Parents warned not to make this dangerous stroller mistake as the weather heats up
We’re well and truly into summer in Ireland now. While we’re busy basking in it, it is so important that parents don’t make this stroller mistake.
I think it is safe to say we are eager to spend time outside in the glorious sunshine. However, if you are the parent of a baby or toddler who uses a stroller or pram, an expert has issued a stark warning about an all too common mistake she sees many parents still making.
Have you ever been outside when it is sunny, and in an effort to block the sun from your little one’s face, hung a blanket or cloth over the stroller opening? Many parents might be especially tempted to try this trick if they are out and about when it is nap time, and their baby can’t seem to fall asleep as the sun is too bright.
However, this is never a good idea, and should be avoided at all costs, according to a midwife. Speaking to Norwegian magazine KK, midwife Hanne Charlotte Schjelderup, who is the administrative leader of the Norwegian Midwife Association, NSF, warns that the temperature inside a covered stroller can increase from 20 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius in just 10 minutes.
For your babies and young children, this poses a real risk of heat stroke, especially as children under the age of two are not able to effectively regulate their body temperature through perspiration yet.
‘CO2 accumulates, and for the baby inside the covered stroller, not enough air circulates, and they are breathing the same trapped air over and over again,’ Schjelderup warns parents, adding:
‘Babies often don’t even manage to cry or alert parents when they get too hot, they just get more and more lethargic and dose off. If left there, they can eventually overheat, stop breathing and die.’
Svante Norgren, a pediatrician at Astrid Lindgren children’s hospital in Stockholm, agrees with Schjelderup.
‘It gets extremely hot down in the pram, something like a thermos,’ he reveals to Parents.com.
‘There is also bad circulation of the air and it is hard to see the baby with a cover over the pram. Don’t ever cover a stroller’
After doing an experiment alongside the magazine showing how quickly temperatures rise inside a covered stroller, Schjelderup reveals that in the space of a few minutes, temperatures inside a covered stroller had risen drastically.
The midwife explains that even cellular blankets or large muslins should never be used to cover a a buggy or stroller. Even the blankets that are perforated with tiny holes will trap heat inside and can pose a risk to babies.
When trying to keep your baby out of the sun, or shade them so they can nap, it is far better to place the stroller in the shade or stay out of the sun when it is in the middle of the day and very hot.
‘If your child is napping in a stroller placed in the shade, they are protected from the sun’s rays, but you should still keep an eye on the temperature inside the stroller’ says Schjelderup.
‘When it is hot outside, it can very quickly become very hot inside a stroller, even when placed in a shaded spot.’
Protecting babies from heat
In the summer, it is important to keep your baby safe in the heat. The most important thing you can do might just be to get a sun-safe stroller. Some come with a large canopy and removable back panel or a back flap that you can open up to allow for air to flow into the stroller from behind.
Another thing to look for in a stroller might be that it comes with a canopy that provides coverage from sun and heat but doesn’t obstruct airflow. Many of these canopies are also UV protective/reflective.
Other ways to protect babies and young children from the sun:
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