Why A Car Seat Is Not A Good Place To Sleep For A Baby

You’ve done your best to make your baby fall asleep and you’ll start to be a little desperate. Then when you’ve tried almost everything, you put him in the back seat of the car in the car seat, you sit in the car and start driving. As soon as you drive to the end of the road, a miracle happens: the baby falls asleep. You can’t believe it. You are happy that the task has been completed, but you do not know that a car seat is not a recommended sleeping place for a baby.

Of course, you will return home later. When your baby finally falls asleep, you might not even consider bothering him by taking him out of the car seat and taking him home. You’ll rather let him sleep in the car seat, while taking the opportunity to relax himself. However, the question may arise in your head: is it worth leaving your baby to sleep in a car seat?

If you are familiar with this situation, you may want to read this article.

Why does the baby fall asleep as soon as the car starts moving?

The crib and the extreme silence around it are not comparable to the environment in which the baby spent 9 months during pregnancy. The baby was kept in a small space in the mother’s womb for 24 hours every day.

The baby is used to the heartbeat of the mother and the sound of this digestive tract and breath. She also listens to a lot of her mother’s voice as well as other voices to which she might expose herself.

From the perspective of the uterus, the mother is in constant motion: she moves and walks around, goes up and down stairs, does other chores, and so on. When he goes to sleep, even though he may stay put, his voice does not disappear completely.

The baby falls asleep in the middle in the vortices of weak but constant sounds and movements. That’s why it’s easy to imagine why it’s hard for a baby to fall asleep in a huge crib in a lonely and quiet room.

However, everything changes when the baby is placed in the car seat. The car seat creates stimuli caused by car vibration and starting the engine leads to what seems impossible to parents: the baby falls asleep almost immediately.

Nor is it difficult to imagine a reason why this is happening. The “hum” of the car takes the baby back to the days he spent in his mother’s womb.

What about a baby car seat?

The car seat and baby carrier are common safety devices for transporting the baby in and out of the car. Their use is defined by law in many countries.

The baby car seat is a standard addition to safety in the event of a collision. So never place the baby in front of the rider or take it in your arms. It is always more recommended that the baby is sitting in a car seat and never in anyone’s lap.

In the event of a collision, when a car collides with another car or something else along the way, detached things tend to fall or take off due to the high impact. We leave it to your imagination what can happen if you hold your baby in your arms.

In such situations, a baby car seat has a big impact on a baby’s life and death. However, problems arise when the car seat for a newborn baby is larger than what it should be.

It is inevitable that your baby will fall asleep in the car at some point and you cannot prevent him from falling asleep when he needs sleep. To protect your baby, you should therefore monitor your baby’s safety while he or she is sleeping and make sure he or she is in the correct position in the car seat.

Should I prevent my baby from falling asleep in the car seat?

You already know how delicate babies are. Also, as they are not yet able to control their bodies, they move around while sitting in the car.

If there are other people traveling in the car besides you and the baby, they should ideally sit in the back seat next to the baby and observe the baby’s body position.

Try not to leave your baby alone in the back seat for a long time. If you are traveling alone with a baby, avoid long distances as much as you can.

Risk situations

Consider the following when your baby falls asleep in the car seat:

• Because the baby is unable to control his head – especially during the first few months – car movement may bend his head forward. As a result, this can prevent the baby’s airways from functioning and lead to suffocation.
• When you put your baby in the car seat, you should observe his position and put the seat belt fastened in the right way. If the belt goes wrong, the baby’s body may bend too much on its own and squeeze the baby’s chest and abdomen.
• A baby resting in a car seat is low on oxygen, especially if he or she is not yet in full control of his or her body. So don’t keep your baby sitting in it for too long as he doesn’t have the strength to sit or stand on his own yet.
• In the winter, it is important to avoid very thick coats for babies while they are sitting in the car. The seat belt then does not hold them properly due to the thickness of the garment, which can be detrimental in the event of a collision.

We got home and the baby was still sleeping: what should I do?

If the baby is still sleeping when you get home, you should take the baby with you. It is not recommended to let the baby sleep in the car seat. Keep in mind that the car seat is not designed for sleeping, but for safe baby travel in the car and to protect against accidents.

Yes, we know you don’t want to disturb your baby or wake him up, so you just think you’re carrying a car inside a car seat and leaving your baby in it to sleep until he wakes up. However, it is important to lift him out of the car seat. Remember that babies vary in position and the wrong position in the car seat can lead to suffocation.

If you wake up the baby, sing him a song and lie next to him for a moment. The love and warmth of mother and father helps the baby fall asleep again.