Pediatricians remind parents that car seats are only for the car

A small percentage of infant deaths — approximately 3% — occur while the child is sleeping in a car seat or stroller. In general, little is known about why such young children die in any setting, but a new study has found that over 10 years, of the 219 sleep-related infant deaths that occurred in car seats, only 10% happened while the car seat was being used as directed.

Parents and caregivers can safely allow children to sleep in their car seats while they are traveling, pediatricians say, but they strongly recommend moving children out of car seats into a crib or bassinet as soon as possible afterward.