Using the Car Seat as a Bassinet

Posted by joy

16 Jul

In our tiny house, each piece of baby gear takes up precious space—and we weren’t about to surrender a bit more for a bassinet. Our first child wouldn’t sleep anywhere but in our arms and we assumed the same for our second. It amazed me when my mom snuggled our second child into her infant car seat for a nap and explained that it’s the perfect portable bassinet.

Of course! It has a handle for easy carrying, it’s built to be rocked on hard surfaces, and it can be put up high away from our two year old when we’re worried about him “playing” with the baby.

At night we’ve used a vibrating papasan chair that we borrowed from generous friends but have found that normally she sleeps best snuggled into bed with us. During the day, however, the car seat is a great portable resting spot that didn’t cost a dime or take up any extra space. Through my creative efforts to get a shower, I’ve found that the best spot place for her to get a long nap in the car seat as in the bathroom with the fan on as background noise.

Do you have any creative resting spots for baby? Have you ever used a car seat, a sock drawer or something even more outrageous? Do tell!

Filed under: Baby Care, Baby Gear, Living Simply

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10 Responses for "Using the Car Seat as a Bassinet"

Jan Andrea July 16th, 2009 at 10:50 am 1
Please read about plagiocephaly (flat head syndrome) — so many babies are being left in car seats for extended periods of time, their skulls get flattened by the pressure.

http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/conditions/a/plagiocephaly.htm

Also, I don’t know if that’s your baby in the picture, but babies in any kind of gadget need to be watched for positional asphyxia — where the airway gets “kinked” by the angle of the head. You must be able to get at least two fingers between her chin and her chest, or she could be receiving less than optimal levels of oxygen. Small babies’ airways are tiny, about the width of a straw, and any kink can cause them difficulty in breathing.

These may not be issues for you, but other readers should be aware of the potential issues and dangers of using a carseat as a bed, something it was not intended for.
Kacie July 16th, 2009 at 11:21 am 2
I’ve heard of issues with babies hanging out in their car seats too long, too.

Anyway…I once was in desperate need of a shower. We didn’t have a bouncy chair at the time, so I put my baby in a laundry basket and put it on the floor of the bathroom while I showered. He didn’t seem to mind! heh
Aubrey July 16th, 2009 at 3:29 pm 3
We have been known to use a laundry basket with a thicker blanket in the bottom for cushioning. =) In the laundry room with the dryer running…peaceful bliss!
Joy July 16th, 2009 at 5:49 pm 4
I think it’s critical to point out that we never leave her in her car seat for extended periods of time unsupervised. She doesn’t sleep there at night and sleeps for a maximum of one hour when we snuggle her into it at home. My guess is that there are several babies sleeping in car seats, laundry baskets and other creative places without incident. Does anyone else have creative accommodations for napping?
Heather July 16th, 2009 at 6:26 pm 5
Creative? Not so much, but when my daughter is fussy all I have to do is strap her into the car seat and carry her around for a minute and she goes right to sleep. Works like a charm!
rebecca July 16th, 2009 at 10:20 pm 6
When our daughter was first born, we found the only place she really slept was in a sling or in the car seat–while we were rocking it. (Obviously we were not in the car at the time.) I think she preferred to sleep in a slightly upright position. We asked our pediatrician about it and she said that we didn’t need to worry about it–and that her kids slept in the car seat as well.

We did this for a month at least. After a while she started sleeping in her Moses basket, and then after six months she slept in a regular crib.
JodieR. July 17th, 2009 at 7:01 am 7
My son falls asleep in the car at night, and I’m not about to wake him when we get home! I leave him in his car seat until he wakes up. Last night he slept in it from 11P until 2:30A then into the crib. For the first 3 months of life, he would not sleep in his crib or cradle, so he slept all night in his bouncy chair. It vibrates and I could rock him to sleep with my foot!
Alternative Energy News July 21st, 2009 at 6:07 am 8
When my son was about 3 months he hated the bassinet and never could sleep there. We put him in the car seat and we fell asleep everytime. Though, we never let him sleep in for more than 2 hours
Jaime July 23rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm 9
My daughter also hated her bassinet, it’s a good thing I bought it used because she probably actually slept in it for about a week at most. The only place she would really sleep was in our arms or in her vibrating bouncy chair. Eventually I had to let her sleep with me at night, which we did for many, many months. Now, at one, she finally sleeps all night in her crib.
1busymommy2 March 4th, 2011 at 7:47 pm 10
We found noise to be the issue in a small space. We found Sleepy Bee to be a life saver. He’s a small portable stuffed bee with 2 volumes of ocean waves. Puts our little girl to sleep at home in the car seat or stroller. We love him Sleepybees.com