Arriving home to find your baby peacefully asleep in their car seat can be tempting. It’s easy to think, “Why disturb them?” and simply carry the entire seat inside to let them continue napping. However, recent research published in the journal Pediatrics suggests that this common practice should be reconsidered immediately.
A comprehensive 10-year study analyzed sleep-related fatalities in 11,779 infants and discovered that 3 percent of these deaths occurred while babies were in “sitting devices” such as car seats, strollers, and swings. Alarmingly, 64 percent of these cases involved car seats, particularly affecting infants with a median age of just two months. Furthermore, in 90 percent of the reported deaths, the car seats were not utilized correctly. This means the infants were in them outside the context of travel, which is the designated purpose of these seats, the study’s authors emphasized.
Dr. Mark Johnson, the lead author, commented to TODAY, “The alarming finding was that many of these deaths occurred when the car seats were being used as substitutes for cribs or bassinets. They are not as secure for sleeping when the child is outside of the car.” He added that many parents, including himself, might have inadvertently made this mistake.
The mystery surrounding sudden infant deaths remains unsolved, but there are theories that suggest the angled position in car seats may contribute to the risk, as opposed to the flat surfaces of cribs or bassinets. This is not the first study to confirm such findings; a 2015 report from the American Academy of Pediatrics also noted that sleeping in car seats can lead to asphyxiation.
Dr. Johnson reassured parents that this research does not imply that they should be concerned if their baby falls asleep in a car seat during travel. “Car seats are the safest option for infants while being transported, regardless of whether they are awake or asleep. However, once you exit the vehicle, the best practice, even if your infant is still asleep, is to transfer them to a crib or bassinet,” he stated.
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In summary, it is crucial to avoid allowing your baby to sleep in their car seat outside of travel. Instead, always transfer them to a safe sleeping environment like a crib or bassinet to reduce the risk of sleep-related incidents.