Car journeys are well known for helping babies fall asleep. However, this seemingly peaceful journey can prove fatal for the child if he or she dozes off in his or her car seat for too long. We then speak of positional asphyxia. Here’s how to prevent your child from suffering from it.
Still little known to parents, positional asphyxia is one of the main causes of car death in children. According to a study published in 2015 in the Journal of Pediatrics, 48% of deaths occurring between 2004 and 2008 were caused by positional asphyxia. But how is this explained?
Positional asphyxia occurs when the baby’s airway is obstructed by sitting. The fact that the child dozes off in his car seat or deckchair for too long can be fatal, because they are not designed for this purpose. The curvature of the seat forces the child to sleep bent with his spine taking the shape of a C and therefore tilts his head, his neck not being supported. The chin then crushes the neck, which cuts off air from the baby’s airway and prevents him from breathing. In the worst case, this causes death by asphyxiation.
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A subject that is still too little discussed
If the number of deaths from positional asphyxia is so significant, it is quite simply because this phenomenon is still unknown to young parents. Many accidents can actually be avoided. Many parents who have lost their baby in this way are trying to alert as many people as possible to prevent this phenomenon from happening again. This is the case of Rachel Jungling, mother of twins in the United States, one of whom died as a result of asphyxiation. She deplores that childminders are not sufficiently informed on the subject: “We made sure our parents knew not to let them sleep in their car seats. We thought our nanny knew“, she tells Cafemom.
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Her partner, too, spoke to the channel ABC : “We know what the car seat’s fault isn’t – it’s an education problem.” Following these speeches, the couple set up a course at the Birsmarck-Burleigh hospital, in the United States, in order to provide prevention on the risks linked to sleep, breastfeeding or even to nutrition in children.
In Great Britain, Lisa Smith, mother of Mia, who died at the age of 17 months due to this phenomenon, tells Cafemom how this accident could have been avoided with a little more information and attention from his nanny: “Reports we read after the fact explained that Mia knew exactly where the car seat was at nap time. She apparently ran into the nap room and headed straight for the car seat…so this was a long-standing practice. It haunts us because we didn’t know and it could have easily been avoided…”.
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How to avoid it?
“This could have been avoided” is one of the phrases most used by parents whose child has been a victim of this phenomenon. To protect your offspring against the risk of positional asphyxia, it is essential to be attentive to their behavior. You also need to watch how he falls asleep during car rides. It is imperative that his face is constantly visible and that his body is not slumped in the seat. Doctors recommend not letting him sleep for more than 1.5 hours in his car seat and never leaving the straps partially or completely unfastened. Finally, the seat must be installed on a flat surface and be stable.
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Above all, you must keep in mind that the car seat is designed for a specific use, so you should not use it indiscriminately to put your child to sleep. If the car journey is expected to be long, it is essential to take very regular breaks to allow your child to get some fresh air and not leave him sitting in his seat for several hours in a row.