New parents have a hell of a lot to worry about. I remember being unable to sleep because I was obsessed with worry about whether my newborn was actually breathing, or trying to figure out what this sound and that one meant.
So I'm sorry to report that there's an additional worry for parents of newborns: it appears that there is a risk of sudden and unexplained death in less-than-one-month-old infants seated in car seats. Yikes. "While premature babies were not at increased risk, babies
younger than one month old were almost four times as likely to die
suddenly while seated, compared to the older babies. And babies
under one month old whose deaths were unexplained were more than
seven times as likely to die while seated, compared to older babies
with unexplained deaths."
Ever hear of a babymoon? It's the notion that a newborn's quiet getting-to-know-life time takes about the first six weeks. Parents who are able to do this stay more or less secluded with their new little person as much as possible in that time (and friends and family, or maybe a postpartum doula! help out with meals and cleaning and such). Utopian? Sure. Realistic? Not for everyone. But it helps take a potential tragedy out of the equation, if you can manage it.
But that won't help the zillions of parents who don't have the luxury of (or desire for) a babymoon. And having one more thing to worry about is awful. Maybe next someone can figure out why this seems to be happening. I know I always cringed when looking at one of my little ones scrunched up in their seat in those early days when we did have to go out; I wonder if a very wee baby's natural curved position, not helped at all by being in a car seat, has anything to do with the phenomenon?
