How long in the car seat?

I have the pearl but looked at both, sure it’s 90mins max regardless for babies.

30 mins for newborns, max 2 hours thereafter.

30 mins for new borns. Manufacturers say differently and hardly any car seats are true lie flat

My midwife told me when been discharged from hospital that max 40 min

For new borns they need to come out after 30 mins and have a break from the car seat. This then goes up to 45 mins when they’re no longer new borns and once in their next stage seats it can be 90 mins and then a break 😊

@Sophie where have you heard this advice as I checked with 3 midwives before traveling from Oxford to North Wales last week with a newborn and they all said 2 hours with half an hour breaks is perfectly fine. Our baby has a normal car seat not a reclining one

@Hannah from car seat specialists. Midwives unfortunately aren’t actually trained in car seats. Technically new borns aren’t meant to be in car seats for more than 2 hours total even with breaks (although this is quite often unrealistic for a lot of people)

@Sophie I also read the car seat booklet we got upon purchase as I was really worried about spine development etc and that also said there’s no published evidence but 2 hours is the max at one time before breaks. I think like everything with baby advice, it’s all very contradictory and advice changes all the time so you need to make the best decision as a parent for you and your baby

@Hannah this article is helpful https://www.madeformums.com/news/the-2-hour-car-seat-rule-what-you-need-to-know/ which talks about new borns and 30 mins max

@Hannah totally agree, and there’s definitely been times I’ve gone over the limit a bit when we’ve been on longer drives. However, I’ve always tried to stick close to what I’ve been told by professionals. I also think this is better safe than sorry. A lot of car seats provide terrible positioning for newborns, and if your baby is at all chin to chest in their car seat then I absolutely do recommend listening to what I said, especially if you aren’t sat next to baby and can clearly see them. Positional asphyxiation is a very real danger to new borns in car seats

30 minutes for newborns with a break. 2 hours total with breaks which I know isn't realistic but it's what is safest

@Hannah Spine development isn't the issue, it's asphyxiation that tends to be the reason for the limit.