car seat sleeping

My babies sleep great in their car seats. After they nurse, i put them down and they fall asleep. I hate to move them, but I heard sleeping in a car seat is not good. Is this true? They don't go to sleep anywhere else, no the swing bouncer etc...
They are 2 1/2 months. Any advice, comments?

 

Do they sleep with their heads in different positions or are they always in the same position? Do you notice any flattening on their heads? I think too much car seat and swing time contributed greatly to my sons' plagio.

 

I would just try to prop them so that they aren't putting pressure on one side of their head all of the time, which can result in a flat spot. You can roll up a blanket and put it behind their shoulder and down one side, so they are almost sleeping on their side while in the seat.

 

At this age, anywhere that they sleep is fine!

However, if they really literally can't sleep ANYWHERE else, you probably don't want to wait too long before trying to get them to sleep in their cribs, at least a little. One way to start transitioning is to put the car seats in the cribs. Dim the lights, turn on the noise machine if you have one, and do everything you would do if they were sleeping in their cribs. That way, when they are 3 months or so, you can start trying to put them down in their cribs. It's fine if they sleep for a couple of hours in their cribs and then you move them when they wake up -- you can transition gradually. But by 4-5 months, they should not be sleeping (at least not most of the night) in their carseats anymore.

The only thing to worry about in the short term is that they spend enough time out of the carseats (especially having tummy time on the floor) so that their heads don't get flat, and they get plenty of practice with moving their arms & legs and not being strapped in to anything.

 

Not only is it not good for their heads, but for their spines. They are all squished. My nephew slept in his car seat for a while and he got a bad neck. He wouldn't move it around so they had to have a Chiropractor work on him.

IMO, it is not good for them, put them in a bed.

 

I was in your position when my boys were about 2 months old. Our boys had reflux and would only sleep in their carseats- if we tried to put them in their cribs they would scream. I was worried as well, but more worried about how to break the habit later. I received many responses from this site saying to go with what works for them and I'm so thankful I took that advice... My boys slept in their car seats until they were 4 months old and we had no problem transferring them to their cribs. It did take one of my boys about 2-3 weeks longer to move to the crib than his brother.

 

[SIZE=10pt]At that age mine would occassionally sleep in their car seats too. If they fell asleep while we were out, then I would let them continue sleeping in their seat until they woke up.

After feeding I would put them in their crib. If they woke up going into their crib I would get them back to sleep and let them sleep ANYWHERE they would (although I would always try the crib first)

I think it's okay to let them sleep where ever right now ~ although I do agree with PP's that I would make sure that they aren't continually in the same position.

April [/SIZE]

 

Mine slept in their car seats until 4 months. One of my sons had torticollis and he had a misshapened head so it was not the best for him to be intheir but my other son was fine. THey slept the best in there and I hated moving them. I only did was to help my sons head shape.

 

Back home they don't recommend to have babies in their infant carriers for more than 1 1/2 hour at a time (and make stops if you make longer trips in the car). It's not good for their spines. It's funny because in Europe everybody will use a bassinet on their stroller and not infant carriers. Here you hardly see bassinets on strollers. So they'll lay flat when you go for walks or outside. You only use the car seat for quick trips to the supermarket and/or the car itself. At the same time, I don't know any people who had babies who would only sleep in car seats (maybe it's related?!). My oldest was in her Bugaboo bassinet from day 1, never had any problems. It's funny because I thought about this before and why it's so different here.