By Catherine McKenzie
“You know, youre the only mother here who doesnt carry her baby in a car seat,” commented the receptionist at my midwifes office.
My daughter was several weeks old at the time, and Id left her seat in the car, mainly because I didnt feel like lugging it up the stairs to the clinic. I looked around the waiting room and realized that we were the odd ones out.
It seemed true wherever we went. At the library, the shopping mall, the drop-in center for parents, the babies were all in infant seatsparked next to waiting-room chairs, snapped into matching strollers, clipped onto shopping carts, or carried by handles and trailing a woolly blanket.
No longer just a safety device for automobiles, portable infant car seats are now an important part of travel systemssets including an in-car base, a stroller, and a car seat that snaps into both. Theyve been called the SUVs of the stroller world, and a quick glance in any baby store will show you how popular theyve become.
Infant seats, whether sold as part of a travel system or alone, now sometimes include a cold-weather boot, a head hugger, and a car base. Most can be used only until the child reaches 20 pounds, which may be as early as three or four months. They often cost as much as longer-lasting, convertible car seats, which can be used in both rear- and front-facing positions and can accommodate children weighing from 5 to 40 pounds. That doesnt discourage most families, however, who consider the infant seat an essential item for a babys early months.
Many parents dont think twice about using an infant seat as an all-purpose baby carrier. But is there any harm in relying so heavily on a single piece of baby gear? Do the portability and convenience come at a price? As it turns out, there are good reasons why you should consider leaving the car seat in the car.
The Rise of Flat-head Syndrome
Medical professionals have begun to notice an alarming rise in the incidence of a skull deformity in infants called flat- head syndrome. Plagiocephaly, the medical term for this flattening of the skull, can occur as a result of consistent pressure on a particular spot. It is a cosmetic condition, but one that can be permanent if left untreated.
The increase in plagiocephaly is frequently blamed on the fact that babies are now placed on their backs to sleep, a position that has been shown to prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). If a babys head is always in the sameposition, the pressure can deform the skull. However, back sleeping is not the only factor. Extended periods of time spent in a baby seat can also contribute to this condition, as can long periods in strollers, swings, and other devices that put babies in a back-lying position.
Timothy R. Littlefield, MS, is affiliated with an Arizona clinic that treats plagiocephal…
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