I posted earlier about our 21 week old who won't sleep in the crib. After checking in with our ped, she wants us to wait a few weeks to try and sleep train again, but recommended we let baby girl sleep in her car seat overnight. We tried it last night and she slept 8.5 hours, waking up happy! I love our ped and trust her, but am a bit anxious about letting baby continue to sleep in the car seat for a few weeks, because of the SIDS risk I read about on the internet. Does anyone else have any experience letting their LO sleep in car seat?
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Have you tried the rock n play? its a small cradle thats on an incline like a carseat and has sides so baby feels nice and cozy we used this for our daughter from our first night home up until she was about 6 months
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Another vote for the rock n play! Our son slept amazingly in it!
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Unfortunately she's started to sit up in it so we've had to stop using it - but I agree, the rock n play is awesome!
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Of course I'm not a pediatrician and your pediatrician told you to do this, but I JUST had my infant CPR/safety course last night and the instructor was pretty adamant about not letting baby sleep in a car seat, rock'n'play, or anything inclined. She said it decreases oxygen that the baby is getting and that is why they sleep better. And mentioned the increased chance in SIDS. She said they shouldn't be in anything like a car seat for more than 2 hours at a time. However she did say that the chance of SIDS greatly deceased after 6 weeks. So maybe you're in a safer zone and that's why the doc recommended?
I'm SO not passing judgement since your ped said to do it! And I'm by no means a medical pro and my LO isn't even here yet! (Induction set for Monday!) But since you asked and I just learned about this last night I thought Id pass it on.
If you're really worried, maybe call your doc and site specific literature and see what her response is? -
@britcomfan: do you strap her into the car seat? Maybe a swing with a five point harness would be similar? I had a snug a bunny that fully reclined and had a five point harness. We didn't turn it on for the last few weeks we used it.
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What about building a "nest" in the crib? I think Mrs. Blue posted about this awhile back you put rolled up towels between the mattress and the sheet to create a cozy little pod
http://www.hellobee.com/2013/09/03/surviving-reflux-colds-angle-sleeping-and-crib-nests/
we did this for awhile when we transitioned from rock and play to crib
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I've done it in the past (not overnight, but after falling asleep in the car, etc.) and I think I would be OK doing it just to get some sleep for you and the baby. But I would check on alternatives first (like the nest @Chillybear: talked about) because I would be paranoid about car seat deaths.
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The SIDS risk at 21 weeks is under 4% overall (relative to 23% at 3-4 months) for all factors combined. I would imagine your pediatrician is familiar with the risk for car seat sleep at that age (broken out my guess is minuscule by that age). If you feel nervous, ask your doctor to discuss the risks specifically and then you can assess based on that info and your gut feeling. The internet is a great starting point for research but 95% is pure opinion so I usually go with my doctors advice about our specific baby.
ETA to clarify that's the risk by month, not saying the risk is 4% of 6 months olds or 23% of three month olds.
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Thanks everyone! We do strap her in at night, so maybe a swing with a harness would work. It makes me feel better to hear those statistics, @little misters mom. I really appreciate all your suggestions. It's so nice to have so many kind people respond so quickly!
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@britcomfan: Does her head slouch when she sleeps in it? A family friend's daughter had to wear a helmet/neck brace thing because her head was tilted from sleeping in the car seat overnight so often.
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@lawbee11 I haven't noticed that - but we've just done the overnight one time. She has incredible neck and head control (not trying to baby brag - it's something doc has commented on) so perhaps that's why doc isn't so concerned?
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