We shouldn't criticize an individual person for using a "baby bucket"
because we don't know enough about her parenting in general to know if it
is overused.  But we can criticize the culture's over-emphasis on products
that separate mothers and babies.  I don't know where I've put this at the
moment, but a study was done, I think at Columbia Hospital.  They randomly
gave out sling type carriers to half of the new parents going home and
"baby buckets" to the other half.  They assessed the mother-baby
interactions at several different time periods (something like 2 months,
four months and 9 months) and found that the mother-baby pairs with the
soft carriers showed better attachment and bonding.

I have a collection of ads from parenting magazines of different baby
seats, swings, cribs, etc.  I show slides of them and ask viewers to tell
me the message that the ads are giving...."What will your life with baby be
like if you buy this product?"  The ads show women in suits and dressy c
lothes that you would not wear if you were carrying a baby.  They are
having tea with friends, admiring baby from afar.  Or one woman is baking
an apple pie from scratch while her baby happily swings.  One ad for an
infant seat that is motorized and rocks back and forth says something like
"Baby loves the smooth rocking action, and mom loves the long running
battery which goes for 160 hours."  As if you never take baby out for that
time period!! The ads imply that if you buy their product, your life will
go on as before and you will not be inconvenienced by the baby.

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