Can You Feed a Baby in a Car Seat? What Parents Need to Know

Key Takeaways

Feeding your baby in a car seat is not a safe choice
Risks that come with feeding your baby in a car seat include choking hazards and potential projectiles in the event of an accident
The safest option is always to find a safe place to stop, remove your child from their car seat, and then feed them

Traveling with your baby in the car can be a mixed bag experience. Some babies seem to love the motion or find it soothing, and go right to sleep. Others are content enough, at least on shorter journeys. And some seem to flat out hate it.

Riding with a baby who is upset can be stressful. And, when that upset is because they’re hungry, it can be tempting to try and feed them on the go. But is it safe to feed your baby in their car seat?

Feeding Your Baby on the Go: Is the Car Seat a Safe Option?

While it can certainly be tempting—as anyone unexpectedly trapped in traffic with a hungry baby can attest—it’s not safe to feed your baby in a car seat. With risks ranging from choking hazards to a bottle becoming a projectile in an accident, it’s simply not worth it. If your baby needs to eat while on the road, the safest option is to find a safe place to pull over, remove your child from their car seat, and then feed them.

Risks of Feeding a Baby in a Car Seat

Just like many parenting decisions, deciding whether to feed your baby in their car seat is about weighing the risks and benefits. But the truth is, when it comes to this choice, it’s really all risk.

Choking Hazards

The risk of choking while eating in the car is the most obvious. Even if your baby isn’t on solids yet, the positioning of a car seat can make drinking from a bottle difficult and increase the risk of choking or aspirating on the milk. To avoid one of the most common car seat mistakes, always ensure feeding happens outside of the car seat whenever possible.

Projectiles

Every object in a car that’s not secured risks becoming a projectile in the event of a sudden stop or an accident. Items like bottles, sippy cups, or snack bowls can cause injury if they were to strike your child—or you. This is especially concerning in older car seats that may be past their prime, when do car seats expire? It’s a question worth asking if you’re relying on hand-me-downs.

Motion Sickness

Eating or drinking in the car might not cause motion sickness, but it certainly won’t help if motion sickness develops on its own, either.

Mess

This might seem like a more minor concern, but milk in particular can become extremely smelly if it isn’t cleaned up properly after a spill. Combine that with car seat covers that can be difficult to remove and wash thoroughly, and making your car a no eating/drinking zone can save you a lot of headaches down the road. Spills also wear down car seat materials over time—another factor to consider when deciding when to change car seats.

Best Practices for Feeding Baby While Traveling

If feeding your baby in the car seat isn’t an option, what do you do on road trips? To put it simply, you plan ahead.

Plan to Eat at Stops

Since small babies shouldn’t be in their car seats for more than two hours anyway, plan frequent stops and allow enough time for your baby to eat when you stop. And if your child is over 30 lbs and needs a roomier setup, consider one of the best car seats for 30 lbs and up to keep them comfortable during breaks.

Remove Baby From Car Seat to Eat

Even if you stop the car, it can be tempting to leave your baby in their car seat to serve as a makeshift high chair for feeding. However, just because you aren’t moving doesn’t mean all of the risk factors dissipate. Always remove your child from their car seat before eating, even if the car is stopped. It’s also a good reminder to review how much should a baby weigh to face forward in a car seat to ensure their setup is developmentally appropriate.

Prioritize Safety Over Convenience

There are very few things that become more efficient when you add children to the mix, and traveling is not an exception. It is going to be inconvenient. It will be slow and tedious and require many more stops than you’re used to making. However, if you shift your mindset to prioritize safety over convenience, you may find your reframe helps you maintain a positive outlook.

Choose Orbit Baby for Car Seat Safety With Confidence

Prioritizing your baby’s safety by choosing not to feed them in their car seat is just one of many decisions parents make every day. By choosing the Orbit Baby brand of car seats and strollers, parents can feel confident they’re choosing safety and reliability, without sacrificing comfort or luxury.