Mum warns against viral car seat ‘hack’ that could cause a child’s neck to snap

A blogger mum has warned parents not to copy a hack she shared about children's car seats after learning just how unsafe it is.

Adele Barbaro posted the hack for keeping a child's head from falling forward in their car seat last week. In a photo, she showed how she used a sports bra to support her toddler son's head when he fell asleep while on a drive. A few days later she posted an update urging parents not to use her hack. Adele explained that after speaking to experts, she learned that the hack was actually very unsafe.

"I thought was a funny and clever little mum hack. But I was wrong. DO NOT DO THIS," she wrote. "I was mortified to learn that I had shared something that was extremely unsafe, I took it straight down. "After speaking to a few people, including some paramedics and other trained professionals, I have learnt that the most important thing is that you have a car seat that is professionally installed and has its incline correct."

If a child's head is fixed in place like this during a collision, their body would be jerked forward, causing their neck to snap. One follower added in the comments that such an accident could also cause an internal decapitation, which is when the ligaments attaching the skull to the spine are severed. Adele warned parents off buying products designed specifically to hold a child's head up. "I don’t always get it right, just like every mum,' she added. "And although it was a funny post, I would would never share anything that I thought was unsafe for children."