Mum's Urgent Warning After Baby Boy Nearly Died in His Car Capsule

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

43 Comments

- - mom241861 said
  - 01 Dec 2018
    8:38 am
OMG this is such a warning story I hope many parents and careers see this story xxx

- - mom331927 said
  - 01 Dec 2018
    6:32 am
How terrifying! Thank goodness Bub is okay and you must be so grateful to your fast acting neighbours!

- - Ellen said
  - 01 Dec 2018
    4:14 am
Aw bless, this must have been so frightening ! Thank God for the Doctor across the road !!
Thanks for sharing this article, the dangers of the car capsule outside the vehicle must be wider spread ! Now I wonder if there’s any dangers of the car capsule within the vehicle ??

- - cherz said
  - 01 Dec 2018
    12:00 am
Thanks for posting this …it is very eye opening.

- - mom325275 said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    11:24 pm
We have one , thanks for posting this really need to re think about using it

- - nealsq said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    10:50 pm
convenience and safety are two very different things

- - Mum2archer said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    10:47 pm
This is why I refused to get a capsule that clips onto a pram because it happens so easily. I know its convenient because you dont have to wake your child up every time you get them in and out of the car, but I would rather have an awake child than a dead one
- mom265671 replied
  
  01 Dec 2018 , 2:18 am
  wow its something that all parents need to be aware of when buying capsules. great for convenience but i dont think i will ever use one.
- - rachelvk said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    10:37 pm
I used a capsule and had no idea that this was a risk. Scary.

- - youngoldlady said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    9:54 pm
Never use capsules for my children. There are warnings all around about this plus leaving your child to sleep in prams or bouncers. A baby’s neck can not support its head, so they can have problems if the head moves.

- - Amanda Holland said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    9:14 pm
I never had a capsule car seat, didn’t see the need for one

- - mom70876 said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    9:08 pm
I am pretty sure that this had nothing to do with the capsule.

- - mom7108 said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    7:36 pm
It depends on the capsule – this could have happened in the car – it sounds like he wasn’t adequately restrained. We were recommended not to leave the baby in the capsule for more than 4 hours. Ours lies nearly flat – Peg Perego brand and higher safety rating than others but definitely yes, they are designed to be carried from the car to the house.

- - BellaB said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    7:23 pm
We were certainly told often about those risks.

- - ashna9 said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    6:52 pm
I thought it was common knowledge to not eave your baby in their capsule outside of the car?

- - mom81879 said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    6:33 pm
There is so much on the news and sites like MoMs that have stories about not leaving kids in capsules and car seats. It’s just too dangerous

- - Cookfromscratchmum said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    6:19 pm
I have never liked capsules and what a horrible experience

- - mom93821 said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    5:43 pm
Such a scary and horrific experience for this poor bub and mum.

- - mom74005 said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    5:28 pm
Oh my this is so terrible. You think you’re doing the right thing by getting a capsule…

- - mish06 said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    5:27 pm
Wow. How terrifying for the mother. Glad to read that everything turned out in the end. I never used capsules for my children.

- - natct said
  - 30 Nov 2018
    5:22 pm
So glad I never had one of these I have heard of this a few times now and even one time is too many. Glad she noticed.