Bucket Babies

There is a fantastic book called Babies Celebrated that I like to share with all my clients at Active Healing. It is a visual presentation of the manner in which children are raised, loved and cared for in native cultures around the globe. Within its pages you will find babies suspended from "ceilings" in bags and baskets, and carried in slings or on boards. There are pictures that demonstrate the rituals of neck lengthening and head shaping (with tight weaves) both meant to invite the favor of the gods. Many of the pictures offer such a stark contrast to the culture that we have grown-up in that they are met with awe, surprise and often concern.

Several of these beautiful photographs would, if found by a school teacher or physician of a child in Anytown, USA., likely would result in the filing of an abuse or neglect charge with the Department of Social Services. The case would be found to be unsupported, of course, because the child is being protected by his parents, not harmed. The environment in which these children are being raised exposes them to dangers that we never have to consider such as; deadly snakes, poisonous spiders, scorpions, and animals which consider young humans as prey. Safety, not convenience is the primary goal.

Similar equipment is pervasive in developed countries as well, but with major differences. First the equipment is used to make our lives more about convenience than safety. After all, we just need 5 minutes to change the laundry or do the dishes. It is a slippery slope though and soon our children are toted from the swing or vibrating chair, to the stroller and on to the car without ever leaving the bucket of their "travel" system. Some children even sleep for extended periods in this bucket. However, this approach while much more accepted than perhaps hanging them from the ceiling is more damaging to our children than anything found in the pages of Babies Celebrated.

Unlike the children in Babies Celebrated, our children have to learn specific academic skills if they are going to be successful in a literate based culture. They have to develop readiness skills that lead to reading and will allow them to absorb, process and express physical, intellectual, and sensory information typically. While it may seem simple, the developmental process (especially the skills of tummy crawling, hands and knees creeping, and defying gravity on two feet) serves as the foundation for a healthy body and mind.

When a child is learning to crawl on her belly she is developing several prerequisites for health. Crawling is the foundation for reading, writing, standing, walking and develops the pons which is the portion of her brain where serotonin is produced and also controls her concepts of pain and temperature. As her hands alternately reach out to pull herself forward she learns that when seated she can reach out and grab things in front of her, her eyes follow the movement across the horizontal plane and her eyes get their first lesson in tracking. As her legs alternately lift and push she wears hip sockets (children are born without formed hip sockets), loosens her heal cords and creates arches in the bottom of her feet. She is stimulating her sense of touch in all its most discriminatory areas. In addition to all this, she puts in place a reflex that when she lifts her knee to ready for pushing, she will also lift her toe. This reflex will be important when she walks because without it she will always be tripping over her toes. Furthermore, it is also the time a child spends on her belly breathing against her own body weight that develops a strong chest and lungs that will provide the most important of all nutrients, oxygen.


Equipment such as exersaucers, jolly jumpers, walkers and activity stations that require the child to be on their backs are all potentially detrimental to a child's development. At best this equipment acts as a barrier that prevents the child from acquiring the necessary sequential developmental milestones. At the worst they are confrontational and send confusing mismatched sensory messages to a developing brain that has not integrated enough to understand the visual and tactile messages of an upright posture. A child needs to crawl on their tummy to develop righting reflexes, trunk strength, and secondary curves in their spine. Without these skills it is unfair to put them in an upright posture because it is going to challenge them beyond their resources and lead to problems that may not manifest for several years or more. Disabilities such as behavioral problems, dyslexia, autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and a host of other things can at least in part be traced back to gaps in the developmental process.

At Active Healing I identify gaps in an individuals developmental process and create client-centered, home-based, neurodevelopmental programs. These programs are based on proper developmental movement and sensory stimulation. They are designed with an understanding of what is the necessary frequency and intensity to properly challenge the brain and foster growth. Essentially, you are allowing the brain and the body to benefit from a process that was interrupted or missed at a previous time.

As the Executive Director of Active Healing it saddens me to see so many parents relying heavily on equipment that prevents the acquisition of necessary skills when their children's brain are experiencing their most explosive growth. If you live in a culture with advanced hygiene their is no reason to suspend your child in a bucket from the ceiling. It may bring a smile to their face today, but it could cause a developmental gap that causes them years of academic and social stress and it is simply not worth it.

The floor is a neurological workshop that accelerates all areas of development. A bucket, jumper, or exersaucer may give you an important break in your day, but it should be limited to half-an-hour a day. Anymore than that and it could be the difference between the accelerator and brakes for a child's development.

In health,
Sargent L. Goodchild, Jr.
Exec. Director
Active Healing, Inc.
www.activehealing.org
978.525.3608