Infant car seats are crucial for keeping infants safe when transporting them in cars or other vehicles. That’s what they are meant for — and that’s all that they should be used for, or the consequences can be lethal.
When you have one of those infant car seats that detaches from a base and can be carried, it’s very tempting to leave Baby in it after transporting him. If he’s asleep, you can bring him to wherever you are going and let him sleep — nobody wants to wake a sleeping baby — while you do chores or visit or whatever you were going to do. If you are leaving him with a babysitter, the car seat seems like a convenient place for him to sleep. And when you are home, the car seat can seem like a great place to put Baby when you need your hands free.
Except that none of this is a good idea.
In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers looked at information about 11,779 infant sleep-related deaths. They found that 3% of these deaths took place in sitting devices, and of those, 63% were in infant car seats.
The majority of these deaths took place in the child’s home and in the presence of a parent or guardian — but the risk was higher when the child was being cared for by a child care provider or babysitter. There were other risk factors, too:
- the person supervising the child was asleep (34%)
- history of maternal drug use during pregnancy (24%)
- exposure to secondhand smoke (23%)
- baby born before 37 weeks of pregnancy (23%)
- item (like a blanket) present (20%)
- a new sleep environment (18%)
- low birth weight (16%).
There was also a higher risk when the baby was loosely buckled into the seat — and when left alone in the car.
This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infant car seats only be used for travel. That’s what they were designed for: to keep babies safe in the event of a crash or other travel event. They weren’t designed to keep babies safe during sleep; for that, babies need to be on a flat, firm surface without any bedding or anything else around them.
At a minimum, if you bring Baby inside in his car seat, you must
- keep your eyes on him at all times
- make sure he is safely buckled in, the same way you’d do it in the car.
But the better idea is to simply take him out. If there isn’t a crib or bassinet or other safe place to put him where you are going, bring a portable one with you. Talk to your doctor about the safest, most affordable choice if you have any questions. If you are home and Baby needs attention and you need your hands free, consider a baby carrier.
Convenience is key to making life work as a parent. But safety comes first.
Viti vya magari vya watoto ni muhimu sana kwa usalama wa watoto wachanga wakati wa kusafirishwa kwenye magari au magari mengine. Hiyo ni nini wao ni maana ya <unk> na kwamba <unk> ni wote kwamba wanapaswa kutumika kwa, au matokeo inaweza kuwa hatari. Wakati una moja ya wale watoto wa gari viti kwamba detaches kutoka msingi na inaweza kubebwa, ni kuvutia sana kuondoka Baby ndani yake baada ya usafirishaji wake. Kama yeye ni kulala, unaweza kumleta popote wewe ni kwenda na kumruhusu kulala - hakuna mtu anataka kuamsha mtoto kulala - wakati kufanya kazi za nyumbani au kutembelea au chochote wewe walikuwa kwenda kufanya. Ikiwa unamwachia msichana wa kumtunza mtoto, kiti cha gari kinaweza kuwa mahali pazuri pa kulala. Wakati wa kukaa nyumbani, kiti cha gari chaweza kuwa mahali pazuri pa kuweka mtoto wako wakati unahitaji mikono yako iwe huru. Isipokuwa kwamba hakuna lolote la hili ni wazo zuri. Katika utafiti uliochapishwa katika jarida la Pediatrics, watafiti walichunguza habari kuhusu vifo vya watoto wachanga 11,779 vinavyohusiana na usingizi. Kwa mujibu wa utafiti huo, asilimia 3 ya vifo hivyo vilifanyika katika viti vya watoto, na asilimia 63 ya vifo hivyo vilifanyika katika viti vya watoto. Idadi kubwa ya vifo hivi ilitokea nyumbani kwa mtoto na kwa uwepo wa mzazi au mlezi <unk> lakini hatari ilikuwa kubwa wakati mtoto alikuwa akitunzwa na mtoa huduma ya watoto au babysitter. - Mtu anayemwangalia mtoto alikuwa amelala (34%) - historia ya matumizi ya dawa za kulevya ya mama wakati wa ujauzito (24%) - kuambukizwa moshi wa sigara (20%) - mtoto aliyezaliwa kabla ya wiki ya 37 ya ujauzito (23%) - kitu (kama blanketi) sasa (18%) - mazingira mapya ya kulala (18%) - uzito wa kuzaliwa wa chini (16%). Pia kulikuwa na hatari kubwa zaidi wakati mtoto alipofungwa kwa urahisi kwenye kiti <unk> na alipobaki peke yake ndani ya gari. Kwa hiyo, Shirika la Marekani la Tiba ya Watoto (AAP) linapendekeza kwamba viti vya watoto vitumiwe tu wakati wa kusafiri. Hiyo ndiyo sababu zilitengenezwa: ili kulinda watoto katika hali ya aksidenti au tukio jingine la kusafiri. Hazikujengwa ili kuwaweka watoto salama wakati wa usingizi; kwa ajili ya hilo, watoto wanahitaji kuwa juu ya uso wa gorofa, thabiti bila kitanda chochote au kitu kingine chochote karibu nao. Angalau, kama wewe kuleta Baby ndani katika kiti chake gari, lazima - kuweka macho yako juu yake wakati wote - kuhakikisha yeye ni salama buckled katika, njia hiyo hiyo ungependa kufanya hivyo katika gari. Lakini wazo bora ni tu kumtoa nje. Ikiwa hakuna kitanda au kitanda au mahali pengine salama pa kumweka mahali unapoenda, toa kitanda kinachoweza kubebwa pamoja nawe. Zungumza na daktari wako kuhusu njia bora na salama zaidi ya matibabu ikiwa una maswali yoyote. Ikiwa uko nyumbani na mtoto wako anahitaji uangalifu na unahitaji mikono yako iwe huru, fikiria kubeba mtoto. Kufurahisha ni ufunguo wa kufanya maisha yawe mazuri kama mzazi. Lakini usalama ni wa kwanza.