Definition of babywearing
Dr. William Sears, a highly esteemed American pediatrician, is credited with introducing the concept of 'attachment parenting,' which includes babywearing as one of its fundamental principles. He emphasizes the multitude of benefits associated with babywearing and the nurturing in-arms style of parenting.
Babywearing, in essence, involves holding or carrying a baby or young child using a cloth baby carrier. This practice has gained significant recognition and praise due to the numerous advantages it offers to both caregivers and infants. By keeping the baby close to the caregiver's body, babywearing promotes a strong emotional bond, providing comfort and security to the little one while fostering a sense of intimacy and connection between parent and child.(www.babywearinginternational.org)
Babywearing, in essence, involves holding or carrying a baby or young child using a cloth baby carrier. This practice has gained significant recognition and praise due to the numerous advantages it offers to both caregivers and infants. By keeping the baby close to the caregiver's body, babywearing promotes a strong emotional bond, providing comfort and security to the little one while fostering a sense of intimacy and connection between parent and child.(www.babywearinginternational.org)
Importance of babywearing
Intimate maternal bond
When moms have physical contact with their babies, it releases a hormone called oxytocin in their bodies. This hormone helps create a strong and loving connection between the mother and the baby. It also makes breastfeeding easier and improves the care moms provide to their little ones. As a result, it can lower the chances of moms experiencing postpartum depression and other physical issues caused by stress. So, spending quality time with your baby is not just joyful but also beneficial for both of you!
Calmer babies
When babies are carried close to their caregivers, they feel safer and more secure. All their important needs, like seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and even tasting their caregiver, are met. The gentle movements while being carried also help in the baby's development, like their brain, tummy, and breathing. This closeness with the caregiver helps babies stay calm and feel more settled. The natural rhythms of the caregiver, like walking and heartbeat, have a soothing effect on babies and help them feel organized and content. It's like a comforting hug that makes babies feel happy and at ease!
Babies are more secure
When babies are carried close to their parents, they become more settled and calm. The gentle movements and rhythms of the parent, like walking and heartbeat, have a comforting effect on babies. This closeness also helps babies learn about the world and people around them at an early age. They can study facial expressions, learn languages faster, and understand body language better. As they grow, they become more independent, but their attachment to their caregivers remains strong and secure. Being carried and held close helps babies feel loved and connected to their parents, which is so important for their development and happiness.
Reduces the risk of flat head syndrome
Using baby carriers can help reduce the risk of "flat head syndrome" that can happen when babies spend too much time lying on their backs or in car seats. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies should spend less time in car seats and other seats that keep them lying flat on their backs. Babywearing positions don't require babies to lie flat, so it's a safer option for them. Babies can even sleep in the carrier, which also reduces the time they spend lying on their backs while sleeping. This can help keep their little heads nice and round and prevent any flattening.
Babies are happier
Studies of parent-child attachment, parental satisfaction and infant crying all point to babywearing as an ideal solution for most parents to provide an optimum environment for attachment between parent and child. Baby carriers and slings help increase the number of hours of day an infant is held, and there is an inverse relationship between the number of hours spend crying and the number of hours a child is held in a given day. Even 3 hours per day of babywearing reduces infant crying significantly, and at 13 months, babies who have been in soft carriers regularly are significantly more likely to be securely attached than babies who are carried in hard carriers
Hands free mummy!
Baby wearing allows the wearer to have two free hands to accomplish tasks such as laundry while caring for the baby's need to be held or be breastfed. Baby wearing offers a safer alternative to placing a car seat on top of a shopping cart. It also allows children to be involved in social interactions and to see their surroundings as an adult would.
Encourages breastfeeding behaviour
Breastfeeding and babywearing often go hand in hand. Many baby slings and other carriers offer mothers privacy and for many mothers, the option of nursing hands-free while tending to other activities or household chores. Not all mothers can nurse hands-free in a baby carrier. Large-breasted mothers and mothers of small or hypotonic infants may need to support the breast or help maintain proper positioning of the baby's head or body. Even so, a properly adjusted baby carrier can help reduce arm strain and allow a mother more freedom of movement while nursing, even if it does not allow her to be completely hands-free.
Prevents post-natal depression
Mothers who baby-wear are less likely to develop postnatal depression. This is particularly important as well in the case of mothers who've had traumatic birth experience. Babywearing improves the psychological well being of mothers and also helps to improve the recovery time in terms of the lowering the levels of cortisol (stress hormone) and increases the levels of oxytocin (a natural hormone that creates a “relaxation and well-being” response)
Compliments kangaroo (skin to skin) care
Babywearing can help premature babies and babies who are slow weight gainers to gain weight at a faster rate. Since the baby is held up close to the mother, the baby will be able to be nursed more often and often for longer intervals. Kangaroo care is well-studied and has shown clear benefits to premature and ill infants.
