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Because premature babies may develop bradycardia and desaturation while in car seats, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the “car seat challenge,” whereby preterm infants are observed in car seats before hospital discharge and transported home in a car bed if one or both events occur. To determine the appropriateness of this recommendation (which was based on intuition and not data), 151 preterm, very-low-birth-weight infants who were ready for discharge were monitored for apnea, bradycardia, and oxygen saturation while in a car seat or a car bed for 120 minutes. Within 24 hours, the infants were assessed in the other car restraint device.
Similar proportions of infants experienced apnea, bradycardia, or desaturation while in car …