Skip to main content

Study finds car seats are an unsafe sleeping spot for infants

A lot of parents are putting infants in car seats — or letting them stay there — to sleep, but a new study shows that’s a dangerous practice.

Researchers from Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, reviewed 10 years of data on sleep-related infant deaths from the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention, and found that 62 percent of the deaths that occurred in sitting devices happened in car seats.

Bouncers, swings and strollers were also high on the list.

More than 90 percent of the sleep-related deaths in car seats happened while the infants weren’t being transported anywhere.

The study emphasizes that sitting devices such as car seats, bouncers and swings are no substitute for cribs or bassinets. Children need to sleep in a supine position — flat on their backs — until they’re at least a year old.

‘You’re going to be unstoppable’: Md. school counselors provide support to students during pandemic

National School Counselor Week may be coming to a close, but the work of one Montgomery County, Maryland, counselor to help students get set for their futures continues. Bethlehem Beru is the resource counselor at Briggs Chaney Middle School in Silver Spring and the leader of a team of counselors.
Read Next Story