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Why sleeping in a stroller or child seat for extended hours could be fatal

By on November 2, 2015
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An 11-week old American baby, Shepard Dodd, was put to sleep in a car seat at a day care center where he was left.  A couple of hours later, the daycare staff checked on him. He was blue.

The baby was rushed to the hospital but it was already too late. How did this happen?
The death had to do with positional asphyxiation which occurs when someone’s position prevents the person from breathing adequately.  Car seats, swings, strollers and infant carriers are not safe places for babies to sleep for extended periods of time.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, baby laying flat on his back is the correct sleeping position. The AAP warns parents the risks of positional plagiocephaly ( a flat spot on the back or one side of the head caused by remaining in a supine position for too long) and potentiate gastroesophegeal reflux (chronic symptom of mucosal damage caused by stomach acid coming up from the stomach into the esophagus)  that increases the risk of upper airway obstruction and oxygen desaturation.  Babies in particular have poor head control and are likely to experience flexion of the head while in a sitting position.

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