Babywearing
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Babywearing is the act of wearing or carrying a baby or child in a sling or other form of carrier. Babywearing promotes in-arms parenting and attachment parenting and is a form of baby transport.
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Why Babywearing
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Many parents practice in-arms or attachment parenting, which entails wearing or carrying their babies. Parents and pediatricians alike, believe that babywearing promotes a strong bond between parents and children. Many find that, most of all, babywearing makes life easier on everyone.
Benefits of Babywearing
Dr. William Sears, a pediatrician, coined the phase 'attachment parenting' (AP). One of Sears' principles of AP is babywearing. Sears attributes many benefits to babywearing and the in-arms style of parenting.
Benefits of Babywearing Include:
- Babies who are carried cry less due to the comfort of a womb-like environment.
- Babies learn more because they spend more time in a quiet state of alertness.
- Babies are more organized; parental rhythms (walking, heartbeat, etc.) have balancing and soothing effects on infants.
- Babies get "humanized" earlier by developing socially; babies are closer to people and can study facial expressions, learn languages faster and be familiar with body language.
- Babies who are carried benefit intellectually because of rapid brain growth due to constant daily stimuli and being an intimate part of the adult world.
Practicality of Babywearing
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Slings allow the wearer to have two free hands to accomplish tasks such as laundry or cooking while caring for baby's need to be held or breastfed. A sling offers a safer alternative to dangerously balancing a car seat on top of a shopping cart. It also allows children to be part of the action and to see the world from a better view. Babies and children will enjoy getting to see the zoo and other places of interest from up high and not down on the ground in a stroller or car seat.
Many sling users have found that it is easier on the back and shoulders than carrying their infant in a car seat. The weight of the child is spread more evenly across the upper body. This is particularly true for babywearing systems that use both shoulders rather than one.
Slings can also be a stylish statement. They come in many different designs and colors to match any wardrobe. They also are available in many different types of material; anything from silk, hemp, cotton to wool, fleece, and flax/linen.
It can be somewhat difficult to learn to use a sling at first, particularly if one is learning without the help of an experienced sling user. However it is simple once one has the knack of it. Many parents find that they do not want to be anywhere without the sling, even if they are using a stroller or pushchair, as carrying a baby in the sling will often have a calming influence like nothing else. There are hundreds of resources that show how to use a sling, most of which can be found online. Some parenting groups have workshops demonstrating how to use slings.
Breastfeeding and Babywearing
Breastfeeding and babywearing go hand in hand. Using a sling offers many mothers the privacy they desire when nursing their young. A sling also allows the mother to nurse 'hands free', while tending to other activities or household chores.
Babywearing can help premature babies and babies who are slow weight gainers to gain weight at a faster rate. Since baby is held up close to the mother, he will be nursed more often and often for longer intervals.
Caution and Concern
There are several points to remember when using a sling.
- Experiment with several different types of carriers to find one that works well.
- Start out wearing a baby with one hand slightly supporting the baby's back or bottom until a level of comfort and confidence is reached.
- While cooking at the stove or cutting food, wear baby in the rucksack (http://www.peppermint.com/backcarry.htm) or back carry (http://www.peppermint.com/wrapcrossbackcarry.htm) positions.
- When bending down to reach something low or on the floor, bend at the knees, and preferably support the baby with one hand.
- Be cautious of doors, corners and door ways when carrying baby.
- Smoking and drinking hot beverages are not recommended while carrying babies.
Pediatricians also do not recommend for parents to use back pack type carriers before a baby's first birthday. These types of carriers are rigid, not soft and do not give enough to mold to baby's body. They also place all of baby's weight resting on the base of the spine, prohibiting proper spinal growth and alignment and possibly causing major damage to developing spines. If baby can not hold his head up without support, these carriers are also not recommended. It is advised to take a baby out of a front or back pack type carrier every hour or so, to make sure baby's legs are not losing circulation.
External Links
- www.WearYourBaby.com -- Videos, step-by-step photo tutorials and printable how-to sheets. WearYourBaby.com is the website of the Mamatoto Project which is a non-profit promoting and teaching babywearing. Includes instructions on using a wide variety of carriers and instructions to make, sew or improvise a carrier.
- TheBabyWearer (http://www.thebabywearer.com/) -- A Comprehensive Babywearing Resource Center including discussion forums, articles, consumer reviews and links to hundreds of on-line vendors.
- Wearing Instructions (http://www.peppermint.com/girasolcarry.htm)
- Rebozo Way Project (http://www.Rebozoway.org)
- Improvising a carrier (http://www.wearyourbaby.com/Default.aspx?tabid=68) -- Babywearing using garments you already own -- including shawls, pareos, sarongs, and wrap around skirts.
- Wearing and Sewing Instructions (http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sling.html)
- Baby Sling Instructional Video (http://www.mayawrap.com/n_video.php)
- Baby Sling Sewing Instructions (http://www.mayawrap.com/n_sewsling.php)
- Research on babywearing (http://www.thebabywearer.com/lists/BWInfo.htm)