night sleeping in car seat

[Brandi]

DD is 3 months old and has been sleeping in her car seat at night. We originally did it because she was having a lot of reflux problems. She really likes it in there and sleeps as much as 9 hours a night. I know we'll have to move her out sooner or later, but I am not sure when to do it and how.

I'm worried about how she will adjust. I am also worried that she will want to nurse all night long if she is in bed with us. DS did that forever. I loved having him sleep in bed with us, but I think I am willing to let her sleep in her crib if she is going to wake up to nurse all night long. Considering she sleeps so well now, I don't want to mess things up.

Is it horrible that she sleeps in her carseat?
Any suggestions on how to transfer her to her crib, or our bed and keep her sleeping all night?
Anyone with experience of a night time car seat sleeper?

TIA!

[Jane]

Well, it's not recommended for premies and infants under one month because the semi upright position makes it hard to breath (compresses the chest). But that is not your case.

Lots of babies get a flat spot on their head from their favorite sleeping spot, whether that's the crib, bed, or car seat. But it's not permanent.

If it's fixing her reflux, I'd keep her there until the reflex resolves itself or the treatment becomes effective. My sister started sleeping upright as a really little baby to help her asthma and has continued to this day to sleep upright when it's bad.

My only concern would be that she is getting enough exercise time on her back (flat) and on her tummy and enough to eat. It's possible she is sleeping too soundly for too long and not waking up to eat. But if she is gaining appropriately, that's not too much of an issue.

[PuppyFluffer]

I have no experience with either car seat sleeping or reflux....

But what comes to my mind is that possibly you can gradually transition her to your bed. Is your bed lareg enough that you could put her carseat in bed, between you and the wall, up at the head of the bed so there is no chance of her falling off. Once she's used to that, could you duplicate the angle she sleeps with a tight roll of blankets covered very tightly with a sheet. My concern would be soft bedding that might allow suffocation....

How about one of those Snuggle Nests? Could you use one of those and prop it up to get an angle since she's used to sleeping on an incline?

[LovemyBoo]

My dd slept in her seat from about 5months old to 8 months. It started when she got RSV and was so congested in her nose and chest that she had to be upright to sleep or else she woke up coughing every 10 minutes or so. It was a very sick winter for us and she was constantly congested, even after recovering from the rsv.

She slept in the seat in her crib and we weaned her out of the seat gradually. We had to as she was nearing being able to climb out of it. It started with just naps out of the seat. Once she seemed okay with that, it didn't take very long, we started putting her down for the night without the seat. We didn't incline her mattress or anything. It took her a little longer to fall asleep at first, but that didn't last long.

I wouldn't worry about it. So long as she can't climb out of it I think you're good. I also think getting her to sleep without it won't be as hard as you might anticipate. My dd is not a great sleeper anyway and she was back to her normal patterns in just a few days.

HTH!

[momto l&a]

My baby cluster feeds berfore she goes down for the night (4-6 hours) and if she is layed flat she pukes. So we have taken to having her sleep in her car seat.

During the day she is on the couch, on the floor on a blanket or in our arms so she has much varity in her positions.

She also got a cold and right now she sleeps/breathes better if she is not lying flat.

My oldest went through a fase where slept in her car seat, she just slept better that way.

[maya44]

My middle DD did that too! She was in her carseat sleeping great (8-9 hrs) at 3 mos.

We do not co-sleep, so I then transitioned her to a crib. She woke to nurse more often (every 4-5 hrs) the first week, but would only bf for 1 or 2 minutes, like she was not really hungry. After a few more weeks she went back to sleeping about 8 hours.

I was kind of worried when she was in the carseat, like I felt she would NEVER be able to sleep anywhere else. I remember thinking I was going to have to send her to college in a Barcalounger! LOL

[Brandi]

Great responses! A couple thoughts:

Do they really need the time outt of the seat while they are sleeping at night? I heard that they need to develop muscle tone and that it's not possible in the car seat. But, they don't do much while they are sleeping, right?

I think the reflux issue is resolved. I might try the snuggle nest - I just bought one for a friend : ) Anyone else have experience with these? propping them up? I don't really want to prop her up with just pillows or blankets, but the snuggle nest might work out well.

[srmina]

I am glad this worked for the reflux! My dd has horrid reflux and the carseat always made her puke more.

You may want to try a wedge/sling combo. These are designed for kids <1 (although since my dd is not mobile we still use it) and consist of a 30-45 degree wedge with a little diaper-like sling to keep the baby from sliding around. You can get one from Tucker Sling or from Pedicraft. Ours is from the latter and our insurance paid for it 100%. They also just sell the sling part which you can attach to a crib that is elevated (books under the front legs or pillows under the mattress). You could also try an Amby bed...it works well for mild reflux and a lot of AP moms find it a good alternative for refluxy babies.

I would be a little concerned that your child cannot wiggle and roll much in the car seat, but daytime exercise is way more important, so I would not worry too much. Just do lots of tummytime!!

[wawap]

hmmm

I hesitate to answer this because DS has always been a terrible sleeper.

He did sleep in his bouncy seat in our room at first and then in his car seat in his crib. It's the only way he would sleep (swaddled in his miracle blanket). And by sleeping I mean for maybe 2 hours in a row. He also had reflux issues.

This sounds awful, but he started to roll out of the car seat and then we just stopped putting him in it. : OMG!!! It sounds so awful now that I say it. He now co-sleeps with us or sleeps in his crib JUST fine and to tell you the truth, he was FINE making that transition.

We tried a wedge in the crib, but it wasn't enough of an incline for him.

He still is up several times a night, but it's MUCH better. He's pretty much outgrown the reflux at this point.

Good luck!

Laura

[Brandi]

I checked out those websites for the wedges. Here's my main concern - she isn't able to wiggle around much at night. Do those wedges allow for enough movement? Also, she isn't refluxy any more. That has been resolved. So, I don't have any real reason to have her inclined - she just really likes it. Last night, I thought I would try to have her sleep in bed with us, but I couldn't get her to stay asleep. She would wakeup and cry as soon as she was laid down flat. I tried to nurse her while she was lying down. She would fall asleep and then I would move away from her, but then she would wake up within 10 minutes.

I'm thinking about trying the little co-sleeping nest thing and maybe propping it up, but she's got to learn to sleep flat at some point.

Last night, she slept for 10 hours! She is gaining weight just fine, so no worries there.

[iris0110]

Have you thought about an amby? It is like a hammock for babies. I wish we would have had one with ds. Of course if the reflux is better you may not need it, but it would keep her sleeping at an incline, and she would be closer to you, but not quite close enough to want to nurse constanly. And over time you could lower it so gradualy she is sleeping flat on her back.

[mamadawg]

Brandi, I wouldn't worry too much about when to transition her out of the car seat. My girls had severe colic and mild reflux. The only place they would sleep was in their swings, swaddled. They did that for about 4 months. There was NO other place they would sleep. Even after the reflux went away, they still wanted to sleep upright, in motion (I followed the method of Dr. Karp's "The Happiest Baby on the Block"--that book saved my sanity, literally). I got worried that they were going to have to sleep that way forever too, but I remember just as I started to get REALLY worried, they started sleeping on their backs.

However, they still needed to sleep swaddled. I think (it's all a blur ) they slept swaddled for another 2-3 months after they went from their swings to our bed/their cribs (we co-slept with each baby part time because our bed wasn't big enough for both babies). And it wasn't a big problem that they were constricted at night because during the day their limbs were free to move around. We did a lot of tummy time, too. One of my dds had a flatish spot on the back of her head, but I just made a point of slinging her more and doing more tummy time and it didn't get very bad.

Don't worry--she won't be there forever. She'll let you know when she's ready to transition to her back. You're not doing any long term damage to her.

If you're considering the Amby, I'd suggest you also look at a regular swing. The Amby was too expensive for our budget and the regular 6 speed Graco swing was great.

[ledzepplon]

When our babe had bad nasal congestion with a cold a few month back, we put her to sleep in her baby swing (that's really about the only time we used it!). A swing might be a good place for a baby with bad reflux because it keeps the little head/neck elevated. I know it probably isn't that much bigger than a carseat, but it might be less confining later on when your baby doesn't need to be snuggled quite as tightly.

[huggerwocky]

I don't see it as problem free as others here do.I think it;s ok once in an while, but having a baby int he car seat for 9 hours in a row at nights will definately give a bent back.....they don't have the muscles yet to support their back!

[momto l&a]

Originally Posted by huggerwocky

...but having a baby int he car seat for 9 hours in a row at nights will definately give a bent back.....they don't have the muscles yet to support their back!

I cant understand what you mean
Babies backs arent bent in a car seat, they bend at the waist just like we do when we sit.

[heldt123]

Don't feel bad, our son slep in his carseat carrier next to our bed for the first few weeks as our bed was too small. Do you have a bassanet or some smaller baby basket-bed you could use? She may not like the open space of the crib. Babies seem to like smaller spaces as they are used to the womb. Just an idea. Those carriers are really comfy! He also liked it because it rocked. I could lay in bed and rock him...he liked that a lot. We also had a swinging bassente bed which was low to the ground.