How to set up your car for the arrival of a new baby

Most of us drive around pre-kids with our music pumping and a mobile wardrobe on board! Shoes in the footwells, jumper on the back seat, bottle in the door bin, or wrappers or cans in the footwells gym gear in case you need it… 

If this sounds like you, it’s time to make your car a calm, safe and quieter environment. 

When you’re travelling with little ones on board, at worst all these items become missiles in the event of an accident. At best, they rattle around making noises that might keep them awake or add stress to your sleep-deprived, over-stimulated mind. 

In our best flight attendant voice: “It’s time to make sure your retractable cargo blind is fitted and pulled across the boot and you have removed all rubbish and loose objects from the cabin.” 

As a mum of two, family car journalist and founder of BabyDrive.com.au, here are my family’s top ten ways to set up your car for car rides with your new baby.

First things first, give your car a spring clean and remove all that rubbish. Not only will it make it safer for you and your baby in the event of an accident, but it will also make your car a MUCH nicer place to be! You often find yourself sitting in the back with Bub for family journeys or sitting in the back to feed them while you’re out and about and being surrounded by rubbish is not a pleasant place to be! 

The car often ends up a dumping ground for things you take with you or might need and they never quite make it back into the house! Take all that stuff out and put it away where it really belongs! 

It may sound obvious but give your car a thorough clean. I promise you you’ll rarely have the time for this once Bub is born and when you take your precious little bundle home from the hospital you will not want to put them into a dirty car! 

I have friends who requested a car clean as their baby shower present! 

If you have dogs that travel in your car too, vacuum all those dog hairs out as they can be an irritant to babies.

Your precious new baby has just arrived in the world and is very sensitive to all their surroundings. They are using all their senses to get to know their new world and to know they are safe, including their sense of smell. The sudden scent of strong and harsh air fresheners when they are put in the car can be enough to turn a calm car journey into them screaming the whole way. 

You might not know it yet, but you may find yourself regularly travelling in the back seat with Bub or feeding Bub in the back when you’re out and about. 

Get your back seat ready with some of the things you might need like wipes, tissues, a wrap, blanket or cloth and nappy/rubbish bags. Keep them in a soft bag, securely in the map pockets or in a back seat organiser. 

Install your child seat. Don’t leave it until the last minute so you’re panicking doing it the day you bring Bub home from the hospital!  

Even if you’re having your child seat professionally fitted, take time to understand how to install it properly and spend time learning how to adjust and use it. Use a teddy bear or doll so you can practice how to tighten and loosen all the straps correctly. 

A good habit to get into is to make sure all straps on child seats and loose things are tucked and secured away so they can’t be grabbed by Bub or wave around and hit Bub while the car is moving. 

There are lots of accessories for families to use in the car. See our Top 10 baby car accessories to make travel easier. If you are going to install some accessories like mirrors, window blinds etc now is the time to do it as some accessories can be trickier than others to install so doing before the baby needs all your time and attention is the best idea.  

Lots of us buy a fancy new pram for our first child, I know I did! We got the infant capsule for the car that clipped into the pram and it had a bassinet and a seat that could face me and then another seat that could face away when she got bigger and a sun cover and a fly cover and a rain cover. Sooo many things! 

What I failed to do was check how it fitted in the boot! Make sure you check your pram will fit in your boot before you buy it (you’d be surprised at how the shape rather than overall capacity of a boot affects this)! 

Practice how to open and collapse your pram now, so that when it comes to outings you know what you’re doing!  

Related: What to look for when buying your first family car

You are going to need to change your baby's nappy while you are out. You see it everywhere you go, parents changing nappies in the boot of their car. You can prep for this now; a rubber mat on the boot floor or a towel make a great change station and can be easily washed. 

You are going to be carrying prams, strollers, nappy changing equipment etc in the boot and we don’t want those flying into the cabin if you brake suddenly. Install your car’s parcel shelf or retractable cargo blind and make sure you use it on every journey. 

As your child gets older and starts moving around, there are a couple of other things to consider. Just make sure phone charging cables are well out of their reach and make sure they’re tucked away while travelling so they can’t wave around and hit them accidentally. 

What kid doesn’t love getting into everything they can reach? Make sure hot drinks aren’t in the rear cup holders next to your child’s car seat where they could reach them.

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