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I think it's totally fine for them to nap in their car seat in the car. It's frowned upon in the house because it's not clipped into the base and not at the same angle, so there are safety concerns.

That said, I've done it before and I'm sure a ton of parents have. As long as you're keeping an eye on them to make sure they are still breathing and not having any issues, do what you've gotta do!

frowned upon to nap in the car?! i feel like most parents have put their kids in the car to get a nap at least once! i let DD3 stay sleeping in her infant seat when we got home from preschool drop off. she was screaming for a nap and no way was i gonna wake her.

I've let LO remain sleeping in the car seat after moving to the house, while keeping a close eye on her. If she's right next to you, get some work done while you can!

I think as long as you are checking on her, it's fine.

Another thing I try to be careful of is airflow in the carseat.... I only ever use a muslin blanket over it and I make sure there are gaps for airflow and peeking on her. I have a carseat fan too but I use it inconsistently.

I'm a nay, but that's because we leave the car seat bucket in the car except for a few exceptions (like when I have a doctor's appointment). Car seat death freaks me out.

I've never heard that babies can't sleep in the car. However, we never let our infant stay in the bucket seat other than being in the car. I used to transfer him into his bassinet stroller as soon as we got to wherever we were going.

@CatchAFallingStar: I don’t think you have to feel bad about this I’ve done way crazier for a nap

Um, yeah, I totally kept the sleeping baby in the car seat after getting out of the car, but it was almost always clicked into his stroller. Planning to do this with the twins too. However, I got bassinets for their stroller this time since they will be delivered at an earlier gestation than my son was. I would like them to lie flat when we are strolling around town without the car.

@CatchAFallingStar: This seems like one of those parenting conundrums that’s ‘a thing’ online but not IRL. I wouldn’t wake my sleeping baby to take them out of the car. That’s the best feature of the infant seat.

@Corduroy: agreed. I didn’t have babies that could be transferred. So if they were sleeping in their seat through the fitting in the house process they stayed there. I even did it at a party once when LO was 9 months and was overtired and needed to sleep. Into the seat with a blanket over as I gently rocked her. She’s now 6.75. It’s one of my many parenting flaws.

I gleefully let my 3 month old sleep in her car seat inside for an hour and a half the other day. She has preferred to take almost all her naps on me lately so it was a real treat. I did check on her repeatedly but I wasn’t right there the whole time. I know it’s not 100% safe but I’m ok with it sparingly.

@MamaG:

@petitenoisette: I like the “gleefully” part. I’m not sure how I ever could have avoided this. Isn’t this how you get grocery shopping witha newborn done?! I don’t know that it’s any amore “unsafe” than a RNP or swing (we did soooo many swing naps). I will fully admit to leaving the car windows down on a 55 degree day while she napped in there so I could clean up the yard for 15 minutes. The only thing I worried about was a bee getting in. I think it’s one of those things you need to weigh, too: a healthy baby is way more likely to die in a car accident than in an unsafe sleep environment (anything less than alone, in a crib, on her back, in a cool, non-smoking household: I really like the new How to Riase a Human series from NPR—they have some stuff that kind of touches on this).

@SweetiePie: raising my hand as to a no RNP & infant car seat person. I did cosleep.

@Becky: Before LO was sitting up in the grocery cart, I shopped with him in his stroller. I would stop off at the service desk and tell them I was going to load up the stroller and my reusable bags and then pay for everything.

I think the other issue with napping in a carseat is the risk of baby developing a flat spot on their head and the fact that they’re stuck in one position for an extended period of time. As an example, say you drive 1-2 hours to the zoo then baby spends the day in the carseat because it’s clicked into the stroller and is then put back into the car to drive 1-2 hours home and you all of a sudden have a baby that’s spent most of the day in one position with limited opportunity to move and stretch etc.

I didn't encourage it - like I wasn't like let me take a ride around the block so he falls asleep - but if it happened I totally let them be and carried the bucket seat inside the house/wherever we were going. Neither of my kids transfer from car seat to crib. I worried more when they were really, really little and had no neck control but not so much now that they are bigger.

We do it all the time! DS sleeps best in his car seat.

Napping in the car seat while in the car is perfectly fine and not frowned upon. The angle of the seat in the car makes it safe. While I wouldn't put my daughter in the car seat outside of the car to get her to nap, I'd totally let her keep napping if I carried the car seat from the car to the house/location we were going.

@CatchAFallingStar: I wouldn't make it a regular thing but right next to you very now and the ? So not a big deal!

@Kemma: the flat spot was always a concern with us too. My first and second had flat heads and second got a helmet. My third I can tell has a bit of a flat spot on one side of her head that she was born with and hasn't quite filled out. But my second spent the most time strapped to a car seat and wasn't really any worse than my first so idk? I still try to avoid it though.

I must be a terrible parent with a terrible pediatrician : LO (who is 3yo & absolutely perfect) slept in the car in her bucket seat, out of the car in the bucket seat for 1-2wks when her reflux seemed bad, in a stroller in her bucket seat, in a RNP... all with the blessing or even at the recommendation of our ped.