This is especially true for those parents who are quite accustomed to driving way too much. Is It Safe For Babies To Sleep In Car Seats?
Most parents are rather pleased with these guidelines when they go somewhere with their child, to religious places, funerals, shops, etc. The concern is a result of worries about parenting issues, such as risks that may occur with babies sleeping in a car seat, for example, breathing difficulty or the possibility of positional asphyxia.
A common practice is for infants to nap in a car seat for a little while whilst travelling, but they should only stay in a car seat for a short time. It is important to translate all the care into practice, and when you arrive at the place, place your baby on its back on a sufficiently firm and flat sleep surface, such as a crib or a bassinet. Also, remember that on long trips, take regular breaks to check your baby to give the baby less fatigue and room for change in position. This mode of action reduces risks and increases the chances of safer sleep.
Why Safe Sleep Practices are important
A safe sleep environment and a safe sleep practice play a role in the reduction of SUID and also provide safer options for the sleeping of an infant. Consequently, the American Academy of Pediatrics has objectives directed at the prevention of Deaths from sleep-related causes. Here are some of them:
Back-to-Sleep:
Any time the infant is placed to sleep, be it during the day or at night, the position must be face up. Such simple intervention has been shown to reduce the chances of sudden father and many baby death syndromes. Parents should not go sharing the bed with their babies; rather, the infant should be placed on a hard, flat surface within purpose-built structures like cribs, cots, or playpens.
Sleep Environment:
Do not lay the baby on soft surfaces like sofas or soft seating equipment like baby swings, as this increases the risk of unsafe sleeping rather than travelling in a vehicle. Also, unjustifiable use of these devices carries the risk of the baby falling asleep in a situation which is not meant for the doll. Do not put loose bedding, sleeping pillows, soft toys, or crib bumpers inside the crib where the baby can sleep, as this is a choking hazard.
Co-Sleeping: The AAP Guide advises against placing a crib-sharing infant next to an adult in the same bed due to possible suffocation or being trapped or rolled onto and injured. A child must be in their designated sleep area, however close to a parent, with the distinction of being on a separate surface.
Breastfeeding: One but not the only protective factor against SUID is breastfeeding. With respect to the AAP, it recommends exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months and, if the child wishes, for as long as it takes. However, with the introduction of appropriate foods, breastfeeding for the child is very beneficial.
Avoid Smoking: Smoke during pregnancy or a few weeks after delivery puts the child at risk of SUID, too. All relatives and all household members are most generously encouraged to avoid smoking.
Afra P. Caregiving In Participation
The measures addressed in the policy statement “Reducing sleep-related infant deaths: AAP’s updated recommendations in 2022” policy have been aimed at avoiding infant casualties and helping guardians create breastfeeding surroundings that are conducive to infants.
A technical report concerning these policies was issued, which explains the recommendations contained in the technical report in depth. The importance of these actions in relation to SUID and SUDI is great for those paediatricians who work with the families in educating them about these practices.
Recommendations from paediatricians and health organizations
Avoiding Unsafe Devices: It is advised of commercial devices which do not follow the safe sleep recommendations.
Swaddling: No evidence exists that supports swaddling as an appropriate measure for the prevention of SIDS.
Research and Surveillance: Doing more research on risk factors and mechanisms of sleep-related deaths for the purpose of understanding these deaths and trying to prevent them.
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations
Safe Sleep Practices:
Back to Sleep: Babies should be placed on their backs, with no exceptions, no matter the time of the day.
Sleeping Surface: The crib should have a wooden, firm mattress and no soft bedding materials or toys.
Room Sharing: The children’s sleeping area should be in the same room as the parents for about six months but on a different surface.
No Smoking: The baby should not be exposed to smoking.
Avoid Bed-sharing: The infant sleeps in a separate bed, like a wrapper, to minimize suffocation risks.
Pacifier Use: Pacifiers should be used during naps and sleeping during the night in order to mitigate the risks of SIDS.
Avoid Overheating: The room temperature should be adequate, and the baby should be put on appropriate clothes for sleeping.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)recommendations
Safe Sleep Guidelines:
Firm Mattress: It is crucial to put the baby on a firm mattress in a safety-approved crib or bassinet.
Back-to-Sleep: The child must be placed on their back for a nap or at sleep time.
No Soft Objects: It is important to clear away cuddly toys, cushions and quilts from the bed.
Room Sharing: Have the baby in the same room but not in the same bed.
Breastfeeding: Encourage breastfeeding and make it available as it is quite protective against SIDS.
Avoid Risk Factors: Please do not smoke or use alcohol or drugs while pregnant and after the birth of the child.
Tummy time: Let the infants have their tummy time to foster development in babies.
World Health Organization (WHO)
Infant Sleep Safety Recommendations:
Back to Sleep: Infants should always be placed on their backs to sleep.
Safe Sleep Practices: Place the infant on a firm mattress and avoid any soft-kill pillows and comforters.
Room Sharing: Mothers and fathers should sleep in the same room with infants, and infants should sleep in a separate safe sleep surface designated for infants.
Avoid Smokes: People who have tobacco such as Cigarettes should not be around the infant.
Promoting breastfeeding: When possible, encourage and support breastfeeding because it helps lower the risks of SIDS.
Pacifiers: Using a pacifier at sleeping times is recommended.
Temperature control: Protect the child from heat and very cold temperatures at sleeping places.
Car Seats and Sleeping: Little Bits of Information You Should Know
Install the Car Seat Correctly. In the US, a rear-facing infant car seat or convertible must be used until the minimum age of two years when they are rear-facing into a car seat or exceed the rear-facing car seat weight limit defined by the manufacturer-approved use of that car seat.Â
When a rear-facing seat is fitted, it is usually recommended that it should be reclined between an angle of 30 – 45 degrees. However, the specification of that angle depends on the rear seating compartment fitted with the seat belt.
According to Sarah Haverstick, manager of safety advocacy and child passenger safety technician instructor for Evenflo, “Most manufacturers provide a line or bubble indicator on the car seat to help you achieve the correct angle.” “Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, including age and weight requirements, because the seat has been subjected to crash tests at that angle for most infants’ safety.”
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Use Only an Approved Positioner
For an infant who needs extra support and needs something more than the car seat, such as a head pillow/inserts, positioners that the car seat manufacturers provide should be used. Haverstick explains, “If the user bought a car seat that included a head pillow or an infant insert, such accessories have been tested and approved for safety with the seat.” Positional devices sold with car seats accommodate children up to a certain weight and height, but such accessories, too, have their prescribed limits, and users have to be cautious.
These accessories, known as positioners, are pegged for use only up to a certain weight and height limit. Read the instructions in the car seat carefully to find the maximum weight and height, after which these items should be discarded for the safety of the child.
Buckle Up the 5-Point Harness System.
When using the car seat with children, always make sure they are secured using the five-point harness system. This harness system will work as a protective measure as far as car injuries are concerned, preventing the infant from sliding down, escaping the seat, or tumbling into the car seat’s fabric and thus causing suffocation.
Watch Your Baby Carefully
Car seats are generally meant to be used under parental or adult surveillance, and thus, even if your baby rests perfectly in position, there are a few things that need to be done. As rudimentary as it sounds, when taking a long drive, especially in a car, all the experts recommend trying to stop once every few hours to let your baby stand up and move about, Jennifer Stockburger, operations director and head of CR’s car seat testing program.
Use the Car Seat With Its Approved Stroller
Most infant car seats come with a stroller base to enable you to carry your baby in a car seat without the need to take them out. To ensure that the stroller base is the correct basis for the car seat being used. You must ensure the child is supervised in the travel system, warns Thomas.
Avoid Loosening the Harness
Some parents may see it fit to adjust the harness by loosening the straps or unclipping a particular buckle, particularly when they feel that their baby is too cramped and cannot move around freely; this is, however, very unsafe. Inadequately fastened or completely unbelted holders have a very high potential of causing suffocation. I
If it is not properly secured, the infant could risk strangulation with the harness, Thomas insists.
Don’t use the car seat outside of the car or on the stroller.
Such a car seat can not only be maintained in a safe position as long as it is in a car or a stroller, but once this is taken out, it is not a car seat anymore. Make sure to take all the care and keep the car seat off the edges of high places like devices and low areas such as beds. Keeping an unbalanced seat may make the seat tip over or partly recline and incline, causing the baby’s head to lean badly and making it difficult for them to breathe.
However, to get them to a more secure sleeping setup, like a flat, hard crib, it is best to get the baby out of the seat as soon as possible. Car seats, in particular, should be left in the car or taken on trips and even used to feed babies in any event.
According to Thomas, neither a baby car seat nor an inclined sleeper can support a baby in a crib or bassinet.
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Harmful Effects of Prolonged Use of Car Seats
Positional Asphyxia
One of the dangers of sleeping in a car seat is positional asphyxia in infants. It is when a child’s seat reclines that the baby’s head may slump too far and successfully block off the respiratory air passage. This position hardly poses a danger to babies when done in transit as their seats have safety harnesses.
Airway and Breathing Issues
Keeping a baby in a car seat for long periods may result in the baby’s head slumping forward onto the chest, thus squeezing the chest and withdrawing the ability of the lung to expand.
This tendency may minimize the amount of air that the person may be able to take in, which can result in the person being strained to breathe. Even when a harness system is worn, restriction of the airway can still occur, especially when in a seated position for an extended period.
Effects of Prolonged Use on Health
There are several health effects when a child nestles in a car seat for long periods. These include:
Positional Plagiocephaly: Non-symmetrical head shape deformation caused by consistently pressing on solitary structures.
Musculoskeletal Problems: Constantly troubled sleep posture may hinder growth and cause pain.
Reduced Developmental Opportunities: Encouraging limited sitting in a single position negatively affects achieving balanced normal growth in physical and sense development.
Sleeping in Car Seats: An Evidence-Based Review of Risks and Recommendations
Several studies and experts highlight the dangers posed by the extended use of car chairs for sleeping. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) disapproves of anyone using a car seat as a place to let infants take a nap, which poses a risk for the infant because of the potential for respiratory and positioning issues. Nutrition and Health of the Mother and Child (JANUC) affirms that there is an increased risk of airway obstruction when children sleep in a car seat compared to a crib or bassinet. Authorities such as paediatrician Dr Harvey Karp remain adamant about only using this position for a limited period, that is, while travelling in the car.
On the other hand, car seats are very important when it comes to travelling with children, especially when buckling safety belts and child-angled devices are used. Babies, particularly, are at risk of positional asphyxia, impaired breathing and other related health risks, which warrant immediate transfer of babies from the car seat to a firm, flat sleeping surface after a long car journey has been finished.
FAQs : Is It Safe For Babies To Sleep In Car Seats?
Can a baby be allowed to sleep in the car even when it is parked?
No, there is no such situation where it is appropriate to leave a baby unattended, including when the baby is sleeping. A sleeping child is at risk of suffering from heatstroke and other dangerous situations like abduction and so on. For these reasons, always carry your child with you. Leaving a child alone in the vehicle, even for a couple of minutes, has great safety risks.
How much time can a baby spend in the car in the car seat or any other form of restraint to the body?
Overall, it is only advisable to keep the baby in the car seat for up to two hours on a single trip. Are there any health issues associated with prolonged use of the car seat? Yes, most definitely, and the most common one of these in younger infants, has been identified as breathing difficulty. If you travel for a long distance, it is advisable that you take breaks at least once every two hours to get out and lift the baby out of the car seat so that they can be active.
What are the possible dangers when an infant is left in an unattended vehicle?
Some of the risks posed by unfettered use of the baby car seat. A baby left inside a vehicle without supervision can suffer dishes, which is more commonly referred to as heat stroke.’
Abduction: Leaving a child unattended creates a situation where another person can abduct a child.
Accidental Injuries: The infant may inadvertently operate car doors, open windows, etc., or get stuck in seat belts.
Emergencies: A child left unattended in situations like a fire or a breakdown is very vulnerable.
What should I do if I need to run an errand while my baby is asleep in the car?
If your baby is asleep and you need to go out, it is better to wake your baby up and take them with you than leave them in the vehicle. On the other hand, if you are going out for a little while and you cannot bring the baby with you, consider placing the baby in a safe environment, such as having someone else stay with the baby in the car while you go into the store, or use the drive-thru service. At all times, see to it that your child is safe before and above any other things, even convenience.
So, Is It Safe For Babies To Sleep In Car Seats?
In summary, while car seats are essential for keeping babies safe during travel, they are not designed for prolonged sleep. The risk of positional asphyxia and other safety concerns make it important to avoid letting your baby sleep in a car seat for extended periods. To ensure your baby’s safety and comfort, use car seats as intended during travel and consider alternatives such as a flat sleeping surface for naps and longer sleep times. Always follow safety guidelines and consult with your pediatrician to make informed decisions about your baby’s sleep environment.
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