Use of seating devices in infants too young to sit
C. W. Callahan and C. Sisler
Department of Pediatrics, Tripler Army Medical Center, MCHK-PE, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
OBJECTIVES: To determine how frequently seating devices are available in
homes with small infants and how often they are used for infants who are
too young to sit erect and unsupported. DESIGN: Observational study using a
questionnaire administered to a cohort of parents of well infants younger
than 5 months. SETTING: Well-Baby Clinic, Department of Pediatrics, Tripler
Army Medical Center, a tertiary care center serving the population of
military dependents on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. RESULTS: Infant seating
devices were available in the homes of all of the infants whose parents
completed the questionnaire during the study. Of 187 infants, 176 (94%)
spent 30 minutes or longer in seating devices each day. The mean (tSD) time
spent each day in seating devices was 5.7 +/- 3.5 hours and ranged from 0
to 16 hours. CONCLUSIONS: Seating devices were widely available for use in
the care of the infants. Car seats that double as infant carriers and
infant seats likely are being used extensively outside of automobiles.
Prolonged use of infant seating devices with infants who are too young to
sit unsupported may have several potential adverse consequences.
