# How to handle baby and flat tire?



## OldFashionedGirl (Mar 22, 2004)

This is STRICTLY hypothetical, but a question that's been bugging me lately.

I seem to have a penchant for getting flat tires (I haven't had one lately, knock on wood). I am perfectly capable of changing it myself. But what if I have my son with me? He is 7 mo. old and in a convertible car seat. Clearly, I cannot jack up the car with him in it. Nor can I plop him on the side of the road and tell him to sit







If I had a bucket seat, I suppose (depending upon the weather) I could place him, still in the seat, well off the road, near me. But he is in a convertible seat. Do I take that seat out as well? Do I play the damsel in distress card and hope someone stops to help me? (BTW: I do live in a VERY close-knit community. It is pretty likely that someone would stop to help me, and that I would probably know the person.)

I live in an area where cell reception is sketchy, at best. So, in general, calling my fiance/father/mother/brother/etc. is not really an option.

Certainly, I don't want to endanger my child, but I don't want to be sitting on the side of the road for ages praying for someone to stop, either.

So, the question: if I were to get a flat tire while my son was with me, what should I do? What is the best/safest course of action? Worst case senario, what if no one is stopping to help and it's getting dark out, then what?


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## Papooses (Dec 20, 2006)

My parents' only gift to me for any/all holiday or birthday celebrations combined is a AAA membership -- best damn idea I ever of! Seriously ... get yourself some AAA


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## OldFashionedGirl (Mar 22, 2004)

But AAA only works if I have cell reception.

Can you tell I'm seriously working at the worst-case senario here? I want to be prepared, darn it!









I need On-Star!


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## kate~mom (Jul 21, 2003)

i would take the convertible seat out of the car, place it at a safe distance from the road, strap him back in, and change the tire.


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## moondiapers (Apr 14, 2002)

well since you only have to jack the car up so that the tire is less than an inch off the ground, I'd leave him in the car, safely strapped into his carseat. If you have the brake on, and it falls off the jack he's not going to get hurt. Now I WOULD take him out of the car if I wasn't able to pull over far enough for the car to be out of the way of traffic.


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## angie3096 (Apr 4, 2007)

I don't really know what is safest to do, but since you said you often get flat tires, I'm wondering: How often do you replace your tires? I have my tires inspected every year and if they are getting worn I replace them. Rotating your tires is also important. Flat tires are often preventable. I think a good set of tires is as important as a good carseat, when it comes to dd's safety. A blowout could send your car careening out of control. Maybe you already have them inspected often and you just have bad luck with nails or broken glass (and in that case, my sympathies!) but I thought I'd throw that idea out there.


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## ThreeBeans (Dec 2, 2006)

Keep a small stroller in your trunk


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## OldFashionedGirl (Mar 22, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *angie3096* 
I don't really know what is safest to do, but since you said you often get flat tires, I'm wondering: How often do you replace your tires? I have my tires inspected every year and if they are getting worn I replace them. Rotating your tires is also important. Flat tires are often preventable. I think a good set of tires is as important as a good carseat, when it comes to dd's safety. A blowout could send your car careening out of control. Maybe you already have them inspected often and you just have bad luck with nails or broken glass (and in that case, my sympathies!) but I thought I'd throw that idea out there.

Thanks for mentioning this! It was my problem at one point--one of the first flats I had was because my tires were SO worn down, and I was just a stupid college student who didn't realize that was a big deal







But, since then, I've been very concientious (sp?) about my tires. I just have notriously bad luck with nails and such.

FWIW, I haven't had a flat in over a year (knock on wood!), so hopefully this isn't something I'll ever really have to worry about!

Also, I talked to my mom, to get her opinion, and she also felt that I could jack the car up with DS in it.

If it ever happens, I'll let ya'll know what I did


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## skaterbabs (Jul 31, 2005)

IMO, it's still safer for him to be IN the car. Worst case scenario: You stop to change a flat tire, take him out of the car and set him up a "safe" distance from you and some drunk runs through both of you. At least in the car he'd have a _chance_ as the car itself is set up to absorb massive amounts of crashes forces. (Which what crumple zones are for.)


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## reducereuserecycle (Jan 16, 2007)

i love AAA and have used it numerous times....on hot swealtering days, rainy days, snowy, icy, frigid nights.


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## Sharlla (Jul 14, 2005)

Change your own tire, if you don't know how just practice at home.


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## Bimmergal2005 (Nov 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *skaterbabs* 
IMO, it's still safer for him to be IN the car. Worst case scenario: You stop to change a flat tire, take him out of the car and set him up a "safe" distance from you and some drunk runs through both of you. At least in the car he'd have a _chance_ as the car itself is set up to absorb massive amounts of crashes forces. (Which what crumple zones are for.)

You've obviously never seen someone stranded in their car get hit by a car going 70mph on the interstate. And no, that person and the passengers sitting inside the stranded car didn't survive.

I would also keep him in the seat and put him at a _considerable_ distance (but still visible, of course) from you while you change the tire.


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## OldFashionedGirl (Mar 22, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sharlla* 
Change your own tire, if you don't know how just practice at home.

I CAN change my own tire. My "problem" (though imaginary) is what to do with DS while I change my tire.


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## J-Max (Sep 25, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *OldFashionedGirl* 
But AAA only works if I have cell reception.

Can you tell I'm seriously working at the worst-case senario here? I want to be prepared, darn it!









I need On-Star!

On-Star only works if you have cell reception









As another person with a penchant for flat tires, I have 2 pieces of advice - first buy good tires - I travel a lot of gravel roads and do things in my car that should not be done (chase cows, drive thru fields, ext) and heavy duty 10 ply tires really pay off









Second - I leave my kids in the car. I can pull off the road and I would rather them be in the car then having to try and watch them as they run off and I am trying to change the tire.


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## quarteralien (Oct 4, 2006)

I took a weekend trip with DD about two months ago, and left my car in long term parking. When we got back, we found out that the airline had lost her carseat, so they had to loan me one. I went out to get on the shuttle to long term parking and decided to call DH and tell him I was late. That's when I discovered I had left my phone on the plane. I could picture it. I had taken it out for DD to play with and left it there. But at least I'd get home, right? I got to long term parking and started loading the car, and DD climbed into the carseat I had not yet installed and tipped it over, bonking her head on the ground. She calmed down pretty quickly, but I was so flustered at that point, I just wanted to get home. We started to drive off, and that's when I noticed the car was lopsided. The front right tire I hadn't seen had a fat screw embedded in it, and was totally flat. Long story short, I left DD in the car. She was happy enough with some toys, I knew where she was, and I had the brake on and only jacked the car up as far as necessary. I do feel lucky that it was in a parking lot and not on the freeway, but still, may it never happen again, to me or anyone else.


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## skaterbabs (Jul 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Bimmergal2005* 
You've obviously never seen someone stranded in their car get hit by a car going 70mph on the interstate. And no, that person and the passengers sitting inside the stranded car didn't survive.

I would also keep him in the seat and put him at a _considerable_ distance (but still visible, of course) from you while you change the tire.

They have even less of a chance without the protection the car provides. Not all crashes are survivable, but statistically speaking, one has a much greater chance of surviving something like that while IN the car.


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## Kama82 (Mar 12, 2006)

I am not sure I understand the argument for NOT leaving the child in the car. Yes it would be horrible if someone hit the car while it was stopped on the side of the road but where could you possibly put the child that they wouldn't have the same chances of getting hit outside the car as inside? How is being outside the car with zero protection better?
I guess you could say maybe your on a road that you could put the car seat far enough from the road that it is very unlikely they would get hit, that distance would be far enough from the car that you couldn't intervene of something else unforseen happened.


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## ~MoonGypsy~ (Aug 21, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Bimmergal2005* 
You've obviously never seen someone stranded in their car get hit by a car going 70mph on the interstate. And no, that person and the passengers sitting inside the stranded car didn't survive.

Now imagine the same scenario, but with the people just standing on the side of the road. There is absolutely no chance they'd make it - they have no seatbelts, no airbags, no heavy metal frames and safety glass protecting them.

Or imagine the same scenario with a child in a carseat outside of the car, a long distance away. A driver on the freeway realizes that they're about to hit a parked car corrects and misses the parked car, only to run over the carseat.









Unless you can find a place to put the carseat and baby that absolutely, positively cannot get hit by a car, or stolen by someone going by, the safest place will probably be in the car.


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## momto l&a (Jul 31, 2002)

I'd leave the child in the car


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## *Karen* (Jul 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quarteralien* 
I took a weekend trip with DD about two months ago, and left my car in long term parking. When we got back, we found out that the airline had lost her carseat, so they had to loan me one. I went out to get on the shuttle to long term parking and decided to call DH and tell him I was late. That's when I discovered I had left my phone on the plane. I could picture it. I had taken it out for DD to play with and left it there. But at least I'd get home, right? I got to long term parking and started loading the car, and DD climbed into the carseat I had not yet installed and tipped it over, bonking her head on the ground. She calmed down pretty quickly, but I was so flustered at that point, I just wanted to get home. We started to drive off, and that's when I noticed the car was lopsided. The front right tire I hadn't seen had a fat screw embedded in it, and was totally flat. Long story short, I left DD in the car. She was happy enough with some toys, I knew where she was, and I had the brake on and only jacked the car up as far as necessary. I do feel lucky that it was in a parking lot and not on the freeway, but still, may it never happen again, to me or anyone else.

Aw man... sounds like FUN. Sorry mama!


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## crunchy_mama (Oct 11, 2004)

I would leave the child in the car as well.


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## loitering (Mar 27, 2006)

IF you were far off the road, or managed to pull into a parking lot, I'd say the stroller is a GREAT idea. I have a very small one that cost about $10, and it barely takes up more room than a large umbrella (hence "umbrella stroller" lol). I used mine to put ds in while I changed before our swimming lessons. He was too little at the time to walk around.


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## hottmama (Dec 27, 2004)

I had a flat on the interstate the other day-- luckily, I was near an exit, managed to pull off to a gas station, and called AAA. It was the middle of the night, I was in the outskirts of Cincinnati, on my way home to Ann Arbor, Michigan-- I thought I could drive straight through while the kids slept. Yeah, by myself. I was asking for trouble! Anyway, my littlest woke up and I had to chase him around while I waited an hour for AAA to come, but my oldest stayed asleep and slept through the tire change.
I think leaving the kid in the car is the best option if you have to change a tire alone, especially on the side of the road. They're safer in their carseat in the car than sitting on the side of the road.
I don't know what you would do about an older kid, though-- no WAY could I get my 4.5 yr. old to stay in the car while I changed a tire, were he not asleep.


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