In the Car

• Baby's car seat (of the recommended safety standard code in your country) has to be correct for your baby's weight and age and needs to be properly installed in the car.
• Never leave a baby unattended in the car.

This also means the car being parked in the driveway at home. There has been a case of a mother who parked her car in a driveway inside the boundaries of a home-based business, left the keys in the ignition to keep the air-conditioning on as the baby was asleep in her seat. The mother dashed inside for a couple of minutes to pay a bill. The car was stolen. After realising the baby was in the back, the thief abandoned the car and the baby was found safe soon after, still in the car seat with the windows down.

• Too hot or too cold ... be aware of the temperature inside the car. In the Australian heat babies can become dehydrated travelling in a hot car. Also putting the baby into a hot car seat can overheat her. Take precautions to avoid this.
• The sun streaming through the car window can cause the baby's skin to burn. Make sure Baby is shaded from the sun when travelling
• If you are going on a car trip with the baby, start the journey with the baby being feed, changed and as contented as possible. And ... never leave home without music and your singing voice! If the baby begins to get restless, your singing and listening to background music might help to relax everyone. However, if you need to stop the car make sure it is in a safe area away from the side of the road. It is better to listen to the baby cry for a few minutes than to stop in an unsafe place. Good-luck ... I can still remember the car trips we did to visit my parents when my children were young - 13 hours by road! But I must add that these trips also had many funny moments as the boys grew up, ones that they also remember ... with a laugh and a moan!