Container babies? Bucket babies? What are they?
If you had a baby shower, gift registry or excited grandparents, chances are your home gained an array of baby equipment in the months before your baby was born. Look around the typical modern house with a baby and you are likely to see several variations of things to put your infant in.
Car seats, strollers, bouncers, seats, swings and other equipment can all hold your baby when you can't. Some - like car seats - are life saving essentials. Others have limited use. But all can become a problem if your baby spends too much cumulative time in them.
Modern westernised parents lead busy lives and are mostly isolated from extended family. Traditionally, other adults and children would be close by to hold babies when parents needed to have a break, so this equipment tends to feel that gap.
The multifunctional design of some products means a baby can remain in a seat as it is transferred from the car, to a pram base, to a high chair or even just placed on the floor at home or while visiting. Without realising it, your baby might spend several hours restrained in place, coming out only for feeds and changes.
Even if you leave the car seat in the car, you might be using bouncers, seats and swings to hold and entertain your baby while you go about tasks like bringing in groceries, attending to other children or getting dinner on. If your baby is rocked to sleep by automated devices you get even more time uninterrupted.
“Container Baby Syndrome “ (also referred to as “Bucket Babies”) is the result of excessive use of infant equipment. Restricted babies are not able to move their bodies in the typical way which supports development. The impact can include Positional Plagiocephaly (Flattened Head), delayed motor development like rolling, sitting and crawling, and other developmental delays.
Babies should be in a car seat whenever they travel by car. But limit the use of the seat in other functions: choose a pram which lays flat and is parent-facing. At home, set up a safe floor space for your baby. When you are not feeding or holding your baby, lay them on the floor for play time. Both tummy time and time on their back support motor development. Choose a safe sleep space with a flat surface. When you need hands-free and your baby needs movement, use a baby carrier. Limit swings and moving seats to short periods eg while you shower or use the bathroom.
Questionable products
While some products are only a concern when overused, others are of concern if used at all.
It's important to remember the goal of marketing is to persuade you to part with your money. Beware claims of products being recommended by practitioners or fast-tracking infant development. At best many or novelties, at worst they are dangerous. Check with your doctor or nurse before using anything you aren't sure about. Be careful of hand-me-downs as products may have been recalled or banned since the original purchase. Check age recommendations and follow them: your baby is not advanced if they can use something earlier but they might be at risk.
When it comes to inappropriate gifts, remember hurt feelings are always better than hurt babies. Say no and mean it when you need to. (Ask instead a quality, padded foam playmat which can be wiped down and used throughout early childhood. )
