Baby carrier
Caring for babies has always limited the mobility of the mother or other care-giver because the baby must be carried from place to place. The use of various types of apparatus for carrying a baby without the use of the parent’s hands is well known. Throughout history, efforts have been made to increase the mobility of mothers and reduce their fatigue by fashioning some kind of baby carrier. It is common practice for a parent to employ the use of a baby carrier for carrying an infant. Indeed, various types of baby carriers are currently available from manufacturers of infant products. Though such currently known and available baby carriers achieve their primary objective of carrying an infant, they possess certain deficiencies which detract from their overall utility. In general, most of baby carriers which are used for taking a baby on a baby caretaker’s back includes a cover sheet wrapping both bodies of a baby and a baby caretaker, and a binding strap wound round the cover sheet, for providing a binding force for binding the cover sheet.
The choice in child carrying and securing devices and frames existing in the marketplace today is endless. There are many different types of devices and frames serving the same or different functions. A baby carrier typically comprises a cloth bucket having leg holes therein and in which the infant sits with its legs protruding from the holes. The bucket is supported by a framework of metal tubing, and, for mobility, wheels may be provided at the bottom of the legs of the framework. Usually, the framework is made to be collapsible so that the carrier may be folded up and stored when not in use, or so that it may be easily transported from place to place. Back infant carriers carry the infant in an infant-carrier pouch on the back of an adult, and front infant carriers carry the infant in an infant-carrier pouch on the front of the adult. Some pouches allow the infant to be carried facing forward, and some pouches allow the infant to be carried facing rearward. The chief benefits of frontal carriers are that the bearer and the baby can together enjoy the warmth of frontal contact, with the baby feeling the heart beating. In traditional frontal carriers, the top of the baby’s head reaches at or below the neck level of the bearer. The bearer can see and stroke the baby from head to toe. Frontal carriers are typically utilized from birth until the baby becomes to heavy to support, at about four months of age. By that time, most babies have learned to hold their heads upright with sufficient strength to be moved into a back-mounted carrier. Back-mounted carriers are recommended for carrying babies from about four months old to toddler age.
While front- and back-type carriers have achieved widespread acceptance, they suffer from several inherent disadvantages. Front-type baby carriers which face the baby toward the adult’s chest prevent the baby from viewing its immediate surroundings. Front-type carriers which face the baby upwards similarly restrict the baby’s field of view. Furthermore, front-type baby carriers can create severe, unnatural stresses in the adult’s back and spine, especially when babies weighing more than ten or fifteen pounds are carried. In most cases the bearer needs to hold the frontal carrier with one hand to keep it from swinging about. As a result, tasks requiring the use of both hands must wait. Moreover, the baby visually blocks the volume in front of the bearer’s stomach where the bearer typically handles items, thus hindering the bearer’s freedom to work. Back-mounted carriers correct many of the problems of frontal carriers. They offer an improved view of the world to the older baby and alleviate lower back strain to the bearer. They free the bearer’s arms and hands and allow the bearer to perform tasks in front of the body. But back-mounted carriers have disadvantages also. Back-type carriers effectively prevent the adult from observing the baby’s behavior and directing its attention toward its surroundings. Thus an older baby, just beginning to take an active interest in its surroundings, is isolated from the adult who is its teacher and guide as well as its means of transportation.