Convenient or Dangerous? See Jill Dillard's Travel System Hack

When your parents raise you alongside 18 other siblings, you’re going to learn a few solid parenting hacks along the way. But Jill Dillard of 19 Kids and Counting just shared a tip she learned from her mom–Michelle Duggar—that’s raising some serious questions about infant safety.

In a video shared on her website, Dillard walks her followers through how to create a makeshift travel system. Essentially, she hooks the handle of her car seat over the handles of her umbrella stroller, balancing the car seat within the stroller.

Dillard explains she does this when she’s in a tight space, like at church, instead of lugging out the full-sized stroller. With some close parental supervision, this could certainly serve as a seat for an infant for the duration of a service. But actually strolling with such an unsecure system is dangerous.

To be used with a stroller, a car seat needs to click into adaptors intended specifically for that seat. This creates a configuration called a travel system. While, to Dillard’s point, travel systems are typically on the larger side, there are umbrella strollers that can safely accommodate infant car seats, like the Mountain Buggy Nano. There’s also an infant car seat, called the Doona, that has extendable wheels built into its base so it can literally transform into a stroller.

We get it; Dillard’s hack allows parents to use the gear they have rather than invest in what can feel like redundant products. Why buy a travel system when you can assemble one in the moments you need it? The issue involves fall hazards. Most of the baby gear recalls we’ve shared were prompted because a child fell, or had the potential to fall, when a stroller, high chair or swing wasn’t securely fastened. Fall hazards prompt baby gear recalls nearly as often as choking hazards.

While Dillard means well, this is a parenting hack we can’t condone. However, we have a pretty long list of awesome parenting hacks that don’t pose any danger risks at all.

Please note: The Bump and the materials and information it contains are not intended to, and do not constitute, medical or other health advice or diagnosis and should not be used as such. You should always consult with a qualified physician or health professional about your specific circumstances.