Baby bouncers may be a boon to modern parents as they catch up on chores – yet experts fear they could do more harm than good.
Early years specialists warn the fashionable bouncers, jumpers and even car seats may delay babies’ development because they are kept in them too long.
They claim they may hamper infants’ efforts to learn to walk and increase the risk of obesity.
They have even come up with a name for the phenomenon: ‘Container baby syndrome’.
The experts say babies are often left in the doorway bouncers, floor seats and ‘activity centres’ for hours at a time.
Even being stuck in pushchairs and car seats too long can hinder babies’ physical skills, adds Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
NHS England advises parents not to use bouncers for more than 20 minutes, as they encourage infants to stand on tiptoe and can delay learning to walk.
The advice from NHS child experts in Birmingham, provided for early years advice service Startwell, is more detailed, warning of ‘container baby syndrome’.
It says: ‘Today parents are exposed to a wide range of containers, from baby bouncers, jumpers, door bouncers, pushchairs, car seats, playpens, highchairs, baby swings and chairs.
‘We appear to be forgetting the importance and the purpose of tummy time, floor-based play and free-flow space and standing activities and the benefits that they bring. Containers do just that – they immobilise children.’
Baby bouncers, designed for tots till the time they can sit independently, do not allow babies to build up core strength and arm and leg muscles needed for crawling, says Startwell.
Jumpers, door bouncers and walkers also encourage toddlers to stand on tiptoes, which can lead to toe-walking later and hinder correct movement – so walking is delayed. Floor seats can delay babies’ ability to sit up on their own, add the experts.
Claire Hamilton, early years lead at Startwell, who wrote the advice, said: ‘A lot of parents put children in bouncers and jumpers to keep them occupied and stop them rolling or crawling anywhere dangerous, while they get household tasks done.
‘These are pieces of equipment designed for convenience, but they are overused and people just don’t realise the risks.
‘There are a huge amount of delays in children’s development because they have not had weight-bearing practice or been able to learn to move, walk and climb stairs.
There are also concerns about leaving toddlers too long in car seats and pushchairs, which are designed for children who can’t walk and which experts say should be phased out by the age of three for those without medical needs.
Mrs Hamilton said: ‘We are now seeing pushchairs designed to hold children up to the age of seven. That makes children observant learners rather than interactive learners.
‘We see children become less physically able because they haven’t built up muscle, while their risk of obesity is higher.
‘We want parents to have ‘ditch the buggy’ days.’