# safety of baby in jogging stroller



## dearmama22 (Oct 20, 2008)

I just got a BOB revolution and I'm just dying to go running with my boy! I've heard a few things about safety with babies- that they should either be 6 months or have full head control.

My little guy is almost 3 months, he's not big for his age ( 12 pounds) but he has almost full head control. We put him in the stroller for a walk and the straps won't hold him in all the way- I mean, he fits, but the straps aren't tight on him.

If put a blanket around him, the straps will fit tighter. Is it safe to jog with him?

Honestly, I think it is. I don't run very fast, what is the difference between walking and jogging a little bit faster? It will be on flat smooth surface. I don't see how it could hurt his neck/head, but of course I want him to be safe.

What do you think?


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## jocelyndale (Aug 28, 2006)

I wouldn't. The risk is akin to shaken baby syndrome--jostling the brain inside the skull.


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## dearmama22 (Oct 20, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jocelyndale* 
I wouldn't. The risk is akin to shaken baby syndrome--jostling the brain inside the skull.

really? Wow, I didn't know it could be that serious!

How is walking fast (jogging slow) different than walking?


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## MeepyCat (Oct 11, 2006)

Oh dear heavens no.

The warning labels on the BOB recommend that it not be used while jogging with infants under six months old, and then not until cleared by a doctor. *Particularly if the straps won't yet hold him all the way, I wouldn't think it was safe to jog.* Frankly, I wouldn't use it as a stroller yet in that situation - you can get an attachment to hold a baby bucket with the BOB, and they sell a "snuzzler" for use with little babies, and I would want one of those in place.

Jogging is different than walking in that walking is a fairly smooth activity. If you look at your head level when you walk, it stays pretty level. When you jog, you bounce up and down more (if your form is perfect, you bounce less, but most people have a fair bit of up and down in their jogging stride). And at three months, he lacks the neck strength to compensate and keep his head up and relatively still.

On top of that, when you're walking, you have more time to see the irregularities in the terrain and adjust to them, and the place where you used to point your eyes on the ground, to make sure you don't trip? It's under the stroller now. The faster you go over the frost heave in the sidewalk (or the crack, the downed branch, or whatever else), the more the baby will jostle when you do.


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## dearmama22 (Oct 20, 2008)

okay, I won't do it, don't worry!









The car seat adapter only works with a few bucket seats, which is a bummer.


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## samstress (Feb 21, 2008)

we ran when dd was three months with our bob ironman and this...

http://www.bobgear.com/accessories/a...cessories_id=6

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MeepyCat* 
Jogging is different than walking in that walking is a fairly smooth activity. If you look at your head level when you walk, it stays pretty level. When you jog, you bounce up and down more (if your form is perfect, you bounce less, but most people have a fair bit of up and down in their jogging stride). And at three months, he lacks the neck strength to compensate and keep his head up and relatively still.

yes, _you_ may bounce more, but the stroller doesn't.


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## dearmama22 (Oct 20, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *samstress* 
we ran when dd was three months with our bob ironman and this...

http://www.bobgear.com/accessories/a...cessories_id=6

really? What car seat do you have? I have a chicco key fit which I don't see listed as a compatible seat, unfortunately.


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## dearmama22 (Oct 20, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *samstress* 
we ran when dd was three months with our bob ironman and this...

http://www.bobgear.com/accessories/a...cessories_id=6

yes, _you_ may bounce more, but the stroller doesn't.

That's kind of what I was thinking....


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## samstress (Feb 21, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dearmama22* 
really? What car seat do you have? I have a chicco key fit which I don't see listed as a compatible seat, unfortunately.

we had a graco snug ride. i just looked at the list of compatible car seats. didn't realize there were so few. too bad.

btw, dd is now 25 months and seems to have suffered no ill effects from having started her running hobby at the ripe age of three months


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## dearmama22 (Oct 20, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *samstress* 
we had a graco snug ride. i just looked at the list of compatible car seats. didn't realize there were so few. too bad.

btw, dd is now 25 months and seems to have suffered no ill effects from having started her running hobby at the ripe age of three months









Good to know.







BUT she was in a car seat which is a lot more snug that just putting the babe in the stroller with blankets around him, which is what I was thinking of doing...


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## samstress (Feb 21, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dearmama22* 
Good to know.







BUT she was in a car seat which is a lot more snug that just putting the babe in the stroller with blankets around him, which is what I was thinking of doing...

exactly. i wouldn't have done it without the car seat (i would have waited until at least six months).


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## mckittre (Jan 15, 2009)

I would think if it was really an issue to jog, than carrying baby on rough trails, walking fast, stumbling, etc... would be too. We evolved in a world that was nowhere near as flat and smooth as a sidewalk. Babies were OK.


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## dearmama22 (Oct 20, 2008)

well, I don't think it's even an option right now anyways. My baby hates it right now- even when we walk. I think he's not used to it yet and it's still a little big for him.


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## RunnerDuck (Sep 12, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dearmama22* 
well, I don't think it's even an option right now anyways. My baby hates it right now- even when we walk. I think he's not used to it yet and it's still a little big for him.

Yeah... when I had my son I had visions of going for long walks with him in the stroller and losing all my baby weight... and that didn't happen. He screamed and screamed. When he got to be 8 months or so, he'd tolerate it. Then I'd walk a lot.

With my girls, I got this really fancy twin stroller with 2 fully reclining seats that faced all different directions - again thinking I would go walk a lot and lose the baby weight - because these babies would be different, they would enjoy long walks early on - and they didn't, they screamed and screamed, AND people stared because I had a very fancy double stroller with lots of screaming coming from it... Now they are 14 months and one happily sits in a stroller (or shopping cart) but the other will not, she will try to stand up and lift her arms to be picked up - and she'll scream if she can't - so I tend to wear her, push her sister...

Babies have a habit of derailing your exercise plans...

I can go out and walk with them now - but I tend to just leave them home with DH and go out alone. Which can be hard to schedule in but when I do it's nice. I try to go before DH leaves for work in the AM.

I don't understand the 6 month thing with joggers. I guess it could be the seat belt issue. I am skeptical of the shaken baby issue - which I have read of before - just because joggers, with their big air filled wheels - provide such a smooth ride. If you are on a relatively level surface (and most people do tend to jog on level surfaces) it doesn't seem like much jostling would be going on, no more than you'd get, say, in a car... but I don't know. Never tried it. Had a jogger with my son but he was bigger... maybe... maybe older than a year? I don't remember exactly. I keep thinking of getting one for my girls so I can do more uneven terrain (NOT jogging) but I worry I will waste the money, the little will just scream and want to be worn anyway. I don't have my single jogger any more... I had borrowed it from a friend in CA...


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## donutmolly (Jun 9, 2005)

You might try getting a cheap, used BOB-compatible carseat off craigslist, etc. We ended up with a hand-me-down carseat that we used only for the stroller (double BOB Ironman) since it's a bit of a pain to buckle in and out. We used the infant seat in the stroller longer than we used it in the car, even though DD2 was a big girl (20 lbs @ 4mo) she wasn't snug enough to feel comfy and enjoy the ride in the regular stroller seat until she was closer to 9mo.

I honestly think the 6 mo thing has more to do with liability than anything else -- since you can pretty much guarantee that a 6 mo will have adequate head control. I think our frame backpacks said the same thing, but our DD's had head control and were within the weight limits, and could be securely strapped in before that, so we weren't concerned.


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