How long can I leave baby in car seat - the only place he will sleep?!

[merrygiant]

I think the advice has changed on this recently, I was told by my HV that he shouldn't be in it for longer than an hour at a time. This seems very short. He is 4 weeks old and not great at sleeping anywhere else, the movement of the buggy or the car also seems to play a part. He will sometimes sleep in the sling after a feed but not for long and seems more squished up in there than in the car seat.

Any advice/experience greatly appreciated!

No more than two hours. It's not a natural position, their airway can become squashed and they can stop breathing.

It's perfectly normal for newborns to not want to sleep anywhere. Theyre used to being inside us! Ours didn't sleep in his crib until he was three weeks old as he just cried. We bought a slumber bear and it worked straight away.

Does your pram lie flat, would he sleep there if you rock him too sleep?

I'd try to avoid sleeps in car seat unless absolutely necessary, eg driving in car! if you encourage it you'll end up with a baby who'll only sleep in car seat for next 6 months!! I've experienced this and it's a PITA!!! I'd break the habit as soon as possible. Get him used to sleeping flat in a basket/cot. Seriously breaking the habit now will be a piece if cake compared to 6 months down the line!!! Wish someone had told me that all those year ago! Good luck.

I'm with Seb on that one. Twelve months in and we were still setting off for our "drive" every afternoon as DS refused to sleep elsewhere. I didn't make that mistake a second time!!

Agree with Seb

Is he refluxy? If so, then he'll probably be really uncomfortable sleeping flat but OK when upright ish such as in the sling or car seat. I wouldn't recommend the car seat as its such a squidged position (and very hot in this weather). DS napped a lot in an angled moses basket, the pushchair with the lie flat seat on a slight incline (we had a BJCM so this was possible... wouldn't work in something like an iCandy with a more moulded seat), the bouncy chair & the sling - or just in my arms!

Thanks for the advice, he's getting better by the day. I will try the pram lying flat too.

Have you tried a fisher price rocking motion soother. It resembles the motion of a car and jerks around and makes car noises to sooth a baby. Was a good send when I had a refluxy newborn and saves a bomb in petrol

My baby would only sleep on me or in a car seat. We got a fisher price rainforest swing. She had reflux so generally prefers to be more upright. This often gets her to sleep in the day, total godsend!