The Baby Bucket

This takes the abusurdity of the baby bucket, aka infant car seat travel system, to a new level. I feel like we've come full circle; from carrying babies in a sling, to carrying babies in a car seat, to carrying babies in a car seat in a sling.

These days the stork flies in with a baby in a car seat instead of a cloth bundle. Everywhere I go I see mothers lugging these heavy accessories around. On countless occasions I've seen parents take their baby and seat out of the car, pop them into a stroller, walk around town, go into a restaurant/coffee shop, put baby in the seat on the floor next to them, finish eating and leave, put baby and seat back in the stroller, back to the car, pop the seat into its base, and drive away. Not once do they touch or hold their child. I've seen babies fuss and strain against their car seat straps and parents react by rocking the seat or giving them more toys, rather than releasing their children from their restraints.

There are several compelling reasons to not use car seats as a baby carrier. The most basic one is that they are cumbersome and extremely heavy. If you've never held a baby in a seat before I suggest that you try to lift one if you have the opportunity. They are considerably heavier than they look. While I fully intended on baby-wearing as much as possible, prior to my daughter's birth, I considered the car seat to be a good carrying option for short distances. Until I tried it. Even with my little newborn, it was so heavy I had to stop and rest halfway up the stairs into the house. If I didn't hold it away from my body, which was hard to do because it was so heavy, it would bang into my legs and bruise me. Despite the cold weather, I quickly abandoned the car seat as a carrying device, and focused my energy on learning how to use various baby slings.

An even more important reason to keep your baby out of the seat, is the increasing incidence of positional plagiocephaly aka Flat-Head Syndrome. This is surprisingly common in this country, if you take the time to look around, you'll be surprised at how many babies you'll see who's heads have flattened out in the back. Babies heads are normally round, and generally their occiput protrudes quite a bit. The most frequent cause of plagiocephaly is very simply that babies are spending too much time laying on their backs. A lot of babies spend most of their day laying in a car seat, a bouncy seat, a swing, or a stroller instead of being held in arms, playing on their tummy or propped in a supported sitting position. Also, there has been a huge "Back to Sleep" campaign by the AAP and the NICHD that has parents and daycare providers laying babies supine, instead of a side-lying or prone position. If babies are going to spend all night and several hours a day sleeping on their backs, it is critical for their growth and development that they spend their waking hours in a different position!

It's strange that this isn't a given, but babies need to be held and touched. It is a well known fact that baby mammals need physical contact in order to thrive. The same is true for baby humans. There is a reason that simply holding babies is often enough to soothe their cries. A baby in arms experiences the world from the level of the parent, they are in the midst of conversation and activity, they can make eye contact with other people, and they learn that they are a part of things. A baby on the floor in the car seat has a very limited view of the world; they cannot turn their head to see who is speaking or what made a noise. Car seats inhibit curiosity and restrict movement; a restrained baby cannot even try to roll over, or sit up, or crawl.

On a more philosophical level, I wonder about the effects of teaching our infants to passively accept physical confinement. I wonder about the emotional health of docile 6-12 month old babies who lay in their car seats all day and have not learned to sit or crawl. From the first time we had to strap my daughter into her seat, she made it quite clear that she did not like being restrained in the plastic device. Her instincts were absolutely right on. What human, child or adult, would not fight being physically confined against their will? It was clear to me then, and still is, that car seats are a necessary safety device for small children riding in cars. However, I made a concious choice that I did not want to stifle her instinctual need to be held. If my daughter was awake I would take her out of her seat and wear her on my body in a wrap.

Other than while driving, there are two instances where it makes sense to use a car seat carrier. It's really convenient to be able to move a sleeping baby out of the car without having to fuss with buckles, and when it's cold or rainy it's much easier (and safer, bulky layers make it difficult to get the straps secured properly) to put your kid in the seat, put blankets on top of them and carry them in the seat from indoors to the car or vice versa. Other than these situations it almost always makes sense to leave the damn seat in the car and to take your baby out of the seat as soon as you're in a warm and dry space.


Here is a good article with more information on this topic.

Car Seats Are For Cars - from Mothering Magazine