Is your child a container baby?

Survey across 500 households with toddlers reveals impact of Covid-19 — kids being put in chairs and playpens for easy monitoring, thus hindering their physical, psychosocial growth

Is your child a ‘container baby’? This is an often-heard term internationally but less so in India. But the recent pandemic and associated lockdowns have given rise to this concern in Indian households having toddlers. A survey by Early Childhood Association (ECA) has found that even as 33 per cent parents are using any type of container for their babies for more than three to six hours a day, 63 per cent started doing this only in the past one year. However, 82 per cent parents are unaware of the term ‘container babies.’

Container baby refers to when a child is kept cooped up in feeding chairs or playpens or couch seats or anything that limits its movement. A total of 67 per cent parents said that they use high chairs for their children to sit in, 65 per cent use bumbo or other seats, 52 per cent use playpens and 35 per cent use walkers. Overall, 73 per cent use a combination of two or more options from these.

There has been a nine per cent increase in the use of such seats in just the past year, indicative of the impact of the Covid-19-induced lockdown. When asked what prompted them to use such containers, 65 per cent parents said that it becomes easy to monitor their kids, while 45 per cent said it is because they do not have any help. While for 52 per cent parents, work from home (WFH) caused them to use containers.

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Why the survey

President of the ECA, and an expert in the early education sector, Swati Popat said, “Container baby syndrome (CBS) is a collection of movement disorders, behaviour disorders, and other problems that are the result of the infant spending too much time in a contained space.” The ECA and Podar Institute of Education did the survey to determine the spread of ‘container children’ and to create awareness. Over 500 parents participated in the survey. “Container children is an unplanned impact of Covid-19. As parents have now been using these for over 17 months for almost seven hours daily, it has become important to create awareness of its impact,” added Popat. Even as 62 per cent parents are unaware of the risk, 63 per cent said they are willing to make changes after knowing them.

Explaining the risks, Popat said, “Children below the age of two years are being restricted in high chairs, playpens or floor chairs, like sit-me-up or bumbo-type seats. This can put them in a position where their pelvis is tipped back, which isn’t optimal for the posture. Children between the age of two and four years are being cooped up similarly and/or given a screen so that they can be busily quiet. It limits physical development, hinders their autonomy.”

Behavioural impact

Further explaining the behavioural and psychosocial impact, Dr. Samir Dalwai, a developmental and behavioural paediatrician and vice-president, ECA, said, “Constraining children is harmful to their psychosocial, physical and mental development.” Adding to this, child psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty said, “Kids need sensory stimuli from the environment. Without it, they have slower emotional growth. If the child is contained in one space, even parental involvement is contained. They are not able to provide the required stimuli. It affects the growth of the brain and the interaction of different organs.”

Hinting at the need for creativity from parents, Dr Dalwai said, “Parents of kids belonging to the same age, living nearby can form groups and take rotational responsibility for keeping children engaged.”

Dr Shetty added, “If children are shifted to a better environment, they will be able to catch up soon. Hence, it is important to be aware of the issues and bring about required changes. Parents have to allow children to explore and be imperfect.”

82%
Proportion of parents not aware of term container baby

63%
Proportion of parents willing to make changes after knowing the risks

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