Hello!

43 Comments

The mum of a newborn baby is urging parents to never carry their child out of the car in a capsule after her son almost suffocated to death.

Kate Gardiner, from Geelong, had arrived home from a friend’s place and in her rush to go to the bathroom, she carried her four-week-old son Floyd into the house in his capsule.

“I almost left him in the lounge room, but thought I’d better take him with me,” Ms Gardiner told Yahoo7.

But within seconds, the 28-year-old knew something was wrong.

“I took him in the bathroom and I just noticed that his face was really red … It was like he was trying to scream but he couldn’t.”

Panicked, the new mum unbuckled her son and noticed that he had started foaming from the mouth and shaking as if he was having a fit.

Unable to reach her phone while she held little Floyd upright, Ms Gardiner ran on the street.

“I just ran outside and just screamed for help,” she said.

“My neighbour came out and called an ambulance, and the lady across the road came out and said she was a doctor, so she checked up on him while we waited for the ambulance.”

Ms Gardiner said the entire scene unfolded in just minutes.

“I seriously thought he was going to die, it was awful,” she said, adding that she had even taken a CPR course a few days before but was so panicked she couldn’t remember the steps.

When the ambulance arrived, Floyd had started breathing normally again – but Ms Gardiner was still unsure what had happened.

“The nurse explained that he probably slipped down in the capsule and his head flopped forward and cut off the airways,” she said.

“I just didn’t notice.”

Ms Gardiner said she had no knowledge about capsules and car seats being so dangerous outside of a vehicle, and is hoping her story will help to raise awareness in other parents.

“I thought they were designed to take out when they were asleep, but I didn’t know anything,” she said.

“There’s definitely not enough information out there about them. I’m so lucky that I was there to help him and I was there when it happened, because if I had left him in the lounge room he probably wouldn’t be here.”

Share your comments below

We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.
  • I think this was just a very rare incident that thankfully did not turn into a tragedy. its something to be aware of but if the baby could slip down out of the car then it could also slip down in the car.

    Reply

  • This warning has been around for a while and pops up regularly. So easy to leave a sleeping baby exactly where they are when you’re a tired new mum

    Reply

  • Wow that’s scary that this could happen to people who have capsule car seats I must pass on the word thanks for sharing

    Reply

  • Goodness, it’s very scary. I use a capsule that is designed to take out of the car! I don’t really see how they are classed as unsafe outside the car, and not inside the car? I often have to drive an hour to things and it’s scary that it could happen while I’m driving :S

    Reply

  • Holy crap! Quick thinking and a neighbour whose a doctor saved the dsy here. So lucky

    Reply

  • Thanks for sharing. A very important read.

    Reply

  • So glad everything turned out OK in the end. I would never have realized how dangerous it is these days to carry a child in a car capsule.

    Reply

  • Could have turned tragic in seconds. So glad all turned out okay.

    Reply

  • What a traumatic experience. It’s all about awareness and education. We used a capsule for the first 3 months only then moved into a different but suitable car seat.

    Reply

  • Wow, that’s so scary – I always thought they were a great idea but never had one myself as they were only good for the first 6 months. Glad I didn’t now.

    Reply

  • It would depend which way the capsule was facing. They are higher at one end than the other. The baby is a newborn so probably fairly small, so unless she had the capsule facing sideways she probably couldn’t see the baby properly and not at all unless he was fairly close to the actual toilet.

    Reply

  • Just curious that she didn’t see that her baby’s head was forward?

    Reply

  • definitely needs to be more awareness surrounding this, im a new mum and had no Idea of the risks when using a capsule outside of the car. thank you for sharing your story. it will definitely help others x

    Reply

  • That would’ve been so scary, hope bub is doing okay now.

    Reply

  • Oh dear how scary, glad the little bub is ok.

    Reply

Post a comment
Add a photo
Your MoM account


Lost your password?

Enter your email and a password below to post your comment and join MoM:

You May Like

Loading…

Looks like this may be blocked by your browser or content filtering.

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join