Aug 24, 2009 6:34 pm US/Eastern
HealthWatch: Child Car Seats
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Every day, child car seats prove themselves effective at protecting children from injury and death. Many kids find them a comfortable place to relax and nap even when not in the car. However, a new study warns the seats should be used only for protection during travel, and not as a replacement for cribs.
As new mom Sabenlly Morillo was getting ready to leave the hospital and head home, she couldn't help but think of safety risks for her baby. "There are a lot of concerns, a lot of things to look out for," she said.
And driving with her baby is one of them. Every infant must have a car seat.
The seat puts the child in an upright position - the best protection in a car wreck. But a new study finds that same position can compress a baby's chest wall and reduce their airway.
"Young infants use the muscles between the ribs and their diaphragms for breathing and anything that restricts that can reduce the baby's ability to breathe effectively," said
Dr. Deborah Campbell, Director of Neo-Natology at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore.
Not breathing effectively can lead to low oxygen levels which have been linked to learning and behavior problems in older children.
The study looked at 200 newborns. Infants left in a crib had much higher levels of oxygen than those babies who were left in car seats or car beds for more than one hour. Dr. Campbell's best advice: children should only be in a car seat when they're in the car. Don't use the seat as a crib.
"If the baby, say, has fallen asleep in the car seat while you're out and you are now home, it is important to try to, as gently as you can, take the baby out of the car seat and place the baby in the crib," she said.
This is something Morillo says she will practice with Angel, because sometimes it really is best to wake a sleeping baby.
"He can go to his bassinet. He doesn't have to stay there," she said.
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