Anthropo-Mechanical Cradles: A Multidisciplinary Review

Abstract

Domestic cradles are beds that are movable but non-mobile for babies up to five months of age. The “anthropo-mechanical” cradle simulates the physiological movement of the human body. The article reviews scientific literature discussing the impacts of swinging on infants, provides classifications of all currently used cradles due to how the child moves, and briefly describes modern technologies within cradle automation. This made it possible to calculate and propose safe motion parameters within mechatronic cradles. The main conclusions of the article are as follows: (1) the scientific literature reports the beneficial effects of harmonic movement on a child, (2) motion analyses substantiating the classifications of all cradles into six types (tilting, yawing, hammock, Sarong, swing, and surging cradle; the classification criterion included the nature of the cradle movement in relation to the planes and anatomical axes of the child’s body), (3) modern technologies allowing for the use of movement with thoughtful parameters, thus, safer for a child, (4) movement within the parameters similar to the motion and speed passively performed by the child in the womb while a mother is walking was considered beneficial and safe, and (5) the use of advanced technology allows for the possibility to devise and create an automatic mechatronic cradle with a child-safe motion. Future innovative anthropo-mechanical cradles that follow physiological human motion parameters can be used safely, with a vertical amplitude ranging from −13 to + 15 mm and a frequency of up to 2 Hz.