Forty-three mother-infant dyads were recruited to determine the relationshi
p between both total equipment use and the use of individual pieces of equi
pment and infant motor development. At 8 months of age, total and individua
l equipment use was determined by parental survey and infant motor developm
ent was assessed using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale. Statistically signif
icant correlations were found for the relationships between total equipment
use and infant motor development (r = -0.50, p = 0.001) and individual pie
ces of equipment [exersaucer (r = -0.58, P = 0.001), highchair (r = -0.32,
P = 0.04), and infant seat (r = -0.32, P = 0.03)] and infant motor developm
ent. These findings suggest that infants who have high equipment use tend t
o score lower on infant motor development or that infants who have low equi
pment use tend to score higher on infant motor development. Limitations of
this cross-sectional study make it difficult to determine causality between
these constructs. If equipment use is found to be causally related to infa
nt motor development and predictive of later motor development in a future
prospective study, parental education emphasizing the moderate use of equip
ment within the home environment might be warranted.