Comments on: Tips for Infant Car Trips (Mom-to-Mom #18)

By: Photo of Toddler Nursing at a Wedding : Breastfeeding 1-2-3 - Breastfeeding 1-2-3: A Blog for Breastfeeding Tips and and Support

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:45:10 +0000

[...] a Comment // Remember this Mom-to-Mom question asking for tips for traveling with a nursling and for advice about nursing in a dress at a wedding? This toddler nursing photo addresses the [...]

By: Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:11:16 +0000

Thanks Diana! I have checked and the straps are appropriate now. Thank goodness nothing happened while I had them improperly placed!

By: Diana

Diana — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:39:31 +0000

I just wanted to tell you that I noticed that the straps on your daughter’s car seat might be too high. When a car seat is rear facing the straps should be either at or below the shoulders. When the seat is forward facing the straps should be either at or above the shoulders. Over 90% of car seats are used incorrectly. We had a family member seriously injured from a car seat being used incorrectly. Just wanted to have you check yours.

By: Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:53:08 +0000

Trish, thanks for the info! I checked and the same is true for Britax rear-facing. I’ll take a look when I put my daughter in today and see if they still need to be adjusted.

By: Azucar

Azucar — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:14:00 +0000

Check out this one from Banana Republic. This brown one from Shappy Apple is so sophisticate. I like this button down (they call it tuxedo) dress. I love the print on the Koi dress, so nice for a wedding. I've also had success with low cut dresses by putting a tank or stretchy chemise underneath. I can lift the chemise and wiggle out of the low cut. Just stay away from anything that says "shift dress." That's always code for "I have to pull this dress up to my neck and expose my entire body to feed my baby."

By: Trish

Trish — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:07:51 +0000

Just looking at the picture of your daughter. Is she rear-facing? If so, I’m under the impression that for rear-facing, the straps should be at or lower than the shoulder level. Your daughter’s straps look too high to me. I could be wrong, but that has always been true of the seats I used, though I never used a Britax rear-facing. Hope you don’t mind me mentioning it, but I just happened to notice!

By: Vanderbilt Wife

Vanderbilt Wife — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:50:17 +0000

Good tips! We were pleasantly surprised that our recent 9 hours trip only took about 10 1/2 hours with baby (7 months). We stopped at a fast-food restaurant with a play area, DH and I ate outside, we set a blanket down and let her play and kick out some energy. I think that helped a lot.

A wrap dress can give you some nursing leeway if you don’t want to buy a nursing dress–but still difficult to nurse discreetly without complete coverage with a blanket or otherwise. I was going to nurse my DD during the church service, but she started fussing so we just went into a stairwell and did it there.

By: Drea @ Monkey Monkey Underpants

Drea @ Monkey Monkey Underpants — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:04:45 +0000

All of those are great tips. We’ve gone on several 13 hour road trips with my 1 year old daughter throughout the past year to visit my in-laws and for the most part they’ve all gone pretty smoothly. Make sure you have lots of wipies and an extra outfit on hand because for some reason babies tend to have explosive diapers at the most inopportune times!

As far as nursing in a dress goes, I bought a product called “Burp N Slurp” (just google that name) that is perfect for dresses and nursing in public in general. It works with most tops and dresses, especially ones that are a little bit more loose. Good luck!

By: Stacey

Stacey — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:56:15 +0000

Planning a few stops to walk around can be very helpful. Whenever I am about to leave town, I always have a list of a few more items that we need from Target for the trip–instead of going the day before the trip, we go DURING the trip. That way, we all get out of the car for a little walk around. This is really great during the winter months when it is too cold and/or dark out to play at the reststops! I have also used this time to send my husband in with the list, while I stay in the car to nurse the baby. Also, it works great because how many times have you gotten 10 miles into your trip and you think of ten more items you have forgotten!