Scientists have warned that babies should only be allowed to sleep for long periods in the car when there is an adult sitting next to them to check their breathing.
The latest study of infant car seats (and the first to assess the effect of motion on infants and to replicate the angle of the rear seat of a small family car) showed that a journey of just 30 minutes in an upright car seat could lead to a ‘significant’ drop in a newborn’s oxygen levels.
“This was a unique pilot study – the first to look at the physiological effect of vibration on infants in a car safety seat.” said Professor Peter Fleming, from the University of Bristol’s School of Social and Community Medicine. “The standard static car seat challenge currently used in hospitals does not reflect the angle infants are placed at, or the motion of the journey.”
“Placing an infant at the more upright 40° position, along with the vibration experienced in a car, leads to significantly increased heart and respiratory rates, and decreased oxygen saturation. Simulating motion reveals a striking increase in potentially clinically significant oxygen desaturations. Surprisingly, we found these differences were similar in term and preterm infants.” he said.
According to the NHS, there have been isolated reports of car seat deaths while infants were sleeping while travelling. A BMJ study from 2006 found that 43 babies who had been travelling in car seats required admission to hospital for serious breathing difficulties between July 1999 and December 2000.
Doctors believe the shape of the back of a newborn baby’s head may push its face forward slightly as they sleep in a car seat. When this happens there is a chance it could obstruct the infant’s airway.
While car seats remain the safest way to transport infants and are necessary by law, it’s clear that more research is needed into how they are designed. Dr Renu Arya, Consultant Paediatrician, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who led the research project added:
“Parents should not stop using car safety seats to transport their infants. Infants must be protected in moving vehicles, and UK law requires car seats be used whenever infants travel in cars. However, our findings support the AAP (American Academy of Paediatrics’) guideline that infant car seats should not be used as a routine infant sleep environment.”
Francine Bates, chief executive of the Lullaby Trust (formerly known as Foundation for the Study of infant Deaths) which funded the study, said the findings provided cause for concern and advised parents to keep a watchful eye on babies travelling in a car seat:
“We recommend that parents also avoid driving long distances without a break. However, avoiding the risk of injury due to a road traffic accident is paramount and fitted car seats should always be used to transport babies and toddlers.
It is clear that further research is needed to explore what more we can do to ensure babies are safe and comfortable when travelling in a car seat and we will be convening an urgent summit of leading child car seat manufacturers to take this forward in the autumn.”
The findings of the Lullaby Trust study, carried out at the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with support from the University of Southampton and the University of Bristol, supports previous research that showed the only truly safe place for a baby to sleep is on a mattress in a cot.
