Here’s The Dangerous Stroller Mistake Parents Everywhere Are Making

I think it’s safe to say, we’ve all done it…

We’ve made choices for our kids with the best of intentions only later to find out, it was in fact, quite dangerous to do.

With that in mind and the fact that summer is pretty much in full swing, there is a dangerous stroller mistake parents everywhere are making without even realizing it…

The Dangerous Stroller Mistake Parents Everywhere Are Making

Picture this – you are wanting to go outside for a midday stroll with your baby or young child so naturally, you throw them in the stroller.

Perhaps you throw a blanket over the top of the stroller to help give them some shade, right?

Well, turns out, that is quite dangerous and can be a huge mistake.

According to researchers in Sweden, draping something over the top of a stroller, even something you think is the thinnest of blankets, can create a furnace-like heat inside, reducing the air circulation and putting kids at risk of heatstroke and even SIDS as their body temperatures reach dangerous levels.

“It gets extremely hot down in the pram, something like a thermos,” Svante Norgren, M.D., a pediatrician at Astrid Lindgren children’s hospital in Stockholm, told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.

“There is also bad circulation of the air and it is hard to see the baby with a cover over the pram.”

The research conducted an experiment and what they found was, without a cover, the temperature inside a stroller left out in the heat was 72 degrees.

But after being covered by a thin cloth, it reached 93 degrees within 30 minutes. After an hour, the temperature shot up to almost 100 degrees.

OMG you are basically creating a baby oven inside your stroller!!

Again, if you’ve ever covered your baby stroller with a blanket with the good intention of giving our baby some shade during the hot summer months, you thought you were just doing the right thing.

But as it turns out, you could be doing more harm than good.

So, what do you do for shade?

Well, there are a few options…

First, consider purchasing a stroller that has a canopy built into it. Umbrella strollers (contrary to their name) often don’t have a built in canopy.

Strollers that do, often have canopies that can be maneuvered to provide shade at an angle that will protect your baby from the sun without compromising their air circulation.

Secondly, consider purchasing an umbrella with a clamp attachment. I have one that we take camping and it will clamp onto strollers, chairs, and anything that has a sturdy rod for it to clamp onto.

It works wonders for providing shade without cutting off air circulation.

Instead of using a blanket or even thinnest of cloths, you can use a breathable cover such as these stroller bug net covers.

They don’t provide a ton of shade but offer a bit of covering while allowing air to circulate. Especially great during evening walks to avoid mosquito bites.

So, now that you know how dangerous stroller blankets can be, opt for a different way to keep your baby shaded but also safe from the sweltering heat this summer.