After a quick run to the grocery store with her infant, a mother was recently surprised when things turned to chaos. After snapping a quick picture, she’s since released a PSA explaining why mothers should not put their baby’s car seat on the front of the shopping cart – and she’s got a pretty good reason.

As we all know, babies are among the world’s most precious cargo. It’s why they get their own special car seat and safety measures are always evolving to make sure things are as safe as they can be. However, many of the things meant to keep our children safe are only as effective as both the people implementing their use (i.e. parents) and the way they’re being used.

Ohio mother Lindsey Wisnewski learned this the hard way – but she was rather lucky when it comes to how things could have gone. As explained in a Facebook post, “I was strapping my preschooler into his car seat and the wind slightly caught one wheel and the weight of the infant car seat pulled the whole thing down over the curb.”

However, the real kicker here is the photo that shows the cart tipped over and leaning on a car with what appears to be a dislodged car seat from where it once sat. Instead of remaining in the cart, the seat was now on the hood of the car, leaving many wondering what would have happened if a baby had been inside.

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Luckily, no babies were harmed in the making of this post, as Lindsey went on to say, “Please, please, please parents do not put the car seat on the top part of the cart! Any car seat technician will tell you that it’s extremely unsafe.” In short, she declares that although it seems like the seats “lock” into the cart, this isn’t the case and they can easily slide off.

Oddly enough, many people don’t know that there is actually a sign on the front of most shopping carts that urges against putting a baby car seat in that location.

According to a 2010 study in the American Journal of Pediatrics, more than 10,000 babies are injured each year in their car seats in non-car related accidents. A whopping 80 percent of those injuries are related to falls — 65 percent of the infants fell out of their seat entirely, while another 15 percent fell from an elevated surface like a shopping cart or table top while strapped into their seats.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that more than 21,000 children under the age of five are treated in emergency rooms every year for injuries related to shopping carts. About 75 percent of those injuries are to the head and neck.

Grieving mother Valli Berg is also warning parents of this danger after her three-month-old boy died when the car seat he was sat in toppled from the top of the cart in a Kroger parking lot in Macon, Atlanta.

Valli Berg and news scene photo

Police said a Kroger employee who was friends with the child's mother was pushing the cart when the infant fell on the way back to the car.

The child's mother, Valli Berg, and the employee were walking out of the store just before 11am on Tuesday when the accident happened. The boy was taken to hospital in Macon but was pronounced dead at 4:03pm.

Police said the baby was secured to a car seat that had been removed from its vehicle base and placed in the area of the cart near the handlebar where an older child would usually sit.

In the video below you can see just how fast an accident like this can happen. A quick-thinking Home Depot worker caught a baby who was in a car seat on top of a shopping as it toppled toward the ground. Surveillance cameras catch the scene as the employee, in Anchorage, turns around leisurely, then reacts quickly when he sees the car seat fall and the baby in motion.

Watch the video to see the worker's save.

Thankfully the baby was unharmed but this video just shows how easily this can happen.

Another infant died in 2012 after the carrier he was in fell from the top of the cart.  It was reported through a Facebook car seat safety group by a women who witness it happen AFTER she had told the mother the dangers of putting her baby and carrier on the top part of the carrier.  The images here tell the story.

Safety Standards for Carts

Most moms are familiar with these rules, but one store that did a survey reported that there is only about 14 percent parental compliance in proper use of the restraint straps:

-    Always use the seatbelts to restrain your child in the cart seat.

-    Stay with your child at all times.

-    Don’t allow your child to ride in the cart basket.

-    Don’t place a personal infant carrier or car seat in the cart seat or basket.

-    Don’t allow your child to ride or climb on the sides or front of the cart.

-    Don’t allow a child to push the cart with another child in it. 

Some even suggest leaving infants and children at home, which is hardly practical for single parents and it means that families miss out on this potential for time together.

“What am I suppose to do with my baby when I go shopping then?”

There are a few options you can explore to find out what works best for you.

You can wear your baby in a carrier- babywearinginternational.org

You can put the infant car carrier inside the shopping cart(where the food would go). This may not be the best idea, but its a much safer alternative to leaving your baby on the top part where any movement can topple them off.  Your child cannot fall OUT of a cart as easy as they can fall OFF!

You could leave your child at home with a spouse or friend/relative.

You could have your spouse/friend/relative go shopping for you.

The options are there for you to look into.  The majority now days find that wearing their baby has solved the car seat safety dilemma.

One of they very first things we learn as parents is that accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. Even when we’re standing right there and keeping a close eye on our babies, they can still get hurt. Putting a car seat on a shopping cart is one of those instances where the convenience just isn’t worth the potential risk.

‘When I lost my son I lost a part of myself,’ says the grieving mother. ‘I don’t want his death to be in vain. I want all parents to be aware of this danger.’

sources: Scary Mommy / Daily Mail /  Empowher / Facebook