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It can be dangerous to leave your baby in his car seat for too long. I learned this at the hospital before we were able to take our son home. My son was born premature and he had to pass a car seat test before we could take him home.
A car seat test is where they place the baby in his car seat and monitor his heart rate and oxygen level for a certain amount of time. If the baby's heart rate drops in that amount of time then the baby is not ready for a car seat and has to go home in a car bed.
Our son didn't pass his car seat test and came home with us in a special car bed. But we were also told that if we were to be traveling a ways with our son once he was in a regular rear facing car seat that we should stop every two hours to let him get out and stretch and be in a different position.
Another danger of being in a car seat too long, in a different way, is if you leave you baby in a rear facing car seat when the baby should be in a forward facing seat. We were told that your baby should be in a rear facing seat until the maximum weight as opposed to the maximum height. This decreases the risk of a neck injury in you baby if you are in an accident. I remember the nurse telling us "It's easier to fix a broken leg (from them being too long) as opposed to fixing a broken neck (from being put in a forward facing seat too soon).

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