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Is it safer to flip a restaurant high chair upside down for an infant car seat?

I've heard it's unsafe but most restaurants don't have the car seat swings. Whether the high chair is right side up or not, you can't secure the car seat to the high chair. As long as the high chair is wiped down with a disinfectant wipe, shouldn't it be okay?
Mom Answers (5)
No, it is not safe to use a car seat on top of a flipped restaurant high chair. Using infant seats outside the car really isn't safe at all, even when precautions are taken. Evidence shows parents don't use them safely 90% of the time.
Answered 3/22/18
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Whatever you do, DO NOT use the restaurant high chair as a holder for your infant's car seat. We made this mistake this weekend and spent the day in the ER scared to death. We were getting ready to strap our son in his car seat with the high chair flipped over, I reached over to get his pacifier because he was fussing and the next thing I knew he was on the floor. He hit his head and had to be rushed to the ER (he is only 6 months old). He is fine thank God, but there were two lessons learned. NEVER use the high chair in this manner and ALWAYS strap your child in before you do anything else no matter how much he is fussing and may disturb other patrons. It's too important. We learned these lessons the hard way and it could have ended much differently. We are just thankful he is okay.
Answered 8/9/09
4 found this helpful
I have used the upside down high chairs for my daughter a few times, but it does seem pretty unstable. Before she could sit on her own in a high chair, I just put her in the booth next to me or beside me on the floor in her infant seat. If the baby is old enough to sit on their own, I would just use the restaurant high chair. The Floppy Seat brand shopping cart cover doubles as a high chair cover if you are worried about germs - it also makes the hard wooden chairs a bit more comfortable. I also have a fabulous product from Graco - it's a travel high chair that actually fastens on to a table. It even has it's own tray so if you want to give the baby some Cheerios or something, you don't have to worry about how clean the table is. I carry that with me in my car and I love it and I think it was only about $35 online through Babies R Us. And since it fastens right to the table, you wouldn't have to worry about someone walking by and knocking over the chair.
Answered 1/14/09
7 found this helpful
Even if the restaurant offers you an upside down highchair and it seems stable, DO NOT do this. We had a huge scare this weekend, putting our 3 mo. old daughter's car seat on what seemed to be a stable upside down highchair. I left her side for 30 sec. (she was surrounded by extended family), during which time someone at the table behind us brushed by and her entire car seat toppled under the table. She screamed bloody murder, but thankfully she was strapped in! A family member who saw it happening but couldn't reach out in time confirmed that she never hit the table (and her landing position thankfully did not hit a table leg). She cried a lot but had no visible injuries. Any internal injuries are too difficult for doctors to detect at this age. She seems to be back to her old self, but we are still shaken by this experience and will never use an upside down highchair again, no matter how stable it seems.
Answered 10/27/08
7 found this helpful
For the designs I've seen, this is not safe. It becomes top-heavy and can tip. Because of this risk, many newer models have a raised back to prevent upside down use from being possible.
Answered 3/23/08
5 found this helpful

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