Shopping Cart? 03 Steps
So far, we have been talking about car seat placement in a shopping cart. But do you know what is the effect of such an attempt? It puts some extra weight over the shopping cart wheel, leading it to an abnormal movement.
Though it’s not recommended by AAP, still I’m going to share with you the most possible safe way to put a car seat in a shopping cart.
First, make sure that your child is buckled up well before putting him in the shopping cart. Here you should keep the chest clip at his armpits as this can help your child to hold a safe position.
Second, make sure both of you can see each other with ease. Moreover, you should avoid keeping grocery items in a way that can affect both of your sights at each other,
Third, You must constantly use the handlebar to control the movement. This movement is caused by the weight of your child as well as the car seat. However, this back-and-forth movement may act as a lullaby that can put your kid asleep, which is not a good sign.
Note: You may find multiple items that claim safe. They have the potential to cause harm to your car seat or shopping cart, which could result in a monetary penalty for a law violation. And never put the car seat outside of the basket. Choose carefully.
Any Drawbacks?
A publication from the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that in 2005 around 24200 children aged below 15 years, and 20700 aged below 5 years went to ET.
And the reason was shopping cart injury only. 3/4th of all the injuries happened to the head and neck. 45% of the casualty victims suffered fractures in different parts of the body.
Why did all this happen? There might be multiple reasons for such a disaster, but they all revolve around the shopping basket. Falling from the cart, tipping over the cart, trapped inside the cart, etc. are some of the common reasons.
Here the major portion(58%) of the victims fall from the cart and 26% get injured due to tipped-over shopping carts.
How To Avoid Casualty (If Any) From Shopping Carts?
Shopping cart-related injuries are real, you can dodge them depending on some situation. Now what are the situations? How to create such a situation? Follow me
Proper Education
Give me an educated mother, I shall promise you the birth of a civilized, educated nation– Napolean Bonaparte said that in the 18th century. Can you tell me the message of the speech in one word? It is ‘education’.
So, before expecting any improvement, you have to learn. When it’s about a major change, then there has to be a significant change in mass education. It can be conventional institution-based education or in a different way.
Posters, pamphlets, flyers, infographics, signs, audio-visual presentations, etc., can be a medium to make people concerned and realize the difference so that they can follow an improved path.
A study shows that this kind of approach, especially toward shoppers with kids, increased belt usage with shopping carts from 1% to 51%.
It’s not like there’s a lack of information, rather there is plenty of it, you just have to grab and realize every source available. And this way, one day, there’ll be a big change.
Supervision
About 80% of parents forget to pay attention to their child during a shopping move. And this is normal as you’re not a robot to browse the shelves and pay attention to your child both at the same time.
Shopping cart-related injuries mostly occur between the time you reach for a product on the shelf. This means injury can occur when you’re present with your kid. So what to do?
There’s no solution preferred by AAP, but here is what I used to do. I can easily make friends anywhere, anytime, and I use this skill to prevent a shopper from leaving. My constant attempts for a longer conversation technically make them pay heed to my kid.
Applying Shopping Cart Safety Rules
Shopping cart child-restraint legislation was first introduced in Minnesota and Massachusetts back in 1999 but was not applied immediately. However, with the help of local law, it could bring out a good result.
Now almost every state’s local car seat laws require commercial business centers to provide a minimum of 25% of their shopping cart with seats equipped with child restraint. So put your kid in a shopping cart only when you’re confident about the child’s safety.
Keeping The Child Outside
A caregiver, family person, or friend can accompany your child in the car and keep away from a potential hazard. Parents bring their little stars in shopping for 2 main reasons, i) to company their child, and ii) every parent loves to spend time with the kid as much as possible.
Again, the child care center can be a good solution to prevent such injury and complete shopping at the same time. You can leave your kid with an elderly to provide company to each other. If your kid is old enough, then you can ask for a walk outside nearby.
What Else Can I Try For My Baby?
Well, if you don’t want to put your child in a shopping cart, there are some other ways, that can serve your purpose. They are
Stroller
If you already have a stroller, then you may have already tried to put your child’s car seat in the stroller. Strollers commonly fit with those car seats. Again some stroller models come with an extra bag that you can use to store the groceries while shopping.
Relevant: Shopping Smart: How to Make Grocery Shopping with a Stroller Easier
Car Seat Carrier
Car seat carriers act like a vest that secures your car seat from the shopping cart sides. One can easily install and uninstall it in the shopping cart. Just unroll it from the wrapper and clamp it at any portion of the shopping cart. Now, set your car seat over the carrier and strap in.
Cart Hammock
It’s quite similar to a car seat carrier. The only difference is a car seat carrier floats on top of the shopping cart and never hangs down, while a cart hammock mostly hangs down.
Just attach the hammock at the shopping cart’s sides, put your baby in it, and strap her in. You can use it for a maximum of 50 lbs of weight to handle.
Baby Wrap
Baby wrapping or slinging is not an uncommon solution. Working parents use it while rushing to their business. It’s like a modified shoulder bag. You can use it front-facing which allows you to monitor your kid directly.
Wearing them backward will make it more challenging to keep an eye on them.
Safe-Dock
If your nearest grocery store provides shopping carts with a safe dock on top of it, then this is your safest option to shop with your kid. Safe-dock is a universal car seat dock station that can bear every kind of car seat you put in it.
Just grab a shopping cart with safe-dock and click in your car seat, a similar way of clicking into your car. And finally, strap in the car seat for better security of your kid.
Conclusion
So far, I tried to share the easiest way to put a baby car seat in a shopping cart. Not to mention, shopping carts are quite prone to accidents while you try to balance a baby car seat on top of the cart.
As an alternative, you can use a safe-dock (my favorite), a baby wrap, a cart hammock, or a car seat carrier, to bring your child with you while you shop. I won’t advise you to utilize any of these substitutes, but I do suggest giving one a shot.
Last but not least, pick the option that fits in and provides enough security for your child. Have a good day.
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My name is Olivia Brown, and I’m a New York-based blogger and stay-at-home parent. Former business executive enjoying retirement and time with kids Lily and Max. On my blog, I review things for kids and offer my honest thoughts and insights to other parents who may be having the same or similar experiences.
