Car Seats May Not Be the Best Place for Newborns to Sleep
CNN.com
A recent study found that car seats can reduce the level of oxygen in infants when they sleep in them. Researchers found infants had lower oxygen levels when in car seats and car beds than when they were sleeping in hospital cribs. In the study, 200 healthy newborns spent 30 minutes in a hospital crib, 60 minutes in a car bed and 60 minutes in a car seat.
Selena Silva, program coordinator of the Child Passenger Safety Program at Children's was quoted in a recent CNN.com article about the study.
"Many parents think of car seats as a cozy spot for kids to sleep, even outside of the car, because they're so easy to use," said Silva.
"In the early days of parenthood, new parents are desperate to find any comfortable place for an infant to sleep," she says. "But car seats are really meant to be used in cars."
Children's nurses check the angle of every car seat, as well as the heart rate and oxygenation levels of every newborn discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit.
Read the full article from CNN.com.
Read more about car seat safety.
