Jump to a centre
Center Finder

Car Seats and Capsules: How You Can Support Your Baby’s Development

Car Seats and Capsules: How You Can Support Your Baby’s Development

Car Seats and Capsules: How You Can Support Your Baby’s Development
, ,
0:00

Written by: Dr Jane Williams 

Key takeaways: 

  • Car seats save lives and are essential for travel. However, spending extended time in car seats, capsules, and other baby devices can lower oxygen levels, affect muscle tone, and hinder brain development.
  • Babies need plenty of floor time, especially tummy time, to build strong muscles, integrate reflexes, and support healthy development.
  • Parents should minimise time in baby seats, ensure proper head positioning, and prioritise movement opportunities for their child’s wellbeing.
  • Find the top tips in this blog for ensuring the healthy development of your baby. 

Baby seats, capsules and bouncers are handy for parents – but did you know that too much time in their devices could impact your baby’s development? Research (1) shows that spending long periods of time in a semi-curled position can affect babies’ oxygen levels, muscle tone and even their brain development. 

While car seats are essential for travel, it’s important to transfer your baby out of them as soon as you’re out of the car. Giving your little one plenty of time on the floor for natural movement – especially tummy time – helps build strong muscles, supports brain growth and sets the foundations for future learning.  Read on to discover simple ways to keep your baby safe, supported and thriving from day one. 

 

How Do These Positions Impact Your Baby?

There are many devices that put a baby in a semi-curved position, due to the postural challenges to the back and neck. These include car capsules, car seats, bouncinettes and rocker.

Parents need to be aware that prolonged time in a semi-curved position can create immediate difficulties for the child, but it can also hamper their babies’ short and long-term healthy brain function.  Babies shouldn’t be left in these devices when they’re either asleep or awake. Extended periods of awake time in these baby products can actually affect brain development (1).

Several research studies confirm that this curled position leads to decreased oxygen levels. In a study published in the United States Journal of Pediatrics (2), a research team found that babies in the semi-curled position in car capsules had recorded reduced oxygen levels in the blood. Baby asleep in car seat

“There is now compelling evidence that hypoxia (oxygen deficiency to the brain) is associated with behavioural problems and adverse effects on development and school performance,” reports Dr McIntosh, who was responsible for the study.

The prolonged flexed position not only decreases oxygen intake but also prevents the baby stretching out fully into the extended position and this too makes a big difference to how well the brain will function.

Another position babies get stuck in in these devices is the reflex position. Extension of the muscles is important to develop healthy muscle tone and enables the inhibition of a reflex – the Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex (TLR). TLR helps babies learn to move forward on their tummies. Both muscle tone development and movement opportunities that encourage the inhibition of infant primitive reflexes, lay vital building blocks for successful learning as the baby grows.

If babies do not have the movement experiences necessary to integrate the TLR and other infant reflexes, it will affect later academic and sporting ability. There are many modern conveniences provided for parents with lot of ‘containers’ into which babies can be placed that are seemingly designed to simplify our lives. However, if these devices are not used properly, they can post dire health risks and can prevent babies from getting the experiences that promote healthy development. 

 

What Parent Can Do To Ensure Healthy Developments For Their Baby?

  • When leaving the car, transfer your baby out of the capsule and into another form of carrier such as a pram or your arms. Car seat/capsule use should be restricted to the minimum time required for travel. If going on long trips, take regular breaks (recommended every 30 minutes), and remove your baby from the capsule. Read more: Never let babies sleep in car seats/capsules, out of the car.Baby in capsule device
  • Fit your car seat with a simple foam insert with a slot for the back of the head (2). These allow the head to remain upright rather than slumping forward, which can obstruct breathing when the chin is on the chest and pushed back. This insert reduces the breathing risks for babies, but it does not eliminate the seats’ risks. Read more.
  • Never leave your baby unsupervised in any device and always make sure you can see their face.
  • Never leave your baby in any ‘baby devices’ for an extended period of time. Short periods only.
  • Avoid any ‘baby seats’ that are marketed to keep non-sitting babies in a sitting position. Read /watch more here.
  • From an early age babies need to be given plenty of space and freedom to move so they can take advantage of the natural reflexes with which they are born, such as the TLR. These reflexes not only help the baby to survive the critical first months of life outside the womb, but also help get the baby moving, so important for future learning and healthy brain development. Watch our free online video on Baby Reflexes here.
  • To help your baby integrate the TLR, provide lots of short periods of tummy time often, in the early months. Watch our free online video on Tummy Time here.

 

Learn More About Baby Development at GymbaROO-KindyROO

At GymbaROO-KindyROO, we believe it is crucial that parents be informed about primitive reflexes and how to provide their babies with the movement experiences necessary to integrate these reflexes. These are explained in our free BabyROO online video here: Baby Reflexes.

We offer classes for parents of babies from birth to crawling and expecting parents. Feel empowered when learning about your child’s development and fun activities you can do at home to continue their growth.

 

Author:

Dr Jane Williams (PhD, BMgt, RN(Paeds is one of Australia’s leading experts on baby and child development. More on Dr Williams here

References:

  1. Kornhauser Cerar L, Scirica CV, Gantar IŠ, Osredkar D, Neubauer D, Kinane TB. A comparison of respiratory patterns in healthy term infants placed in car safety seats and beds. Pediatrics. 2009;124(3):981-2.
  2. McIntosh CG, Tonkin SL, Gunn AJ. Randomized Controlled Trial of a Car Safety Seat Insert to Reduce Hypoxia in Term Infants. Pediatrics. 2013;132(2):326-31.