Feeding your baby during a drive is expected. Even when you have tried to build an air-tight feeding schedule, sometimes it changes last minute. Nevertheless, you have to plan for the inevitable when it happens.
Yes, you can feed your baby in a car seat, but first, you have to find a safe spot and park your car. The reason is you cannot properly monitor your baby’s feeding while you drive. It’s an obvious safety hazard for both of you.
A happy baby makes a happy parent, so ensuring their comfort is essential. Feeding your baby during a drive cannot be avoided. Learn how to make this task go smoothly and more effortless.
Can You Feed Baby In a Car Seat?
Yes, you can feed your baby in a car seat. Here are some facts to consider and some feeding options you can use.
Bottle Feeding
Bottles are a great alternative when feeding your baby in the car. To use this option, you must stop the vehicle so you can monitor the baby. As babies’ bottle-feed, they swallow a lot of air or can even choke.
Some babies may not even be able to lift their bottles properly. Worse case, the bottle falls off their little hands. So you see, you need to be actively involved during feeding time.
Do not forget to wait and burp the baby after feeding. It is equally as important as feeding, as all that air needs to go out. The swallowed air while eating makes them gassy and fussy or sick. The bottle can even harm them in a fatal emergency.
Solid Food
Solid food is an appropriate feeding choice for a road trip. But as earlier mentioned, you have to monitor the child as he or she feeds. It may not be convenient, but it is necessary to prevent suffocation or motion sickness. Solid-food options include cut-up fruits and vegetables.
Breastfeeding
For obvious reasons, you must park your vehicle to breastfeed your baby. It would be best to use your seat belts and adequately strap your child during a road trip. Multitasking isn’t an option in this feeding routine.
It is not safe for you and your child as well as other motorists on the road. Consider parking at a gas station or store car park and give your baby attention and feed her. Maximum, it will take you a few more minutes to get to your destination.
You are probably wondering,” why don’t I feed my baby when I get there?” while that might work since you know how long it will take you to get to your destination, but it’s hard to ignore their cries. You need to be able to focus on the road entirely.
What Should I Consider When Feeding My Baby In A Car Seat?
Car feeding cannot be completely avoided, so be better equipped for when it happens.
- Be prepared to feed at any time.
- Supervise the baby feeding.
- Burp your baby after mealtime.
- Don’t starve your baby longer than necessary as it would affect milk production.
- Remember, safety first.
- Bottle-feeding is not safe in a car in motion because the bottles become a potential hazard in emergencies.
- Solids like chopped up fruits can choke a baby.
- Monitor or hold up the bottle for your baby as it can slip off their little hands.
- Eating in a car seat gets it dirty in no time. Consult the car seat manufacturer’s manual to find out cleaning and maintenance expectations.
What Can I Feed My Child While Driving?
We have put together ideal feeding materials to make meal-time easier as you drive. Please note that your child should be old enough to chew their food correctly, grip items, and burp on their own.
Below is a list of easy to eat food and feeding essentials.
- Meal Pouches -Meal pouches may contain mashed fruits or other suck-on-the-go meals. Some manufacturers make them from silicon, so they are soft to chew on and great for teething babies.
- Car Safe Sip Cups- These cups are usually made out of silicon and are no potential hazards in an accident. They are perfect for hydrating your baby during a road trip.
- Car Safe Travel Bottles- These kinds of bottles imitate hot water bottles. Manufacturers make them with soft but durable materials. You can fill them with any liquid-based meal of your choice.
- Feeding Bibs– no matter how covered or sealed a baby’s meal pouch is, they would still spill. A feeding bib is convenient and easy to wash. The baby should wear it over their safety harness; remember safety first.
What Not To Feed Your Baby In A Car
If your toddler is up to the age when they can feed themselves, it is easier to let them eat while driving. It is essential to point out that some food items are potential choking hazards. Here are six of them;
- Whole grapes and cherry tomatoes
- Popcorn
- Chips
- Peanuts or any other type of nuts
- Carrots
- Chopped up sausages
What Are The Best Baby Feeding Chairs?
After thorough research on car seat feeding chairs, we can recommend five. Our list is primarily based on how versatile they are.
Graco Swivi Booster High Chair
Cost: $55.00
Material: Plush
Dimensions (inches): 24 x 20.4 x 22
Colour: available in two colors; Abington and Albie
Features
- Graco Swivi is manufactured to adjust and accommodate your child from birth to toddler.
- The Graco swivi rotates smoothly in any direction.
- The seat has comfortable head and body pads with room for your baby’s growing body.
Ingenuity Baby Seat
Cost: $52.25
Material: Foam
Dimensions (inches): 15 x 17 x 12
Colors: comes in four different colors.
Features
- It can fold compactly and easy to move around.
- It has insert pads to fit smaller kids snugly, and you can remove them as the kid grow.
- You can store the detachable tray beneath the seat.
Chicco Baby seat
Cost: $54.00
Material: Metal
Dimension (inches): 25.3 x 14.2 x 14.3
Features
- The Chicco seat compacts entirely, causing it to be carried around easily.
- It doesn’t require a chair to set up.
- You can hand wash the seat pads.
- It has a practical and secure harness to keep your baby safe.
- You can clean the entire seat with mild soap or hand-wash.
Fisher-price Baby booster seat
Colour: Green and blue
Cost: $34.99
Dimensions (inches): 12x15x8.5
Features
- Fisher-price is easy to clean, and it doesn’t catch and store food crumbs.
- It stores compactly and can easily be carried around.
- You can clean the seat with soap and water.
- It contains inserts that you can remove to fit the baby’s body.
- The manufacturer permits the feeding tray to be machine-washed.
Summer Deluxe baby seat
Colour: Tan, Grey, and pink
Cost: $24.99
Dimensions (inches): 14.5x 17.5x 13.5
Features
- The summer deluxe folds flat
- The summer deluxe is durable, affordable, and compact.
- It is adjustable and can accommodate an infant and a toddler.
- Comfortable for your baby
Conclusion
Feeding your baby in a car cannot be avoided even with air-tight schedules. Park your car first, if you decide to feed your baby during a drive. Monitoring your child as he/she feeds is necessary. Your focus should not be divided while driving, so prioritize and do the needful.
