Yakima Family Times

leave the car seat in the car

New mothers; are you having trouble sleeping?  Your baby’s car seat could be to blame.

I never thought infant carseat carriers were particularly detrimental.  I didn’t use them with all of of my kids, only the youngest.  I never considered their effects much until I read a recent Mothering magazine article entitled “Car seats are for cars”  The article focused on flat head syndrome (apparently a very serious issue) and also on the fact that infant carseat carriers prevent the baby from being stimulated by the outside world, a key to infant brain development.

In a restaurant recently, I once saw a couple enjoy about an hour’s worth of appetizer, dinner and dessert while the baby in the carseat stared at the gum under the table.  Additionally, infant car seat carriers must be held away from the woman’s body which puts abnormal strain on the back, neck, shoulders and arms of the person carrying it.  Every warehouse worker can tell you that heavy loads are supposed to be carried close to the body.  Some of the infant car seat carriers can weigh up to 12 pounds.  Imagine that- in addition to the weight of the baby inside.  Chiropractors aren’t too happy about this, I am sure!

As a busy mother, though- I know why I have used mine.  Sometimes it’s about the baby’s safety.  I don’t want the hot buckles to burn their skin, so I just bring the whole car seat inside.  Also, in the winter, I want the baby to stay warm and not freeze to death waiting for the car to warm (or worse- scream the whole ride) so I put the baby in her seat while we’re cozy in the living room and keep her covered on the way to the car.  Here’s the kicker, though.  Sometimes, and I know I am not the only one, I open up the back door of the car to bring my precious little one into the grocery store and can’t bear to wake her up because she’s such an adorable little angel when she’s sleeping.  Is that so bad?  Yes, I am thinking, definitely yes.

MayaWrap Baby Sling Carrier

Keeping the baby in the carseat while running errands actually trains a baby to sleep the day away.  What do you think happens then, at night?  The baby has been asleep all day long, dozing around in his carseat with nothing to look at and can’t possibly go to sleep now that he’s home and you’re able to talk to him.  He wants to play, wants to interact, wants to be awake.

Newborns (for the first month or so) will sleep all day no matter what they’re doing, but as babies get older and they start to “wake up’ to the sounds and sights around them they should be exposed to as many things as their world has to offer.  Exposing babies to the natural hubbub of activity that distinguishes daytime from nighttime will invariably teach them how to sleep at night.

Holding a baby in a baby sling carrier, or a wrap, or a front pack or even a backpack as they get older can improve their IQ’s simply by exposing them to a different perspective.   It also encourages you to “talk” to the baby and listening to language (even if it’s someone else’s conversation) teaches babies how to communicate and helps them learn language.  Over use of infant carseat carriers can also delay a baby’s physical development because they aren’t able to even attempt to roll over, crawl or climb around in a carseat.

Moby Wrap Baby carrier

I am still using my infant seat.  I was never really “hooked” on it, but I am definitely more conscious now about my baby’s perspective.  When I go to the grocery store, I still sometimes remove the seat so the buckles don’t burn the baby, but now I’m sure to also remove the baby.  I use the carrier to hold my purse.  When the carrier is in the shopping cart without the baby I can stack more groceries in the cart (and with 5 kids you wouldn’t believe how much groceries we go through).

I got an adorable custom-made machine washable shopping cart cover from Tori, a Yakima mother who sews them up lickety split in fabric you choose from her inventory (or provide your own for a discount).  We also make heavy use of our Moby wrap and our Maya Wrap.  The Moby Wrap is seriously comfortable and can be worn several different ways.  It’s a bit complicated to learn and, for me at least, I had to use it a few times before I got the hang of it.  The Maya Wrap is a sling-type carrier that adjusts easily and is very portable.  It comes with an instructional DVD that I recommend you watch because I see people wearing them wrong all the time and it is so much more comfortable to wear it right.  I didn’t care for the Snugli or Baby Bjorn very much because it was hard to nurse a newborn in those carriers, and because they can only be worn in one position.  If you use these carriers from the beginning your strength will grow as the baby grows and you shouldn’t feel much muscle strain or soreness.  If you are starting to use these carriers with an older baby you just want to ease into it, increasing the duration steadily to avoid muscle trauma.  I use mine around the house, for hands-free housecleaning and to protect my tiny babies from my toddlers.

Enjoy your babies, they grow so very quickly.