Purpose: The aim of this article is to characterize parents’ use of containers and determine whether it relates to infants’ development or body mass index (BMI). Methods: A cross-section of parents with infants under 19 months completed a survey reporting their use of containers and infants’ height and weight; parents also completed the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3). Descriptive and correlation analyses were used to describe parents’ container use and evaluate whether container use was related to ASQ-3 scores or BMI. Results: Parents reportedly used containers for 5.15 hours daily. More time reported in containers overall was associated with poorer fine motor scores. Longer bouts in positional pillows were associated with poorer gross motor development. Conclusion: Providing enhanced fine motor opportunities may be important for families using containers more often. Reported container use was higher than professionals typically recommend, yet did not relate to obesity or delayed development in most domains, an important consideration when updating recommendations for parents.
Alghamdi et al. (2025) studied this question.