When Can You Put Your Baby in a Stroller Without a Car Seat?

After celebrating the arrival of the newly born family member, mothers have to deal with incredibly increased responsibilities along with the Post-partum Blues. 

 A stroll in the park with your little one, all snugged up in the stroller, is a smart way of dealing with this depression. It’s good for your overall physical and mental health and helps you meet motherhood’s challenges with a refreshed mind and body.

The most crucial factor to consider while going out with your baby is the safety and security of the baby along with you. One such factor while taking the baby out in the stroller is: when can you put a baby in the stroller without a car seat?

Let’s try to consider all the involved factors that could affect your decision on when to put your baby in the stroller without a car seat:

• Safety and Security: For the first six to eight weeks, your primary concern should be making the stroller ride safe and secure. As the baby is too fragile and his muscles are too weak to support his head and neck, the baby should be snugly fastened up in the car seat before putting him in the stroller. The car seat prevents the baby from toppling over and protects against jerks and bumps along the ride.

So for the first two months of the timeline, it is wise not to put the baby in the pushchair without a car seat.

• Time for Shoulder Test…3rd to 4th Month:

As soon as your baby passes the third month, you can perform the Shoulder Test. This is to check if your baby is strong enough to support his neck and head… because, by this time, most babies start showing a little progress in holding their head and neck. To check your baby’s development of muscles, hold your baby on your shoulder. If you notice that you don’t have to support his neck and head with your hand, it means that muscular development is well in progress. You can put your baby in a reclining buggy without a car seat at this stage. The reclining back of the stroller provides cushioned support and prevents strain on the baby’s back. Baby would enjoy the harness-free ride, and there wouldn’t be any fear of toppling over because of the secured reclined back and seat belts.

Even during this period, if the path or road along your way is too uneven or bumpy, you should coop up your baby in the car seat in the stroller. It would be too unwise to take any risk for your baby’s safety.

• Sitting Up… Safe Transition From the Car Seat to the Stroller:

As the baby passes from the 6th month to the 7th, the muscular development has usually gained enough strength to support the head and neck properly. If so, the baby could support the head without effort.

Be happy! You can safely transition from the encasement of the car seat to the stroller. Your baby would be able to sit upright in the stroller, without the support and confinement of the car seat… and would enjoy the buggy ride much more than ever.

Safety measures:

It is a matter of personal choice to decide when you can opt not to use the car seat in the baby’s buggy. Whenever you make this transition, you should ensure that the stroller alone is safe enough for your child and that it’s not a safety risk.

Before implementing this transition, satisfy these safety measures first to avoid any accidents:

• A proper seat belt system to keep your darling all buckled up, safe, and secure.
• Shock and jerk-resistant body of the stroller to avoid accidents and toppling over.
• Strong wheels to move on different terrain, to bear the bumps and curbs along the strolling path.
• Reclining back to ease out strained and tired baby.
• Strong brakes to keep the pram from accidentally strolling away on a slope.

Conclusion:

Transitioning from the car seat and stroller duo to the stroller alone is one of the critical milestones for a growing baby to achieve.

Although some parents would opt to put their six-week-old little fella right into the stroller… rejecting the car seat stroller duo is a hassle. But this is not a wise thing to do as it might breach the safety line of your child’s life.

The safest transition time is the time when your baby can keep up his head without any support all the time. When you see some of these apparent signs (usually from the 6th to the 7th month and in some cases after the 9th month), you can safely put your baby in the stroller without a car seat… no worries.

 Happy Parenting!

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