How to Behave Behind the Wheel – A Complete Guide for a Young Mum

How to Behave Behind the Wheel – A Complete Guide for a Young Mum

Are you a new mum who wants to know how to best protect her child? Well, look no further! This article will show you the driving mistakes new mums unintentionally make. We will also include tips on how you can travel safely with your children in the car!

1. Get A Child-Friendly Car

If you still don’t have a car and plan on getting one, choose a vehicle that will cater to your child’s needs. It must be spacious enough to carry all their gear. It should also be easy to manoeuvre since half of your mind will always be on your child. Parking cameras and sensors will do the trick.

Check its safety ratings and scrutinise its crash tests to see what the car offers. Headrests are also an important feature of a vehicle, as adults and children in booster seats should at least be able to lean on a headrest to the tops of their ears to avoid neck injuries and whiplash in case of an accident.

Some child-friendly vehicles include:

• BMW X5
• Subaru Ascent
• Skoda Superb
• Toyota Prius
• Honda CR-V

If you’re low on funds, you can check out Carplus finance for assistance.

2. Avoid Distractions

It’s a fact that after giving birth, the workload piles up. You don’t only need to fend for yourself but also take care of another tiny human who’s solely dependent on you in every way.

Unfortunately, the inability to focus on one task at a time also applies when you’re in the driver’s seat. Moreover, this challenge becomes more complicated when the backseat passenger becomes fussy.

Instead of trying to reach behind while keeping one hand on the wheel, it’s best to find a safe spot, pull over, and attend to your child’s needs. Don’t think twice about taking more time to get to any appointment you’re supposed to attend. Now that you have a child, your kid takes the highest priority.

3. Keep Your Phone Away

You may be fond of chatting with friends or family while travelling on the road, but this is a dangerous activity you should absolutely avoid. Studies show that talking on the phone causes drivers to commit more mistakes than when talking to passengers in the car. This is why practising engaged driving is critical. It’s crucial to keep your focus and not miss any road signs while still being able to check on your kid.

You can turn your phone off while travelling with your child to avoid the temptation of using it in any way. You can also keep it on silent mode; just make sure that there are no notification sounds that can lure you into checking what the notification is about.

4. Get Enough Sleep

A survey discovered that parents of at most six-month-old babies only get one to three hours of uninterrupted sleep per night. Although it’s expected that babies will demand attention any time of the day, this also leads to serious sleep deprivation on the part of the parents. Sleep deprivation and driving never go well together.

So, what can you do? Before you decide to get in the car, you should monitor yourself to see if you can make the journey. If you’re unsure, you can opt for alternative ways to ensure you don’t put your baby and your life in danger at the risk of falling asleep at the wheel.

Here are some things you can do:

• Ask your partner to drive for you and the baby.
• Choose to get your errands done by errand services.
• If you need essentials, you can order online and have your shopping delivered to you.

If you’re already on the road and suddenly feel sleepy, find a safe, shaded area, pull over, lock the car doors, and set the timer to get a power nap. Or you can drink a strong cup of coffee and then head straight home.

5. Check Your Child-Safety Car Seat

Installing child-safety seats can be challenging. To ease your mind, find a child passenger safety technician in your area to have your baby’s seat checked.

Having a professional check the seats is not enough. You should also be familiar with the seat’s manual in case something unexpected happens.

Some mistakes regarding child car seats are as follows:

• Putting the car seat in the wrong spot;
• Buying a used car seat without checking if it has been recalled, has missing parts, or is damaged;
• Reclining the child at the wrong angle;
• Using a forward-facing car seat too early;
• Wrong installation of the car seat (buckling the kid up);
• Improper use of a booster seat.

6. Never Leave Your Kid in the Car

You’ve heard of it – accidental deaths of babies left in hot cars. It’s terrifying to think that you might be one of the mums who forgot they have their babies in the backseat. Even if you think you could never do it, you can’t be too sure; exhaustion can be deadly. Being a young mum, you’ll have many things running around your mind, and often, you’ll be thinking of the next errand you need to run.

So, to ensure that you won’t be able to get your baby out of your mind, put valuables near them that you won’t usually forget. Such as your phone or purse.

Conclusion

There are many things you need to be accustomed to when you’re a young mother. Be sure to familiarise yourself with all the tips above and find the best family car to have a good time on the road with your kid in tow!

Guest Article.