MOTOR DEVELOPMENT SUPPORTING ADJUSTABLE INFANT CARRIER

The present application provides an adjustable infant carrier to be worn by an adult wearer, for freeing said wearers hands and arms while carrying a baby within the infant carrier. The adjustable infant carrier includes both an adjustable bucket seat and an adjustable torso support panel, where the latter can be gradually adjusted in vertical height according to the infant's segmental acquisition of trunk. The carrier furthermore includes adjustable handlebars for the infant to grasp onto to support postural stability, providing affordances for the infant's reflexive grasp behavior. The infant carrier includes two settings for the width and depth of the bucket seat to accommodate a wide range of infant sizes. The carrier can support infants of various sizes in an ergonomic hip and spine position, while affording the carried infant opportunities to develop age-relevant postural control, engage in manual grasping and social and manual interaction with the social and physical environment beyond that of the caregiver as well as multisensory exploration of objects attachable to the carrier or otherwise presented to the infant.